By MLF Communications Staff

Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Florida, boated 14 bass weighing 34-02 to hold off a hard-charging Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee, and win the two-day Group B Qualifying Round at the Harris Chain MLF Bass Pro Tour event in Leesburg, Florida. After Lane started the day with a 24-pound lead, DeFoe’s massive rally had him within 8 pounds early in the second period, but Lane pulled away in the third and prevailed with a two-day total of 39 bass weighing 102-06.

DeFoe caught a two-day total of 35 bass weighing 78-02 to end the round in 2nd place, while Skeet Rese of Auburn, California, finished the round in 3rd place with a two-day total of 22 bass weighing 60 pounds even.

The remaining 38 anglers – 19 from Group A and 19 from Group B – will now compete Tuesday in the Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and the anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to Championship Round on Wednesday. The final round will feature Group A winner Brett Hite, Lane and the eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“I really didn’t plan on fishing that hard today, but Ott DeFoe scared the living fire out of me,” Lane said in his post-game interview. “I had been planning to start practicing in the second period, but Ott was catching them so fast I knew it was only a matter of time before I was his next victim. We’re all competitors out here, though, and it doesn’t get much better than that. That was an awesome round.”

Lane said his key bait Monday was a black and blue-colored Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General Worm, fished with a 1/2-ounce Flat Out Tungsten Screw In weight on a 7-foot, 6-inch heavy-action Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier rod with an Abu Garcia REVO IKE casting reel spooled with 50-pound Spiderwire Ultracast Braid line.

“That bait really got it done for me today,” Lane said. “I missed a lot of fish, but I think a lot of them were small. But none of that matters anymore because we’re moving on to the Championship Round. There will only be 10 of us left on Wednesday, and I’m so excited because I get to keep a flipping stick in my hand all day long. Let’s see if this Florida boy can get it done on one of his favorite lakes.”

DeFoe, meanwhile, overcame every negative fishing superstition that you can think of on his whirlwind day.

“I ate a banana in my boat this morning, and on my very first cast I missed one on a swimjig,” DeFoe said. “So, not only did I have a banana, but I had a bite on my first cast. I did miss it, but after that it was on, quick. I caught a couple of scorable bass, then I caught a really nice one, and then it just kept rolling after that.

“The morning was really unbelievable and set the tone for the day,” DeFoe continued. “On Saturday I went to Lake Griffin, but today I stayed close and was able to use the 30-minute ride-around period to actually look around. I graphed and idled and looked at some different stuff, and by the time the 30 minutes was close to being up, I had idled a stretch that had Kissimmee grass, a few docks, and some baitfish flipping. I just figured that looked as good as anywhere to start. It ended up being pretty special.”

DeFoe said he caught some fish on a swimjig and a topwater bait, but his key lure was a Rapala OG Slim Crankbait in a new color – bream – set to debut at ICAST in July.

“That bait has some chartreuse and green and blue and some brown, with a white belly – it’s just an excellent dirty-water color, and that’s what we’ve got out there right now with the algae bloom,” DeFoe said.

“There is definitely some fish left there that I didn’t catch, and I’m definitely going to start there tomorrow. But, what was interesting, the area I started in and I fished down through there … eventually I ran into Andy Montgomery, who was catching them this morning. Then a little bit later, (James) Watson runs by and he was catching them today. And Alton Jones came by, and he caught them today. That area of the lake, there was a lot of fish caught today, so I hope it can produce again tomorrow.”

Aaron Martens caught a 7-02 largemouth on a creature craw in Period 2 to win the day's $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler who weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

Anglers take off from the Venetian Gardens Ski Beach Boat Ramp, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive, in Leesburg, at 6:30 a.m. ET each day of competition. Each day’s takeout is also be held at the Gardens, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend, but encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all six days of competition from 6:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Group B Qualifying Round – Day 2

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

1. Bobby Lane -- 68-04 (25) -- 34-02 (14) -- 102-06 (39) -- 6-14

2. Ott DeFoe -- 11-14 (6) -- 66-04 (29) -- 78-02 (35) -- 3-13

3. Skeet Reese -- 27-05 (12) -- 32-11 (10) -- 60-00 (22) -- 7-01

4. David Walker -- 44-04 (14) -- 15-06 (7) -- 59-10 (21) -- 4-08

5. Mark Davis -- 36-01 (14) -- 21-09 (10) -- 57-10 (24) -- 6-11

6. Mark Rose -- 23-15 (9) -- 33-05 (16) -- 57-04 (25) -- 4-14

7. Adrian Avena -- 35-10 (16) -- 21-09 (7) -- 57-03 (23) -- 6-04

8. Keith Poche -- 40-08 (15) -- 14-00 (6) -- 54-08 (21) -- 6-00

9. Fletcher Shryock -- 31-04 (10) -- 16-15 (8) -- 48-03 (18) -- 8-06

10. James Watson -- 5-14 (3) -- 41-12 (16) -- 47-10 (19) -- 4-13

11. John Cox -- 28-02 (7) -- 19-07 (8) -- 47-09 (15) -- 6-12

12. Andy Montgomery -- 11-15 (4) -- 35-01 (15) -- 47-00 (19) -- 4-10

13. Spencer Shuffield -- 5-10 (3) -- 39-13 (14) -- 45-07 (17) -- 5-03

14. Anthony Gagliardi -- 26-10 (11) -- 17-12 (8) -- 44-06 (19) -- 3-06

15. Jesse Wiggins -- 20-01 (8) -- 24-02 (10) -- 44-03 (18) -- 5-07

16. Wesley Strader -- 20-06 (10) -- 23-10 (9) -- 44-00 (19) -- 4-10

17. Chris Lane -- 27-03 (11) -- 15-12 (6) -- 42-15 (17) -- 5-09

18. Gerald Spohrer -- 17-00 (6) -- 24-12 (12) -- 41-12 (18) -- 4-06

19. John Murray -- 7-08 (3) -- 32-14 (14) -- 40-06 (17) -- 3-12

20. Timmy Horton -- 14-00 (5) -- 25-14 (9) -- 39-14 (14) -- 6-08

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

21. Alton Jones -- 9-10 (4) -- 29-15 (12) -- 39-09 (16) -- 4-11

22. Scott Suggs -- 16-08 (8) -- 22-14 (10) -- 39-06 (18) -- 4-10

23. Justin Lucas -- 27-02 (9) -- 12-01 (5) -- 39-03 (14) -- 5-03

24. Jordan Lee -- 17-14 (4) -- 20-10 (7) -- 38-08 (11) -- 6-09

25. Andy Morgan -- 15-06 (8) -- 20-03 (9) -- 35-09 (17) -- 2-15

26. Bryan Thrift -- 14-10 (8) -- 19-02 (6) -- 33-12 (14) -- 6-14

27. Roy Hawk -- 13-08 (5) -- 19-02 (10) -- 32-10 (15) -- 4-07

28. Tai Au -- 21-00 (8) -- 8-06 (5) -- 29-06 (13) -- 4-08

29. Kelly Jordon -- 12-04 (4) -- 15-14 (6) -- 28-02 (10) -- 5-10

30. Matt Lee -- 10-01 (4) -- 17-11 (6) -- 27-12 (10) -- 6-09

31. Mike McClelland -- 15-12 (8) -- 10-06 (3) -- 26-02 (11) -- 5-12

32. Tommy Biffle -- 11-15 (6) -- 13-15 (5) -- 25-14 (11) -- 4-13

33. Gary Klein -- 9-14 (4) -- 14-08 (7) -- 24-06 (11) -- 3-00

34. Cliff Pace -- 1-09 (1) -- 20-03 (9) -- 21-12 (10) -- 4-07

35. Jason Lambert -- 5-09 (3) -- 16-03 (7) -- 21-12 (10) -- 4-05

36. Zack Birge -- 14-08 (4) -- 6-06 (3) -- 20-14 (7) -- 7-14

37. Ish Monroe -- 10-13 (4) -- 9-04 (4) -- 20-01 (8) -- 5-11

38. Russ Lane -- 8-03 (3) -- 10-14 (5) -- 19-01 (8) -- 3-07

39. Luke Clausen -- 6-07 (3) -- 11-15 (6) -- 18-06 (9) -- 3-02

40. Aaron Martens -- 2-04 (1) -- 14-02 (5) -- 16-06 (6) -- 7-02