MONROE-WEST MONROE, La. (Feb. 8, 2022) – Although he didn’t have as quite of good of a day as he did Sunday, pro Jared Lintner of Covington, Georgia, had enough of a cushion that it really was never close. Lintner weighed in a two-day total of 11 scorable bass on Lake D’Arbonne totaling 47 pounds, 5 ounces, to cruise to a Qualifying Round win for Group B at the Stage One in Monroe-West Monroe, Louisiana, and advance straight into the final-day Championship Round.
Bradley Roy of Lancaster, Kentucky, caught a two-day total of 11 bass weighing 30-5 to end the round in second place, while Lynchburg, Virginia’s David Dudley, finished the round in third place with a two-day total of 11 bass weighing 29-10. Jeff Sprague of Point, Texas , caught 10 bass weighing 26-13 to finish in fourth, while Kalamazoo, Michigan’s Kevin VanDam, the most decorated angler in the sport, advanced to the Knockout Round in fifth place with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 25 pounds even.
The remaining 38 anglers – 19 from each group – now advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and the anglers compete to finish in the top eight to advance to the Championship Round on Thursday. The Championship Round will feature Group A winner Mark Daniels Jr., Group B winner Jared Lintner, and the top eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.
“You can’t win it if you’re not in it, and I am thrilled to know that we are in it,” Lintner said in his post-game interview. “It has been a grind this week – very few bites to be had. When the fishing is tough, you have to go with what you have confidence in and that’s what I have done this week fishing the Bubba Shot.
“It wasn’t a pretty day, today,” Lintner continued. “I didn’t catch any big ones. And I really started feeling some heat from Bradley Roy in the third period, but luckily I caught enough to hold him off.”
Like Sunday, Lintner spent the day targeting boat docks with his Bubba Shot-rig – a Marten’s Madness-colored Roboworm, dipped in Pautzke Fire Gel bait scent, rigged on 16-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line with a 3/0 Trokar hook and a ¼-ounce Eco Pro Tungsten Full Contact Drop Shot weight,
“The Pautzke’s is making a difference,” Lintner said. “Several times throughout this first round I’d have a moment where I thought I’d feel a bite, or I’d miss one. I’d re-lather that worm up in the Fire Gel and they’d choke it.
“I’ve come close to winning several times before – and I’ve also been the guy knocked out at the last minute – so I am so happy to finally win my round,” Lintner went on to say. “I know things are going to be very different on Bussey Brake, so I’ll go back to the house and revamp everything, and I’ll be ready to go.”
After not having a scorable bass well into the third period on Sunday, VanDam caught four bass in the final 10 minutes of the day to start Tuesday in seventh place, He added four more bass Tuesday weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces to comfortably advance to the Knockout Round in fifth place.
“The only thing that I had left was the upper end of the lake, fishing the river points and tree lines up the river,” VanDam said. “I was throwing a Strike King KVD 300 Jerkbait series and a Strike King Series 3 crankbait – crawfish, or baby carp, or Denny Brauer craw – any kind of brownish crawfish color.
“I’m moving on to Caney Lake, and that was my main goal – I wanted to start the season off strong,” VanDam went on to say. “Hopefully tomorrow we can get into that top eight and move on to the Championship Round.
The top 20 pros in Qualifying Group B that advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round on Caney Creek are:
1st: Jared Lintner, Covington, Ga., 18 bass, 47-5 – ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
2nd: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 11 bass, 30-5
3rd: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 11 bass, 29-10
4th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 10 bass, 26-13
5th: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., nine bass, 25-0
6th: Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 13 bass, 24-15
7th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 10 bass, 23-7
8th: Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., eight bass, 22-2
9th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., seven bass, 21-4
10th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., nine bass, 20-5
11th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 20-4
12th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., eight bass, 19-8
13th: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., six bass, 18-11
14th: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., eight bass, 18-10
15th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., eight bass, 18-4
16th: Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., nine bass, 18-2
17th: Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., seven bass, 16-12
18th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., five bass, 15-4
19th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., seven bass, 14-2
20th: Randall Tharp, Port Saint Joe, Fla., three bass, 13-15
Overall, there were 121 scorable bass weighing 319 pounds, 1 ounce caught by 33 pros on Tuesday.
Shryock and Tharp split the day’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award, taking home $500 apiece as each weighed in a bass totaling 5 pounds, 7 ounces. 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.
The 40 Anglers in Group A competed in their two-day qualifying round on Lake D’Arbonne Saturday and Monday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. With the two-day Qualifying Round now complete, the anglers that finished in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round on Caney Creek Reservoir, while the winner of each group advances directly to Thursday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round weights are zeroed, and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the top 8 to advance to the Championship Round on Bussey Brake. In the final day Championship Round weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
The 38 anglers competing in the Knockout Round will launch Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. from Caney Creek Hooks Marina, located at 400 Spillway Road in Chatham, Louisiana. Thursday’s final day Championship Round on Bussey Brake will launch at 8:30 a.m. from Bonner Ferry Road, five miles northwest of Bastrop off of Hwy 593.
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Major League Fishing (MLF) Archive