TULSA, Okla. (March 25, 2022) – Bass Pro Tour angler Luke Clausen of Spokane, Washington, weighed nine scorable bass totaling 24 pounds even to win the Knockout Round (Group A) on Day 3 of the Major League Fishing (MLF) REDCREST 2022 Tournament on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. The five-day event features anglers competing for a total purse of $730,000, including a top cash prize of $300,000 to the winner.
Also advancing along with Clausen to Sunday’s Championship Round of competition are pros Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, South Carolina, Edwin Evers of Talala, Oklahoma, Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, and Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma.
“I went out there today not knowing if I might zero or I might catch them all day long,” said Clausen. “Right now this lake is changing so much – these fronts come through, the water is coming up, it’s changing colors everywhere across the lake. The key is figuring out how to catch them, right now, by the minute.
“The first period was rough for me,” Clausen continued. “It came together when I started running a little bit of wind. When I started fishing that wind, I was able to get those bites and the second period was crucial with that little breeze. I knew I needed to make hay when I could, and I really leaned on them in the second period.”
Hometown favorite Edwin Evers of Talala, who led the first day of competition, was disappointed with his performance but still happy to be advancing to the Championship Round.
“Man, I didn’t drink that much coffee today but I felt like I was jerking my jerkbait away from every fish out there,” the Oklahoma pro said. “I needed to slow down, and I just didn’t get it done today. But we’re moving on to the Championship Round, so it was enough. It just wasn’t like I was hoping it would be.
“Today with the water coming up, it threw me off a little bit,” Evers continued. “I’ve been really nervous about the water rising – I need the fish to stay where they’re at and I don’t need them to swim up to the bank. Hopefully tonight they start pulling a little bit of water and we can get it down a bit.
“I want to win this one really, really, really bad and bring this REDCREST trophy home to Oklahoma.”
Fellow Okie Zack Birge of Blanchard also made the cut but was definitely feeling the pressure of SCORETRACKER® as time ticked down.
“It was a stressful day to say the least – I’m still shaking from the last 20 minutes,” said Birge. “Every time my official would make a noise I’d turn around and be like ‘just don’t give me an update, please…’ But it was enough and I’m really happy to move on to the Championship Round.
“The key for me today was just trying to move around and stay with the cleaner water,” Birge said. “If I got in the dirty water, I didn’t get many bites. But I’m throwing something I’m confident in and keeping it in places that I’m confident in getting bit. Hopefully we’ve saved our best day for the last day.”
The full field of anglers competed in the two-day Qualifying Round on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. The field was cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers were split into two groups for the Knockout Round – 10 (Group A) competed on Day 3 (Friday) and 10 (Group B) will compete on Day 4 (Saturday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight will advance to the Championship Round, the fifth and final day of competition (Sunday) where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight on the final day will be crowned the REDCREST 2022 champion and earn the top prize of $300,000.
The top five pros from Group A that made the cut and will advance to Championship Sunday on Grand Lake are:
1st: Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., nine bass, 24-0
2nd: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., seven bass, 20-6
3rd: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., six bass, 15-11
4th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 12-13
5th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., five bass, 12-9
The five pros eliminated from competition Friday are:
6th: Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., four bass, 11-0, $10,000
7th: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, three bass, 10-0, $10,000
8th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., two bass, 9-4, $10,000
9th: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., two bass, 4-15, $10,000
10th: James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., one bass, 2-12, $10,000
Overall, there were 44 scorable bass weighing 123 pounds, 6 ounces caught by the 10 pros Friday.
Shryock earned Friday’s Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 6-pound, 7-ounce largemouth in Period 1 to win the $1,000 prize. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler that weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $1,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.
The 10 anglers that will compete in the Group B Knockout Round on Saturday are:
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala.
Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C.
Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla.
Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn.
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn.
Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala.
Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark.
Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark.
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