SPRING CITY, Tenn. (June 7, 2022) – Despite a 2-hour, 15-minute lightning delay, rainy conditions throughout the day and a field of stellar pros nipping at his heels, David Walker of Sevierville, Tennessee, caught 11 bass weighing 23 pounds, 10-ounces Tuesday to cruise to a Group B Qualifying Round win at the General Tire Stage Five tournament on Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, Tennessee. Walker’s two-day total of 21 bass weighing 45 pounds, 11 ounces, advances him directly to Thursday’s Championship Round – marking his first automatic berth to the Championship Round on the Major League Fishing (MLF) Bass Pro Tour – as the competition continues for the top award of $100,000.
Pro Clabion Johns of Social Circle, Georgia caught a 2-pound, 7-ounce buzzer-beater in the final minute to finish the day in second place with a two-day total of 21 bass, weighing 39 pounds, 6 ounces, while pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina finished in third, with a two-day total of 19 bass weighing 38-6. Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee caught a two-day total of 21 bass weighing 37 pounds even to end in fourth, while Scott Suggs of Alexander, Arkansas advanced to the Knockout Round in fifth place with a two-day total of 18 bass weighing 34-9.
“I don’t know what to say,” said a speechless Walker. “You talk about a day where you just end up making the right choices, all day long – it’s just unbelievable. I caught those fish on so many different rods and baits today, but I couldn’t be happier.”
Walker began the second day of his Qualifying Round in fifth place, with a solid 22-pound, 1-ounce footing, but steadily moved up the SCORETRACKER® throughout the day . The Tennessee pro rallied to take the lead only seven minutes into the third period with a 2-pound, 3-ounce largemouth and despite hard charges by Thrift and DeFoe, who both caught scorable bass in the final period to take over the lead, Walker managed to hold onto the top spot by the end of the competition day.
“This has been a tough season, and to have a day like this – let alone two back-to-back good days – is just amazing,” Walker said. “I’ve usually got some pretty good comebacks or statements and I just don’t have anything at all today.”
Although the win looks good ‘on paper’ with the automatic advancement to the Championship Round, it was certainly a fight to the finish, with Walker catching 10 pounds in the last period alone to end the day on top.
“It’s just one of those things – in tournament fishing the highs are so high and the lows are really low, so it can be tough to try to keep everything on an even keel and not let it get to you,” Walker said. “You go out there and do the same things repeatedly, but you don’t get results like this very often, so you start to question yourself.
“One good day makes up for a whole lot of bad ones though, and we managed to put together two back-to-back good days,” Walker continued. “I am so excited about this finish.”
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 Kevin VanDam, Group B winner David Walker and the top eight finishers from the Knockout Round, competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.
The six-day event, hosted by Fish Dayton, the Rhea County Economic Tourism Council and Spring City, Tennessee, showcases 80 of the top professional bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a total purse of $805,000.
The top 20 pros in Qualifying Group B that now advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round on Watts Bar Lake are:
1st: David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn., 21 bass, 45-11 – ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
2nd: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., 21 bass, 39-6
3rd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 19 bass, 38-6
4th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 21 bass, 37-0
5th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 18 bass, 34-9
6th: Ish Monroe, Oakdale, Calif., 12 bass, 32-5
7th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 17 bass, 31-9
8th: Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., 14 bass, 31-0
9th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 16 bass, 30-14
10th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 14 bass, 30-8
11th: Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 15 bass, 29-11
12th: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., 15 bass, 28-8
13th: Dave Lefebre, Erie, Penn., 15 bass, 28-2
14th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 13 bass, 27-7
15th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 13 bass, 26-8
16th: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 12 bass, 24-2
17th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 11 bass, 23-14
18th: Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., nine bass, 22-5
19th: Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas, nine bass, 21-15
20th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., 11 bass, 21-10
Overall, there were 225 scorable bass weighing 465 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 40 pros Tuesday.
Toro pro Brent Chapman of Quivira, Kansas caught a 5-pound, 9-ounce largemouth throwing a bladed swim jig in the first period to earn the fourth $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the event. 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.