By MLF Communications Staff
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. – After a slow, chilly start to the morning, Major League Fishing pros at Douglas Lake were greeted with a little sunshine and a fired-up fishery half-way through Period 1. While the top spot on the leaderboard saw several names throughout the morning, Randy Howell of Guntersville, Alabama caught a 5--14 whopper midway through Period 2 to take over and maintain the lead.
The weights are stacked at the top of the leaderboard after Day 1, with Howell bringing a modest lead into Monday’s second day of competition for Group A. He finished the day with a 7-ounce lead over second-place angler Adrian Avena of Vineland, New Jersey, who weighed a five-bass limit totaling 14-11. Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Alabama sits in third place with a five-bass limit weighing 14-05, while local pro Brandon Coulter of Knoxville, Tennessee finished the day in fourth place with a five-bass limit totaling 13-14. Edwin Evers of Talala, Oklahoma finished the day with 5 bass weighing 13-11 to round out the Top 5.
The 40 anglers in Group A will now have an off day on Sunday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will begin their first day of competition. Group A will resume fishing on Monday.
While the temperature never got above 47 degrees, that was enough to see some big moves, especially in the second and third periods. The one-hour delay in competition times for this event proved to be key for many of the pros, as the afternoon bite shook up most of the Top 10 in the final period.
Avena was among the big movers in Period 3, going from 22nd into 2nd, while Coulter moved from 25th into 4th and Chris Lane of Guntersville, Alabama rose from 11th into 6th. Kalamazoo, Michigan’s Kevin VanDam moved from 21st into the 8th spot, but the biggest move of the day was by Evers, who catapulted from 32nd place into 5th.
Of the Top 6 pros, five caught fish over 4 pounds and every angler within the top 13 caught a fish weighing more than 3 pounds.
“That one 5-pound, 14-ounce fish saved me today and made a huge difference between me having a decent 12- to 13-pound bag and leading the day,” said Howell. “It’s not been an easy day, but that big largemouth really got me over the hump and got my confidence up.
“I caught a 3-pounder before that, then closed out my limit, culling once or twice, but the key today was just keeping a bunch of small crankbaits in my hand,” continued Howell. “Coming into Day 1, I thought without a big bite, catching 12 pounds a day would make the cut pretty easily, but after today I’m starting to think 10 pounds per day will do it.”
Howell said he caught most of his fish on a Livingston Howeller DMC Jr., a Jerkmaster Jr. and a Yamamoto Senko.
“The Livingston Jerkmaster Jr. is one of the baits that performed well in practice,” said Howell. “I didn’t do as much on it today but the Howeller Jr. – a smaller version of my bigger Howeller bait – was definitely a key bait today. I rotated back and forth between crawfish and shad-colored, throwing them on my Daiwa Tatula Elite 7-foot medium-light Shallow Cranking Rod, with 12-pound Daiwa J-Fluoro Samurai line.
“Everything’s worked good for us today and the Lord has really blessed me,” Howell continued. “I’m so thankful for what we’ve got and looking forward to getting back out there Monday morning and getting this cut locked down so we can head to Cherokee Lake for the Knockout Round on Wednesday and have a chance at Thursday’s Championship Round.”
Howell’s bruiser largemouth that locked onto his shallow-diving crankbait in Period 2 was also the biggest fish of the day, earning him the first $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the event. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and another $1,000 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 Wednesday’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 Thursday’s Championship Round. In the final-day Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
Anglers will launch Sunday through Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET from Dandridge Ramp, located at 100 Public Drive in Dandridge, and Wednesday and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET from the TVA Boat Launch on Renfro Road in Jefferson City. Each day’s takeout will be held at the respective launch locations above, beginning at 5 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 MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The event features anglers competing with a 1-06 minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable on Douglas Lake and a 1-pound, 12-ounce minimum weight for scorable bass on Cherokee Lake. 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 live each day from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Group A Qualifying Round – Day 1
(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)
1. Randy Howell -- 15-02 (5) -- 5-14
2. Adrian Avena -- 14-11 (5) -- 4-04
3. Justin Lucas -- 14-05 (5) -- 3-13
4. Brandon Coulter -- 13-14 (5) -- 4-07
5. Edwin Evers -- 13-11 (5) -- 4-13
6. Chris Lane -- 13-10 (5) -- 4-11
7. Matt Becker -- 13-06 (5) -- 3-10
8. Kevin VanDam -- 13-00 (5) -- 3-01
9. Jacob Wall -- 12-15 (5) -- 3-10
10. Jacob Wheeler -- 12-09 (5) -- 3-10
11. Cliff Pace -- 12-08 (5) -- 3-03
12. Nick LeBrun -- 12-02 (5) -- 3-06
13. Takahiro Omori -- 11-14 (5) -- 3-11
14. Keith Poche -- 11-12 (5) -- 2-14
15. Dakota Ebare -- 11-11 (5) -- 2-14
16. Brent Ehrler -- 11-10 (5) -- 2-10
17. Dustin Connell -- 11-03 (5) -- 3-11
18. Fred Roumbanis -- 10-13 (5) -- 2-08
19. Wesley Strader -- 10-12 (5) -- 2-08
20. Bradley Roy -- 10-09 (5) -- 3-01
21. Andy Montgomery -- 10-07 (5) -- 2-13
22. Alton Jones Jr. -- 10-04 (5) -- 3-06
23. Anthony Gagliardi -- 10-01 (5) -- 2-12
24. Brent Chapman -- 9-10 (5) -- 2-07
25. Casey Ashley -- 9-08 (5) -- 2-04
26. Cole Floyd -- 9-04 (4) -- 2-13
27. Russ Lane -- 9-04 (5) -- 2-05
28. Mark Davis -- 9-02 (5) -- 2-02
29. Dylan Hays -- 8-04 (4) -- 2-12
30. Jared Lintner -- 8-01 (4) -- 2-04
31. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 7-03 (3) -- 3-10
32. Stephen Browning -- 6-00 (3) -- 2-06
33. Jeff Kriet -- 5-08 (2) -- 4-00
34. Cliff Crochet -- 5-05 (2) -- 3-02
35. Terry Scroggins -- 4-08 (3) -- 1-10
36. Timmy Horton -- 4-00 (2) -- 2-02
37. Matt Lee -- 2-01 (1) -- 2-01
38. Roy Hawk -- 1-15 (1) -- 1-15
39. Tommy Biffle -- 1-06 (1) -- 1-06
40. Boyd Duckett -- 0-00 (0)