COLUMBIA, S.C. (April 5, 2023) – An incoming full moon on Thursday night, bright and sunny bluebird skies, and a very light wind made for extremely favorable sight-fishing conditions Wednesday to wrap up the Group B Qualifying Round at the MLF Bass Pro Tour Stage Three tournament at Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina. Pro Cliff Crochet of Pierre Part, Louisiana , had the best Qualifying Round – 10 bass weighing 41 pounds, 15 ounces, to win Group B and advance along with the top 20 finishers into Thursday’s Knockout Round.
Dustin Connell of Clanton, Alabama, who held the lead early in Period 1 before backing off his fish, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 39-8 to end the Qualifying Round in second place. Day 1 leader, rookie Nick LeBrun of Bossier City, Louisiana, caught 10 bass weighing 39-2 to finish the round in third. Both held the lead for periods of time Wednesday, but both were eventually overtaken by Crochet.
The remaining 40 anglers – the top 20 from each group – now advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and the anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round on Friday. Weights will carry over from the Knockout Round into the Championship Round, which will feature the final 10 anglers competing for the heaviest two-day cumulative total and the top prize of $100,000.
“Man, it feels a lot better being inside the cut then it does being outside the cut, when time runs out,” Crochet said in his post-game interview. “It was a perfect day, today. I started out early and caught a couple of fish, and it went down pretty good. Just chunk after chunk, and I caught the weight that I needed to move onto the Knockout Round.”
Most of Crochet’s fish on Wednesday came on a River2Sea Whopper Plopper, but he also added a keeper to his limit using a NetBait BaitFuel Infused Toad.
“One of the coolest things that happened today was that I was catching them on equipment that I helped design for some of my sponsors,” Crochet said. “The KastKing (Speed Demon Elite) Deadbolt reel, which has the lockdown drag system – that’s been a big key to how I’m catching them this week. And the new (KastKing) Hammer Braid line we got – those two products are really playing a big part for me this week.
“I caught a few more at the end of the day, and I think that may play later this week so I feel like my pattern is trending up and life is good,” Crochet went on to say. “I’m very thankful for today. I’m ready to go home, eat supper, and go to sleep so we can get after it again tomorrow.”
The top 20 pros from Group B that advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round on Lake Murray are:
1st: Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part, La., 10 bass, 41-15
2nd: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 10 bass, 39-8
3rd: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 10 bass, 39-2
4th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 10 bass, 38-5
5th: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, 10 bass, 37-9
6th: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, 10 bass, 37-5
7th: Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., 10 bass, 36-3
8th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 36-3
9th: Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 35-3
10th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 35-0
11th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., 10 bass, 34-7
12th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 34-4
13th: Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 33-13
14th: Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 33-12
15th: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 10 bass, 33-12
16th: James Watson, Lampe, Mo, 10 bass, 33-6
17th: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 10 bass, 33-3
18th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 10 bass, 33-1
19th: Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., 10 bass, 32-12
20th: Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 10 bass, 32-5
Eliminated from competition are:
21st: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 31-11
22nd: Josh Butler, Hayden, Ala., 10 bass, 31-2
23rd: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-15
24th: Roy Hawk, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 10 bass, 30-15
25th: Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 10 bass, 30-8
26th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 10 bass, 30-8
27th: Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala., nine bass, 29-9
28th: Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 10 bass, 29-1
29th: Randall Tharp, Port Saint Joe, Fla., 10 bass, 27-15
30th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 27-13
31st: Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, 10 bass, 27-11
32nd: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., nine bass, 26-10
33rd: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., nine bass, 26-7
34th: Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., 10 bass, 26-7
35th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., nine bass, 26-6
36th: Timmy Horton, Muscle Shoals, Ala., 10 bass, 26-3
37th: Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas, seven bass, 25-9
38th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 25-5
39th: Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., nine bass, 22-15
40th: Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss., 10 bass, 20-12
Overall, there were 342 scorable bass weighing 921 pounds, 13 ounces caught by the 40 pros Wednesday.
Wednesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award was awarded to Skeet Reese of Auburn, California, who weighed in a 6-pound, 4-ounce largemouth which bit his big glide bait in Period 3. 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.
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