By MLF Communications Staff

Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala. caught 16 scorable bass weighing 54 pounds even to earn the Group A Qualifying Round win Monday at the Bass Pro Tour event on Cayuga Lake in Union Springs, New York.

Lucas’ two-day Qualifying Round catch of 51 bass totaling 181-01 – the fourth-largest two-day total ever weighed in BPT history – earned him the win by a 16-07 margin over Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., who caught a two-day total of 56 bass weighing 164-10 to end the round in 2nd place. Zack Birge of Blanchard, Okla. caught a two-day total of 33 bass weighing 124-3 to finish the round in 3rd, while Waco, Texas' Alton Jones, Jr. ended the round in 4th place with a two-day total of 37 bass good for 123-02. Rounding out the Top 5 was Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., who caught 30 bass for 118-11 to advance in 5th place.

Lucas, who started the day atop the leaderboard, lost the lead in Period 1 to a red-hot Wheeler, but regained it with a strong Period 2 and held it throughout the third and final period.

“Man, that was a tough day. That was not nearly as easy as Saturday, for sure,” Lucas said in his post-game interview. “Somehow I ended up with 54 pounds today, but it felt a lot tougher. It felt like I was taking on King Kong today in Wheeler. He is so dominant lately, and when he caught 41 pounds in the first period I was just like ‘Here we go’. This is going to be the day he’s going to smack them and knock me out of 1st.

“But we were able to go into the second period and catch some nice fish, and thankfully Jacob seemed to struggle. That dude is so dangerous, so I’m very thankful to get him this time in the Qualifying Round. I definitely expect to see him again in the Championship Round.”

Like Saturday, Lucas caught all largemouth on Monday, relying on a dropshot and a Neko rig.

“I’ve got to give all the credit to my Fantasista X rods from Abu Garcia, with a (Abu Garcia) Zenon spinning reel. I’ve been dropshotting and Neko-rigging with that combo all week, and it is just unbelievably sensitive. Crazy sensitive – I can feel the lightest bites in the windiest of conditions out here.

“I don’t really know what I’m going to do in the Championship Round yet, but you’ve got to make it there first and I am very, very thankful to have made it,” Lucas went on to say. “That was, hands down, the goal coming into this tournament. This qualifies me into REDCREST next spring, which is amazing, and now I’ve got a chance to win this tournament, too.”

The Top 20 anglers from Group A will now have an off day from competition Tuesday, while the 40 anglers competing in Qualifying Group B will complete their two-day Qualifying Round. The Knockout Round, featuring 38 anglers competing to finish in the Top 8, will take place Wednesday. Thursday’s Championship Round will feature Lucas, Tuesday’s Group B winner and the eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

Dylan Hays of Hot Springs, Ark. caught a 5-14 largemouth on a dropshot rig in Period 2 to earn the day’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from Frontenac Park, located at 15 Creamery Road in Union Springs. Each day’s takeout will be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The tournament features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action each day from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Group A Qualifying Round – Day 2

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish of the day)

1. Justin Lucas -- 127-01 (35) -- 54-00 (16) -- 181-01 (51) -- 4-14

2. Jacob Wheeler -- 107-15 (37) -- 56-11 (19) -- 164-10 (56) -- 4-01

3. Zack Birge -- 76-12 (20) -- 47-07 (13) -- 124-03 (33) -- 4-10

4. Alton Jones Jr. -- 82-08 (26) -- 40-10 (11) -- 123-02 (37) -- 5-02

5. Dustin Connell -- 88-05 (23) -- 30-06 (7) -- 118-11 (30) -- 5-03

6. Luke Clausen -- 78-09 (25) -- 28-07 (10) -- 107-00 (35) -- 4-02

7. Fletcher Shryock -- 63-13 (22) -- 41-08 (14) -- 105-05 (36) -- 3-15

8. Todd Faircloth -- 49-07 (16) -- 55-12 (19) -- 105-03 (35) -- 4-03

9. Cliff Pace -- 58-07 (20) -- 46-09 (16) -- 105-00 (36) -- 4-05

10. Jeremy Lawyer -- 27-06 (8) -- 74-15 (25) -- 102-05 (33) -- 4-07

11. Terry Scroggins -- 65-05 (23) -- 32-13 (12) -- 98-02 (35) -- 3-15

12. Dylan Hays -- 58-00 (18) -- 26-07 (8) -- 84-07 (26) -- 5-14

13. Ott DeFoe -- 52-14 (15) -- 29-15 (10) -- 82-13 (25) -- 4-00

14. Casey Ashley -- 57-00 (16) -- 25-06 (8) -- 82-06 (24) -- 4-13

15. David Walker -- 43-00 (11) -- 38-12 (11) -- 81-12 (22) -- 4-04

16. Roy Hawk -- 44-04 (12) -- 37-03 (10) -- 81-07 (22) -- 5-10

17. Adrian Avena -- 63-01 (18) -- 15-12 (5) -- 78-13 (23) -- 4-01

18. Matt Lee -- 52-02 (16) -- 26-04 (9) -- 78-06 (25) -- 3-10

19. Josh Bertrand -- 44-07 (15) -- 30-10 (11) -- 75-01 (26) -- 3-12

20. Jonathon VanDam -- 46-01 (15) -- 27-02 (9) -- 73-03 (24) -- 3-14

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round

21. Dave Lefebre -- 40-03 (11) -- 32-01 (10) -- 72-04 (21) -- 4-11

22. Chris Lane -- 42-12 (12) -- 27-13 (8) -- 70-09 (20) -- 4-12

23. Cole Floyd -- 31-15 (10) -- 38-03 (13) -- 70-02 (23) -- 4-11

24. Stephen Browning -- 31-06 (12) -- 38-10 (11) -- 70-00 (23) -- 5-10

25. Jesse Wiggins -- 40-03 (13) -- 28-05 (9) -- 68-08 (22) -- 4-05

26. Bradley Roy -- 39-04 (13) -- 27-12 (11) -- 67-00 (24) -- 4-06

27. Gerald Spohrer -- 41-07 (12) -- 25-01 (7) -- 66-08 (19) -- 4-13

28. Bryan Thrift -- 32-02 (11) -- 30-08 (10) -- 62-10 (21) -- 4-05

29. Brett Hite -- 34-08 (10) -- 26-03 (8) -- 60-11 (18) -- 3-11

30. Jeff Kriet -- 37-02 (13) -- 21-02 (7) -- 58-04 (20) -- 4-14

31. Kelly Jordon -- 32-09 (11) -- 22-12 (6) -- 55-05 (17) -- 5-10

32. Ish Monroe -- 29-01 (10) -- 26-02 (9) -- 55-03 (19) -- 4-01

33. Brent Chapman -- 30-13 (9) -- 11-07 (4) -- 42-04 (13) -- 3-10

34. Jeff Sprague -- 24-14 (9) -- 15-14 (6) -- 40-12 (15) -- 4-06

35. Skeet Reese -- 21-06 (7) -- 17-01 (6) -- 38-07 (13) -- 4-10

36. Russ Lane -- 14-02 (5) -- 23-00 (8) -- 37-02 (13) -- 4-05

37. Jason Lambert -- 19-14 (6) -- 13-01 (5) -- 32-15 (11) -- 2-14

38. Tommy Biffle -- 21-11 (6) -- 8-10 (3) -- 30-05 (9) -- 3-08

39. Scott Suggs -- 15-02 (5) -- 11-08 (4) -- 26-10 (9) -- 3-06

40. Clabion Johns -- 10-11 (4) -- 10-02 (3) -- 20-13 (7) -- 4-08