By MLF Communications Staff

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. – Kevin VanDam caught eight scorable bass Thursday, with his best five going for 24 pounds, 6 ounces. His two-day total of 10 bass weighing 52-07 was enough to best the 39 other anglers in Group A in the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Cayuga Lake.

"So far, the tournament is going real well for me,” the angler from Kalamazoo, Mich., said in his post-game interview. “I feel like today was a productive day. I knew that I’d have to catch a good limit to move on to the Knockout Round, so I was able to do that early and then spend the rest of the day moving around trying to find more fish.”

Like Day 1 on Tuesday, VanDam caught the majority of his weight early, sight-fishing with a dropshot rig.

“When I put 28-01 on the scales, it opened everybody’s eyes that first day and it got a lot of people sight-fishing for smallmouth (today) that didn’t the first day. And some of those guys ended up getting in (to the Knockout Round). I think the majority of the field will likely be fishing for smallmouth, and probably in very similar sections of the lake. So the Knockout Round is going to be the real challenging day.

“I know I’m just going to have to execute,” VanDam continued. “The history that I have fishing for smallmouth this time of year definitely gives me a lot of confidence. I’ve got a lot of fish located, I’ve covered a whole lot of water and I feel like I’ve got a really good gameplan. It’s going to come down to getting a couple of those bigger bites – it’s going to take a lot of weight just to make the Championship Round. We’ll see what happens; I’m looking forward to it.”

VanDam’s weight was 2 pounds heavier than his nearest competitor, Jared Lintner of Covington, Ga., who finished the round in second place with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 50-07. Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., boated a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 49-05 to end the round in third place, while Hot Springs, Ark.'s Dylan Hays finished the day in fourth with a two-day total of 10 bass for 49-05. Reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) Jacob Wheeler of Harrison, Tenn., rounded out the Top 5 with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 46-08.

The remaining anglers from Group A will now have an off day from competition Friday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will complete their two-day Qualifying Round. The Top 20 anglers from each group will 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.

Lintner caught the largest five-bass weight on the day – 27-04 – and he also earned Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a 7-02 smallmouth that he caught on a dropshot rig – the second-largest smallmouth ever weighed in Bass Pro Tour history. 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.

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 A – Day 2

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

1. Kevin VanDam -- 28-01 (5) -- 24-06 (5) -- 52-07 (10) -- 5-05

2. Jared Lintner -- 23-03 (5) -- 27-04 (5) -- 50-07 (10) -- 7-02

3. Dustin Connell -- 24-06 (5) -- 24-15 (5) -- 49-05 (10) -- 5-08

4. Dylan Hays -- 22-01 (5) -- 25-01 (5) -- 47-02 (10) -- 5-07

5. Jacob Wheeler -- 25-10 (5) -- 20-14 (5) -- 46-08 (10) -- 4-14

6. Edwin Evers -- 25-03 (5) -- 21-03 (5) -- 46-06 (10) -- 6-03

7. Bradley Roy -- 22-02 (5) -- 23-03 (5) -- 45-05 (10) -- 5-06

8. Cliff Pace -- 25-15 (5) -- 18-13 (5) -- 44-12 (10) -- 5-06

9. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 21-08 (5) -- 23-01 (5) -- 44-09 (10) -- 4-13

10. Alton Jones -- 21-15 (5) -- 22-06 (5) -- 44-05 (10) -- 5-08

11. Dakota Ebare -- 21-09 (5) -- 21-09 (5) -- 43-02 (10) -- 5-08

12. Jesse Wiggins -- 16-09 (5) -- 26-04 (5) -- 42-13 (10) -- 6-00

13. Zack Birge -- 22-03 (5) -- 20-08 (5) -- 42-11 (10) -- 5-01

14. Jeff Sprague -- 20-14 (5) -- 21-10 (5) -- 42-08 (10) -- 4-12

15. Skeet Reese -- 15-07 (5) -- 26-08 (5) -- 41-15 (10) -- 5-11

16. Mark Davis -- 24-11 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 41-06 (10) -- 4-09

17. Scott Suggs -- 22-15 (5) -- 18-03 (5) -- 41-02 (10) -- 4-03

18. Keith Poche -- 19-04 (5) -- 21-14 (5) -- 41-02 (10) -- 4-12

19. Justin Lucas -- 23-12 (5) -- 17-03 (5) -- 40-15 (10) -- 4-00

20. Brent Ehrler -- 21-04 (5) -- 19-08 (5) -- 40-12 (10) -- 6-00

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

21. Luke Clausen -- 24-03 (5) -- 16-01 (5) -- 40-04 (10) -- 4-06

22. Brandon Coulter -- 18-07 (5) -- 21-09 (5) -- 40-00 (10) -- 5-00

23. Gerald Spohrer -- 16-12 (5) -- 23-04 (5) -- 40-00 (10) -- 5-00

24. Russ Lane -- 19-01 (5) -- 20-11 (5) -- 39-12 (10) -- 4-06

25. Jeremy Lawyer -- 19-15 (5) -- 19-02 (5) -- 39-01 (10) -- 4-06

26. John Hunter -- 16-09 (5) -- 21-03 (5) -- 37-12 (10) -- 4-15

27. Todd Faircloth -- 15-04 (5) -- 22-07 (5) -- 37-11 (10) -- 5-15

28. John Murray -- 12-08 (5) -- 24-09 (5) -- 37-01 (10) -- 5-06

29. Tommy Biffle -- 14-03 (5) -- 22-08 (5) -- 36-11 (10) -- 5-09

30. Fred Roumbanis -- 20-01 (5) -- 16-04 (5) -- 36-05 (10) -- 4-07

31. Gary Klein -- 14-11 (5) -- 21-08 (5) -- 36-03 (10) -- 5-00

32. Nick Lebrun -- 18-03 (5) -- 17-09 (5) -- 35-12 (10) -- 4-00

33. Stephen Browning -- 17-15 (5) -- 17-10 (5) -- 35-09 (10) -- 4-09

34. James Elam -- 22-10 (5) -- 12-10 (5) -- 35-04 (10) -- 3-05

35. Jacob Wall -- 19-00 (5) -- 14-09 (5) -- 33-09 (10) -- 3-11

36. Josh Bertrand -- 15-02 (5) -- 18-03 (4) -- 33-05 (9) -- 5-04

37. Shin Fukae -- 15-06 (5) -- 15-13 (5) -- 31-03 (10) -- 3-10

38. Brett Hite -- 12-09 (4) -- 11-03 (4) -- 23-12 (8) -- 4-07

39. Matt Lee -- 5-13 (2) -- 17-02 (5) -- 22-15 (7) -- 5-10

40. Jeff Kriet -- 15-01 (5) -- 6-09 (3) -- 21-10 (8) -- 4-00