By MLF Communications Staff

Bobby Lane caught 14 bass weighing a combined 28-01 to win the Knockout Round at the Lake Travis MLF Bass Pro Tour event in Austin Texas. He and the other Top 8 finishes advanced to Wednesday's Championship round, where they'll be joined by Qualifying Round group winners Brent Chapman and Zack Birge.

“Man, am I excited to be going to my second straight Championship Round in Texas,” said Lane, who finished in 10th place at the season-opening BPT event at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. “Last year it seemed like I finished in 11th and 12th place all year long, but this is a new year and Bobby Lane is heading to his second straight Championship Round.”

Lane said he caught his fish Tuesday fishing the outside of marinas, mainly targeting docks and rocks.

“The key to my success so far this week has been my equipment,” Lane said. “I’m using the new (Abu Garcia) Veritas 7-foot medium, and this rod has been absolutely phenomenal. I love it. I’m fishing a wacky-rigged Berkley PowerBait (MaxScent) General worm (green-pumpkin) with a size 1 hook and a nail weight right in the head.

“I’ve got 10-pound braided line and I’m using an 8-pound-test Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon leader,” Lane continued. “I’m using a very long leader – around 14-foot. Fishing here on Lake Travis you’re going to break off, you’re going to get hung on the cables and you’re going to have to re-tie quite often. The longer leader allows me to re-tie more quickly and efficiently.”

Second-place angler Jacob Wheeler was much more optimistic after his day on the water than he was after only boating two fish in the finale of his group's Qualifying Round on Monday.

“It was a good morning and a really tough afternoon – just as it has been the last few days – but we got it done and I’m so thankful for those quality bites this morning,” Wheeler said. “If I can get at least 10 keeper bites tomorrow, I think I’ll have a shot at this thing. I’m going to have to generate some big bites, though, so we’ll see what happens. I’m looking forward to going to the Championship Round. This feels good after yesterday’s struggles, so I’m ready to get after it tomorrow.”

Third-place pro Brent Ehrler also made the Championship Round in his second straight event after a 9th-place showing at the Heavy Hitters tournament last month.

“I left a fair amount of water today that I didn’t fish, so I’ve still got some stuff left to fish tomorrow,” Ehrler said. “I got kind of lucky today. I had a couple of key bites that really helped me get to where I’m at right now – over that 20-pound mark. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get those again tomorrow; they were kind of single fish.

"I found an area that had a few fish that had moved up – I’d already fished it earlier in the week – but a few more had moved up. I don’t think I can go back and catch those fish again. I’m going to have to bob and weave by the minute tomorrow and hopefully I’ll have a chance at winning this thing.”

Stephen Browning (7th) won the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award on Tuesday, catching a 6-03 largemouth in Period 2.

The 10 finalists will take off at 6:30 a.m. CT Wednesday from Mansfield Dam Park, located at 4370 Mansfield Dam Park Road in Austin. The take-out will also be held at the park beginning at 3:15 p.m.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action from the final day of competition from 7 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! will be live-streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Knockout Round

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

1. Bobby Lane -- 28-01 (14) -- 3-01

2. Jacob Wheeler -- 24-11 (7) -- 5-04

3. Brent Ehrler -- 24-02 (11) -- 5-10

4. Casey Ashley -- 18-11 (9) -- 3-04

5. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 18-02 (10) -- 2-06

6. Cody Meyer -- 17-07 (8) -- 2-14

7. Stephen Browning -- 17-03 (6) -- 6-03

8. John Cox -- 16-10 (9) -- 2-03

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

9. Mike McClelland -- 16-04 (8) -- 3-06

10. David Dudley -- 16-02 (9) -- 2-12

11. Mark Rose -- 15-05 (7) -- 3-14

12. Russ Lane -- 14-10 (7) -- 5-05

13. Jared Lintner -- 14-10 (7) -- 3-10

14. Alton Jones -- 13-08 (3) -- 5-15

15. Anthony Gagliardi -- 13-04 (7) -- 2-04

16. Justin Lucas -- 12-15 (7) -- 2-04

17. Andy Montgomery -- 12-12 (5) -- 4-08

18. Michael Neal -- 12-05 (4) -- 5-14

19. Alton Jones Jr. -- 11-15 (6) -- 2-14

20. Ott DeFoe -- 11-10 (4) -- 4-12

21. Chris Lane -- 9-14 (5) -- 2-08

22. Takahiro Omori -- 9-06 (4) -- 3-00

23. Jesse Wiggins -- 9-01 (5) -- 2-04

24. Luke Clausen -- 8-14 (5) -- 2-01

25. Dave Lefebre -- 8-09 (3) -- 4-01

26. David Walker -- 8-07 (4) -- 2-09

27. Fred Roumbanis -- 8-05 (2) -- 4-06

28. Miles Burghoff -- 8-03 (5) -- 1-14

29. Fletcher Shryock -- 7-09 (4) -- 2-00

30. Edwin Evers -- 5-10 (3) -- 2-08

31. Gary Klein -- 5-00 (3) -- 1-13

32. Keith Poche -- 4-14 (2) -- 2-14

33. James Watson -- 4-02 (2) -- 2-08

34. Tommy Biffle -- 4-02 (1) -- 4-02

35. Ish Monroe -- 4-00 (2) -- 2-08

36. Gerald Spohrer -- 3-11 (2) -- 1-14

37. Roy Hawk -- 3-08 (2) -- 2-00

38. Dustin Connell -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00