Major League Fishing announced today the results of the inaugural General Tire Team Series Draft at a live press event at ICAST in Orlando, Fla.
The Team Series will succeed the current MLF Cup events and will showcase the 80 anglers who compete on the Bass Pro Tour, joined by the MLF Pro Circuit TITLE champion, competing as three-man teams across four events for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash payouts.
The inaugural Team Series Draft took place on June 1 in Spring City, Tenn., where the Top 27 Bass Pro Tour anglers (based on 2021 Angler of the Year points standings) selected two additional BPT anglers to create 27 three-man teams that will compete over the three qualifying events. Captains made selections in inverse order of their placement in the final standings.
Team members will be in constant communication with their teammates during competition via wireless earpieces, allowing them to work together to develop real-time strategies and adapt on the water to create a new format never before seen on television.
Each qualifying event will feature nine teams divided into three groups. Each group competition will feature three teams competing over two days to accumulate the highest total two-day weight. The group winners – three teams from each qualifying event – will advance to the Team Series Championship, which will showcase the nine winning teams competing for a top prize of $300,000.
“We’re incredibly excited to launch the General Tire Team Series following our extremely successful pilot episode that aired earlier this year, and reveal the team selections from the inaugural draft,” said Jim Wilburn, MLF President and CEO. “We’re confident that the unique partnerships throughout the field will result in some extraordinary matchups and create some exhilarating television for our anglers and fans alike.”
Following traditional MLF Cup event protocols, Team Series anglers will not be told the host destination until two weeks prior to each event and will only discover which fishery they are competing on after arriving at the boat ramp the morning of competition.
MLF announced filming dates for the 2022 Team Series in an earlier release, however the events will be shot "in the dark", with the location of the fisheries kept private until the episodes premiere in January 2023 on the Outdoor Channel.
General Tire Team Series Draft Results:
> CAPTAIN: Mark Rose, PICK 1: Jordan Lee, PICK 28: Luke Clausen
> CAPTAIN: Alton Jones, Sr., PICK 2: Edwin Evers, PICK 29: John Murray
> CAPTAIN: James Elam, PICK 3: Brent Chapman, PICK 30: Jonathon VanDam
> CAPTAIN: Josh Bertrand, PICK 4: Andy Morgan, PICK 31: Brandon Coulter
> CAPTAIN: Adrian Avena, PICK 5: Mark Daniels, Jr., PICK 32: Randy Howell
> CAPTAIN: Dustin Connell, PICK 6: Cole Floyd, PICK 33: Fred Roumbanis
> CAPTAIN: Andy Montgomery, PICK 7: Cody Meyer, PICK 34: James Watson
> CAPTAIN: David Dudley, PICK 8: Zack Birge, PICK 35: Clabion Johns
> CAPTAIN: Shin Fukae, PICK 9: Fletcher Shryock, PICK 36: Marty Robinson
> CAPTAIN: Greg Vinson, PICK 10: Bradley Roy, PICK 37: Ryan Salzman
> CAPTAIN: Kevin VanDam, PICK 11: Todd Faircloth, PICK 38: David Walker
> CAPTAIN: Takahiro Omori, PICK 12: Casey Ashley, PICK 39: Dean Rojas
> CAPTAIN: Bryan Thrift, PICK 13: Anthony Gagliardi, PICK 40: Terry Scroggins
> CAPTAIN: Jesse Wiggins, PICK 14: Matt Lee, PICK 41: Dave Lefebre
> CAPTAIN: Wesley Strader, PICK 15: Scott Suggs, PICK 42: Mike McClelland
> CAPTAIN: Mark Davis, PICK 16: Gary Klein, PICK 43: Cliff Pace
> CAPTAIN: Skeet Reese, PICK 17: Jeremy Lawyer, PICK 44: Shaw Grigsby
> CAPTAIN: Bobby Lane, PICK 18: Chris Lane, PICK 45: Jimmy Washam
> CAPTAIN: Jeff Sprague, PICK 19: Randall Tharp, PICK 46: Cliff Crochet
> CAPTAIN: Gerald Spohrer, PICK 20: Dakota Ebare, PICK 47: Ish Monroe
> CAPTAIN: Alton Jones, Jr., PICK 21: Britt Myers, PICK 48: Roy Hawk
> CAPTAIN: Stephen Browning, PICK 22: Jeff Kriet, PICK 49: Timmy Horton
> CAPTAIN: Justin Lucas, PICK 23: Jared Lintner, PICK 50: Boyd Duckett
> CAPTAIN: Michael Neal, PICK 24: Russ Lane, PICK 51: Paul Elias
> CAPTAIN: Brent Ehrler, PICK 25: Brett Hite, PICK 52: Tommy Biffle
> CAPTAIN: Ott DeFoe, PICK 26: Keith Poche, PICK 53: Kelly Jordon
> CAPTAIN: Jacob Wheeler, PICK 27: Dylan Hays, PICK 54: Jason Lambert
