By MLF Communications Staff

BAY CITY, Mich. – Major League Fishing is set to conclude the fifth season of the Bass Pro Tour this week on Saginaw Bay and the Saginaw River. Competition days are today through Sunday

While Saginaw Bay has hosted numerous BFL tournaments over the years, this will be the first time that MLF's pro-level circuit has visited the Michigan fishery. However, Kalamazoo’s Jonathon VanDam said he doesn’t expect it to be the last.

“Saginaw Bay is kind of an unknown body of water to a lot of people, but it’s very different than what you would expect from your typical Great Lakes fisheries,” said VanDam. “The bay is relatively shallow compared to most of the Great Lakes and the areas that you see around them, so there are a lot of marshlands, reeds and shallow, matted vegetation.

“It almost looks like Lake Okeechobee in some ways, with a lot of cattails and emergent grass,” VanDam continued. “With that much vegetation, there’s been a substantial population of largemouth the last few years that have definitely become a player in the bay itself.”

Saginaw Bay is a part of Lake Huron, with 1,143 square miles of water – not including the 22-mile-long Saginaw River, which is also in play for competitors – and has been dominated by world-class walleye and perch fishing for decades. However, in recent years local bass tournaments have started putting Saginaw Bay on the map, and VanDam said it isn’t hard to see why.

“Some of the biggest smallmouth in the Great Lakes are in Lake Huron,” said VanDam. “They move into Saginaw Bay in the springtime and you’ll see tournament bags of 26 to 27 pounds, but you don’t see that a lot in the summer. They tend to migrate out to the deeper water towards the lake a little more during this time of year, which will be outside the tournament competition areas for this event.”

VanDam said despite the timing, there will definitely still be some quality smallmouth to be caught.

“They are super scattered this time of year and not grouped up, but if a guy can find them and figure them out, they can do really well,” said VanDam. “I expect the majority of the fish caught during the event will be largemouth. We had an abnormally mild winter, with no ice coverage, causing the Great Lakes to drop about 18 inches from last year – that’s a big deal, especially taking into consideration the shallow vegetation in Saginaw Bay.”

VanDam said he expects to see the guys targeting smallmouth to be throwing the typical dropshot rigs and tubes, while those targeting largemouth will be pulling out frogs, swimjigs, topwater and buzzbaits.

“There have been some pretty solid weights coming out of there the past couple of weeks, so I think it will take about 14 to 15 pounds per day to make it into the Knockout Round and probably 17 to 18 pounds to make the Championship Round cut,” said VanDam. “I’m really excited to see the circuit go to a new fishery. I’ve been there a handful of times, but it’s a really big body of water, so I’m not super familiar with it myself and am looking forward to it.

“My wife’s family is from there, so we’ll have a really good support crew,” continued VanDam. “Obviously, the main focus during this event will be Uncle Kevin’s last Tour event of his career. It’s going to be an exciting time to celebrate with him.”

Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from the Golson Boat Launch, located at 1598 N. Johnson St. in Bay City. Each day’s takeout will be held at the launch location, 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.

As part of the event, on Saturday and Sunday, the MLF Fan Experience will be taking place at Wenonah Park in Bay City from 1 to 6 p.m. MLF will welcome fans of all ages to celebrate fishing and the outdoors with free giveaways, local vendors, photo opportunities with pro anglers and PAW Patrol characters and the opportunity for fans to hang out and watch the pros live on the MLFNOW! big screen during the MLF Watch Party. The first 100 kids onsite each day will get a free rod and reel combo, and fans can also check out the latest gear and offerings from MLF and sponsors including Toyota, Suzuki, the U.S. Air Force, Humminbird, Minn Kota and Kubota.

On Sunday, the 10 Championship Round anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies. Kalamazoo’s own Kevin VanDam will be onsite throughout the weekend to celebrate his final regular-season professional tournament with fans.

The event will feature pros competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, with each angler’s five heaviest bass tallied as their day’s weight. 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 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Tuesday and Thursday, with the 40 anglers in Group B fishing on Wednesday and Friday. 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. Weight carries over from the Knockout Round to the Championship Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

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