By MLF Communications Staff

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. – Cayuga Lake is on fire. Literally, and figuratively.

The smoke blowing through upstate New York from the Canadian wildfires has created a very unique environment for the 80 anglers on the Bass Pro Tour competing on Cayuga Lake this week, as many of the anglers fished Wednesday in an orange-tinted haze with low visibility conditions. The good news is it had zero effect on the fishing, however, as Cayuga Lake showed out again and demonstrated why it is one of the premier fisheries in the country.

Cody Meyer of Star, Idaho, caught seven scorable bass Wednesday, with his best five weighing 26 pounds, 11 ounces, to lead Day 1 for Qualifying Group B. Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark., sits just 10 ounces behind Meyer in second place with five bass weighing 26-01.

The 40 anglers in Group B will now have an off day on Thursday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group A will complete their two-day Qualifying Round. Group B will conclude their Qualifying Round on Friday.

Meyer came into the day with a couple of patterns in mind, but it turned out he only needed one — fishing for spawning smallmouth.

“I had a couple of smallmouth marked on beds from practice, but I really didn’t plan to focus on smallmouth all day,” Meyer said. “I thought I would catch a few spawning then move to the grass for largemouth, but the smallmouth I found were just too big to pass up.”

Meyer caught all of his scorable bass Wednesday on a dropshot rig, using a Yamamoto Shad Shape worm on the southern end of the lake. While he was focused on spawners, it turned out that the smallmouth didn’t necessarily care about the bottom composition of where they built their beds. It was more about the general area, according to Meyer.

“I caught one on a bluff and one on a boat dock, but it was more about this 5-mile stretch of water,” Meyer said. “These fish were all massive and anchored down hard in that area. If you could find them, there was a good chance you could get them to bite.”

Meyer plans to head back out on Friday with a similar plan to make the cut.

“I want to get down south again and keep trying to look for smallmouth,” Meyer went on to say. “It was just so windy and rough today that it was really hard to go looking for them after the second period. Everyone is catching them so well right now I’m going to need another really good day just to make the cut.”

Throwing a spinnerbait, Greg Vinson caught a 6-14 largemouth in Period 3 to earn Wednesday’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.

After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the Top 20 anglers from each group advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round, where weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from Frontenac Park, located at 15 Creamery Road in Union Springs. Takeouts are 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 MLFNOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

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



Qualifying Group B – Day 1

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

1. Cody Meyer -- 26-11 (5) -- 5-12

2. Spencer Shuffield -- 26-01 (5) -- 6-03

3. Dean Rojas -- 25-10 (5) -- 5-11

4. Alton Jones Jr. -- 24-12 (5) -- 5-03

5. Jonathon VanDam -- 24-10 (5) -- 5-06

6. Matt Becker -- 24-02 (5) -- 5-04

7. Chris Lane -- 23-04 (5) -- 5-04

8. David Dudley -- 23-02 (5) -- 5-00

9. Ott DeFoe -- 22-14 (5) -- 5-06

10. Casey Ashley -- 22-13 (5) -- 6-03

11. Britt Myers -- 21-14 (5) -- 4-13

12. Cole Floyd -- 21-09 (5) -- 5-07

13. Andy Montgomery -- 21-06 (5) -- 4-12

14. Cliff Crochet -- 21-06 (5) -- 4-10

15. Mark Rose -- 21-04 (5) -- 4-15

16. Greg Vinson -- 21-03 (5) -- 6-14

17. Adrian Avena -- 21-02 (5) -- 5-04

18. Roy Hawk -- 21-01 (5) -- 5-15

19. Andy Morgan -- 20-01 (5) -- 4-12

20. Timmy Horton -- 19-11 (5) -- 4-06

21. Michael Neal -- 19-11 (5) -- 4-06

22. James Watson -- 19-10 (5) -- 4-02

23. Marty Robinson -- 19-05 (5) -- 5-04

24. Fletcher Shryock -- 19-02 (5) -- 4-07

25. Ryan Salzman -- 18-08 (5) -- 5-08

26. Jordan Lee -- 18-04 (5) -- 5-07

27. Terry Scroggins -- 18-04 (5) -- 5-07

28. Anthony Gagliardi -- 18-00 (5) -- 4-02

29. Randy Howell -- 17-11 (5) -- 4-00

30. Takahiro Omori -- 17-10 (5) -- 4-01

31. Brent Chapman -- 17-07 (5) -- 4-03

32. Josh Butler -- 17-02 (5) -- 5-04

33. Boyd Duckett -- 17-02 (5) -- 4-10

34. Dave Lefebre -- 17-01 (5) -- 3-14

35. Bryan Thrift -- 15-13 (5) -- 3-04

36. Kelly Jordon -- 15-00 (5) -- 5-10

37. Randall Tharp -- 14-04 (5) -- 4-05

38. Wesley Strader -- 13-13 (5) -- 3-13

39. Mitch Crane -- 12-01 (3) -- 5-04

40. David Walker -- 11-15 (5) -- 3-10