By MLF Communications Staff

Michael Neal caught 36 bass totaling 120-13 to grab the early lead for Group A on day 1 of the Lake St. Clair Bass Pro Tour event in St. Clair Shores, Mich.

Neal take an 18-09 lead into Sunday’s second day of competition for Group A. In 2nd place is the red-hot Jacob Wheeler, who caught 39 bass totaling 102-04. Russ Lane sits in 3rd place – 1 ounce behind Wheeler – with 33 bass weighing 102-03.

The 40 anglers in Group A will now have the day off on Saturday while the 39 anglers competing in Group B will begin their first day of competition. Group A will be back in action on Sunday.

“It was a heck of a day. It’ll be interesting to see if I can get back our here on Sunday or not,” Neal said, pondering the weather forecast. “If I can’t, I’m going to have to try to come up with a different plan to try to win the round.”

Neal spent pretty much his entire day fishing the same general area – a spot that he described as a big grass flat with a few irregularities – using multiple baits and techniques. In Period 1, Neal relied on a dropshot rig and boated six bass. In Period 2, he mixed a jerkbait into his repertoire and along with the dropshot added another 10 scorable bass. In Period 3, Neal caught fire with a medium-diving crankbait and caught another 20 scorable bass (2 pounds or heavier).

“Whenever it is calm enough to fish, I’m all in on the area that I fished today,” Neal added. “There are tons of fish there, but I don’t know how long they’ll stay or if the wind will move them or what. We’ll have to see what happens. Regardless, today has been a really fun day.”

Straight off of his back-to-back Bass Pro Tour victories, Wheeler maintained his torrid pace.

“It was another incredible day,” Wheeler said. “I stayed on them all day long. It was great to have another 100-pound day, but we’ve still got a lot of work left ahead of us. It’s a solid start, though. And I’ve got a chance to win the round, and that’s really all that you can ask for after day 1.”

Ish Monroe won the Berkley Big Bass Award and earned $1,000 Friday for weighing a 5-13 largemouth bass on a frog during Period 3. 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.

After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers who finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Wednesday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to the Championship Round, where weights are again zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers will take off from the 9-Mile Ramp, located in St. Clair Shores, at 8 a.m. ET each day of competition. With strong winds being forecast for Saturday, Bass Pro Tour Tournament Director Aaron Beshears has decided to allow tournament competitors to trailer their boats. Anglers must remain at the 9-Mile Boat Ramp until 8 a.m. and then will be allowed to depart to the desired launch ramp of their choosing.

The takeout will also be held at the 9-Mile facility beginning at 5 p.m. each day. Fans are welcome to attend all takeoff and takeout ceremonies and also 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 break down the extended action on each day of competition from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! will be live-streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Group A Qualifying Round – Day 1

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

1. Michael Neal -- 120-13 (36) -- 4-15

2. Jacob Wheeler -- 102-04 (39) -- 3-15

3. Russ Lane -- 102-03 (33) -- 4-14

4. Bryan Thrift -- 98-06 (28) -- 5-12

5. Gary Klein -- 80-06 (28) -- 4-11

6. Jesse Wiggins -- 66-08 (22) -- 4-15

7. Gerald Spohrer -- 63-01 (21) -- 4-09

8. Brett Hite -- 48-09 (15) -- 4-12

9. Ish Monroe -- 48-03 (16) -- 5-13

10. Luke Clausen -- 45-11 (16) -- 4-12

11. Adrian Avena -- 41-14 (14) -- 4-09

12. Jeff Sprague -- 40-07 (15) -- 3-15

13. Fletcher Shryock -- 40-01 (15) -- 4-01

14. John Murray -- 39-11 (15) -- 3-08

15. Takahiro Omori -- 38-14 (16) -- 3-08

16. Cliff Pace -- 38-10 (12) -- 5-07

17. Matthew Stefan -- 37-13 (12) -- 5-01

18. Kevin VanDam -- 36-12 (13) -- 4-06

19. Shin Fukae -- 36-10 (13) -- 4-05

20. Keith Poche -- 36-05 (13) -- 3-08

21. Chris Lane -- 35-13 (12) -- 4-12

22. Brent Ehrler -- 35-09 (14) -- 3-12

23. Casey Ashley -- 32-03 (12) -- 3-12

24. Skeet Reese -- 29-13 (9) -- 4-09

25. Paul Elias -- 26-05 (9) -- 4-01

26. Randall Tharp -- 25-13 (9) -- 4-12

27. James Watson -- 25-02 (7) -- 5-12

28. Josh Bertrand -- 24-12 (9) -- 3-07

29. Todd Faircloth -- 23-08 (9) -- 3-15

30. Brent Chapman -- 20-03 (7) -- 3-14

31. Joey Cifuentes -- 20-00 (7) -- 4-03

32. Marty Robinson -- 18-07 (7) -- 3-05

33. Roy Hawk -- 18-03 (6) -- 3-10

34. Anthony Gagliardi -- 13-06 (4) -- 4-10

35. Bradley Roy -- 13-05 (5) -- 3-08

36. David Walker -- 10-09 (4) -- 3-04

37. Randy Howell -- 10-09 (4) -- 3-01

38. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 8-07 (3) -- 3-07

39. Tommy Biffle -- 3-10 (1) -- 3-10