By MLF Communications Staff
Andy Morgan boated 28 scorable largemouth bass Tuesday weighing 93-01 to win the Knockout Round at the MLF Bass Pro Tour regular-season finale at Lake St. Clair in Michigan. The final 10 anglers are now set, and competition will resume Wednesday morning with the Championship Round. Weights are zeroed, and the angler who catches the most weight will win the top prize of $100,000.
The Top 8 pros from the Knockout Round who will compete in the Championship Round are:
1st: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 28 bass, 93-01
2nd: Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., 23 bass, 70-04
3rd: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 23 bass, 69-03
4th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 23 bass, 68-04
5th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 26 bass, 67-01
6th: Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, 20 bass, 62-00
7th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 23 bass, 60-07
8th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 20 bass, 58-01
They’ll be joined by Qualifying Round winners:
Group A: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
Group B: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn.
“To be totally honest I am just tickled to have a good tournament right here at the end of the year,” Morgan said in his post-game interview. “It’s been a grueling journey for me this year, for sure; the toughest year of bass fishing that I have had since the beginning of my career. But we struggled through it, caught a few here and there and now have a strong ending to the season.”
Morgan put a big flipping stick with a heavy weight and braided line in his hands and went to work, Tuesday. He targeted largemouth, flipping shallow mats and vegetation and never put the flipping stick down throughout the day.
Jacob Wheeler locked up the first Angler of the Year title of his illustrious career.
“Whatever we can catch tomorrow, I’m pretty happy with it,” Morgan went on to say. “Of course we’re going to really try like hell to catch all we can catch, but no matter what, we caught them today. I may not catch one tomorrow, but I caught them today.”
Wheeler ended the Knockout Round in 5th place and punched his ticket to the Championship Round, clinching the 2021 BPT Angler of the Year (AOY) and the $50,000 prize. Wheeler, a three-time winner this year, needed to finish 12 spots ahead of Tennessee’s Ott DeFoe to clinch the title, and after DeFoe ended the event in 32nd place, Wheeler’s placement locked up the first career AOY title for the 31-year-old angler.
“Unbelievable. To win this award means so much to me,” Wheeler said when he learned that he had clinched the title. “There has been one title that has eluded me in my career – the Angler of the Year. I’ve had 2nds, 3rds, 4ths. After Stage Three at the Harris Chain I thought there was no way I was going to be able to make up the deficit. This has just been an unbelievable season.
“I need to give a huge shout out to Ott,” Wheeler continued. “He is an insane fisherman, just an insane angler. We pushed each other to fish harder, and he pushed me so much this year. Winning a championship event is awesome, but when you can win Angler of the Year that means you are the best for the entire year. And to do that against this group of anglers … I don’t know what to say. I am speechless.”
Morgan also won Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing a 6-05 largemouth bass that he caught flipping during Period 3.
The final 10 anglers will take off from the 9-Mile Ramp, located in St. Clair Shores, at 8 a.m. ET Wednesday. The takeout ceremony and trophy presentation will be held at the same location beginning at 5 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the Championship Round 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 event 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 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. 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. Andy Morgan -- 93-01 (28) -- 6-05
2. Fred Roumbanis -- 70-04 (23) -- 4-10
3. David Dudley -- 69-03 (23) -- 4-08
4. Scott Dobson -- 68-04 (23) -- 4-05
5. Jacob Wheeler -- 67-01 (26) -- 3-07
6. Gary Klein -- 62-00 (20) -- 4-11
7. Alton Jones Jr. -- 60-07 (23) -- 3-08
8. Adrian Avena -- 58-01 (20) -- 5-01
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Championship Round
9. Bradley Roy -- 54-09 (19) -- 5-02
10. Zack Birge -- 54-02 (18) -- 4-02
11. Jesse Wiggins -- 53-01 (17) -- 6-01
12. Russ Lane -- 49-13 (17) -- 4-03
13. Stephen Browning -- 45-13 (16) -- 3-11
14. Skeet Reese -- 45-08 (15) -- 4-06
15. Mark Davis -- 45-00 (14) -- 4-07
16. Matt Lee -- 41-02 (14) -- 4-02
17. Dustin Connell -- 39-12 (14) -- 3-15
18. Brandon Coulter -- 39-02 (13) -- 4-08
19. Bryan Thrift -- 37-02 (11) -- 4-00
20. Jeff Sprague -- 34-10 (13) -- 3-14
21. Jason Lambert -- 34-05 (13) -- 3-08
22. Justin Lucas -- 34-04 (12) -- 4-13
23. Anthony Gagliardi -- 32-11 (11) -- 4-08
24. Paul Elias -- 31-07 (11) -- 4-02
25. Fletcher Shryock -- 31-01 (12) -- 3-13
26. Luke Clausen -- 30-12 (12) -- 3-10
27. Mark Rose -- 30-10 (10) -- 4-05
28. Brett Hite -- 29-14 (10) -- 4-09
29. Kevin VanDam -- 28-08 (11) -- 3-04
30. Ott DeFoe -- 27-11 (11) -- 3-04
31. Gerald Spohrer -- 25-08 (10) -- 4-13
32. Bobby Lane -- 25-03 (9) -- 5-05
33. James Watson -- 21-12 (8) -- 4-02
34. Dean Rojas -- 21-07 (9) -- 2-14
35. Alton Jones -- 21-02 (9) -- 3-00
36. Ish Monroe -- 20-09 (7) -- 3-10
37. Matthew Stefan -- 19-05 (6) -- 4-09
38. Scott Suggs -- 11-07 (4) -- 3-08
