ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (Sept. 11, 2021) – It was very different conditions for the 40 pro anglers competing Saturday in Group B at the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Stage 7 tournament at Lake St. Clair, Michigan. However, after the anglers had battled through the strong winds and the final bass had been tallied the results were remarkably similar to Friday, with an East-Tennessee angler sitting atop the leaderboard.
Pro Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tennessee, boated 34 bass weighing 93 pounds, 4 ounces, to grab the early lead in Group B after Day 1 of their two-day Qualifying Round of competition. Strader will bring a 12-pound, 4-ounce lead into Group B’s Qualifying Round finale on Monday.
Right behind Strader in second place is Russellville, Arkansas pro Fred Roumbanis, who was near the top of the leaderboard for most of the day. Roumbanis boated 29 bass totaling 81 pounds even to finish the day. Rounding out the top three was pro Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma, who caught 27 bass for 75-14 to end the day in third. Local pro Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan, weighed 17 bass totaling 44-8 to rest in 5th place, while Kalamazoo’s Jonathon VanDam boated seven bass weighing 20 pounds even to sit in 23rd.
The 39 anglers in Group B will now have an off day on Sunday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group A will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition. Group B will conclude their Qualifying Round on Monday. The six-day event showcases 80 professional bass-fishing anglers competing for a purse of $805,000, including a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner.
“Well, today has been a really, really good day,” Strader said in his post-game interview. “I really only needed about five of these Powell rods on my deck today and that was it.
“This morning I started out throwing a 3/8-ounce white (Z-Man) ChatterBait Jack Hammer with a Zoom Z-Swim behind it,” Strader said. “I threw that on a Powell Endurance 755 CB rod with a (Lew’s) Pro TI reel, spooled with 20-pound Sunline Sniper line. I also caught quite a few punching – I ran out of Zoom Z-Hogs. But I punched with a Powell Endurance 806 rod and a Lew’s Custom Pro reel, using 50-pound Sunline FX2 braided line, a 1½-ounce weight and a 5/0 TroKar TK130 hook.
“The thing that really got us going towards the end, though, was a Zoom Zlinky,” Strader continued. “I wacky-rigged it with a 2/0 Neko-style Trokar Hook and a 1/8-ounce Eagle Claw nail weight in the nose of it.
“All in all, I’ve got a couple of things figured out for Monday,” Strader went on to say. “I have a couple of areas that I couldn’t even get to today – it would have beat us to death with the wind. I also didn’t want to leave my fish biting. I’m excited to get back out there and see how it all shakes out.”
Second-place angler Fred Roumbanis also raved about the fun he had on the water Saturday, despite losing multiple key fish.
“I had an amazing day, despite the fish that I couldn’t get in the boat,” Roumbanis said. “I must have lost six 4- or 5-pounders today. But it was exciting – I almost gave up on the spot where I fished, but when I slowed down I really started catching them.
“I’ve got absolutely no complaints – I think I may have finally broken the curse that this place has had on me for all of these years,” Roumbanis went on to say. “I think I’m in great shape to make the Knockout Round – I’m just going to have to catch a couple of more fish. But man, it’d be so nice to win and automatically advance to the Championship Round. Wesley (Strader) and Zack (Birge) are crushing them, but I’m going to give those guys everything that I’ve got.”
The top 20 pros in Group B after Day 1 on Lake St. Clair are:
1st: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 34 bass, 93-4
2nd: Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., 29 bass, 81-0
3rd: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 27 bass, 75-14
4th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 23 bass, 65-3
5th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 17 bass, 44-8
6th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., 14 bass, 41-0
7th: Matt Lee, Cullman, Ala., 14 bass, 39-14
8th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 13 bass, 39-10
9th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 14 bass, 39-5
10th: Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, 12 bass, 37-8
11th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 13 bass, 34-8
12th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 11 bass, 33-10
13th: Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 13 bass, 33-0
14th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, 10 bass, 31-3
15th: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 12 bass, 31-1
16th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 11 bass, 30-0
17th: Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., eight bass, 29-7
18th: Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., 10 bass, 28-6
19th: Cody Pike, Powhatan, Va., nine bass, 27-10
20th: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., eight bass, 22-13
Overall, there were 385 bass weighing 1,097 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 37 pros on Saturday.
Andy Morgan won Saturday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 5-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bass that he flipped up during Period 3. Berkley will award $1,000 to the angler who weighs the biggest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.
The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Lake St. Clair on Friday and Sunday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Saturday and Monday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers that finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Wednesday’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. In the final day Championship Round, weights are zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
Anglers will take off from the 9-Mile Ramp, located in St. Clair Shores, at 8 a.m. ET each day of competition. The Takeout ceremonies will also be held at the Launch Ramp, beginning at 5 p.m. each day. Fans are welcome to attend all takeoff and takeout ceremonies.
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MLF Pro Circuit Archive