By MLF communications staff
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Jeremy Lawyer, of Sarcoxie, Missouri, weighed five basses totaling 15 pounds, 14 ounces to win the Group A qualifying round at Wednesday’s MLF Bass Pro Tour event on the Kissimmee Chain. Lawyer’s two-day aggregate of 35-07 gave him the win by a 1-13 margin over second-place angler Jeff Sprague of Wills Point, Texas, who posted a two-day aggregate of 33-10.
The top 20 rising anglers in Group A now have a non-competitive day on Thursday while the 40 anglers in Group B complete their two day qualifying round. The top 20 anglers in each group advance to the KO round on Friday. In the knockout round, the weights are set to zero and the remaining 40 anglers battle it out to finish in the top 10 to advance to the championship round. In the championship round on the final day, the weight from the knockout round carries over and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the $100,000 grand prize.
“Well, goal number one for this tournament is accomplished – I made it to the knockout stages,” Lawyer said in his post-game interview. “Unfortunately, you don’t really get anything other than a slap on the back and some bragging rights, but that’s okay and we’ll take it for now.
“What happened today was very confusing,” continued Attorney. “Nothing I thought was going to happen went down except my very first grid spot. But the knockout round is a new day and I’m looking forward to being there and hoping to get the right bites.”
The Lawyer spent most of the day targeting an offshore hydrilla with a vibrating jig and a floating jig. He also added some rateable bass on a looptail worm, but the vibrating jig was key bait for him.
“I capitalized on some hydrilla and seaweed that’s deeply mixed,” Attorney said. “I would squirm around a vibrating jig, then turn around and throw a Zoom Speed Worm around pads and up flat to try and catch some spawning fish. It was kind of a 1-2 shot. Didn’t get many bites but what I got was pretty good quality. Overall it was a pretty solid day and I’m looking forward to the knockout stages.”
Mitch Crane of Columbus, Mississippi, won the $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award Wednesday with a stocky 7-04 trout mouth he caught on a swim jig in Period 1. Each day, Berkley is awarding $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass and a $1,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass in the tournament.
Anglers depart daily at 7:30 am ET from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive in Kissimmee. Every day there is a snack at the marina from 16:00. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeaway events and are also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on MLF NOW! Live stream and coverage on MajorLeagueFishing.com.
At the tournament, anglers with a minimum weight of 1 pound and 6 ounces compete for a perch to be considered scoring. Minimum weights are set individually for each competitive water the Bass Pro Tour visits based on productivity, bass population and the expected average size of the fish in each fishery.
The MLF NOW! The broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and JT Kenney will break down the extended action live across all six days of competition from 7:45am to 4:30pm ET. MLF NOW! will be streamed live on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Group A Qualifying Round – Day 2
(The figure on the far right shows the weight of the angler’s heaviest fish in the round)
1. Jeremy Attorney — 19-09 (5) — 15-14 (5) — 35-07 (10) — 4-07
2.Jeff Sprague – 04/20 (5) – 13.06. (5) – 33.10. (10) – 3.10
3. Shin Fukae — 18-15 (5) — 14-10 (4) — 33-09 (9) — 5-02
4. Jesse Wiggins – 04/17 (5) – 16.00. (5) – 33.04. (10) – 06.03
5. Mitch Crane – 02/13 (5) – 09/19 (5) – 32.11. (10) – 7.04
6. Mark Rose — 18-07 (5) — 14-00 (5) — 32-07 (10) — 3-14
7. Ott DeFoe – 01/15 (5) – 15.15. (5) – 31.00. (10) – 5.09
8. Jordan Lee – 08/15 (5) – 15.07. (5) – 30.15. (10) – 4.06
9. Todd Faircloth – 04/13 (5) – 02/17 (5) – 30.06. (10) – 06.02
10. Fletcher Shryock – 23.06. (5) – 15.06. (3) – 30.05. (8) – 05.03
11. Gerald Spohrer – 11/16 (5) – 13.02. (5) – 29.13. (10) – 3.05
12. John Murray – 02/11 (5) – 18.04. (5) – 29.06. (10) – 5 p.m
13. Brett Hite — 17-10 (5) — 11-11 (4) — 29-05 (9) — 4-01
14. Bryan Thrift – 04/12 (5) – 16.02. (5) – 28.06. (10) – 3.12
15. Ryan Salzman – 03/14 (4) – 13.14. (5) – 01/28 (9) – 4.02
16. Britt Myers — 10-14 (5) — 15-01 (5) — 25-15 (10) — 4-10
17. Josh Butler — 11-04 (5) — 14-00 (5) — 25-04 (10) — 4-02
18. Spencer Shuffield – 7:15 (4) – 16:15 (5) – 24:14 (9) – 4:14
19. Scott Suggs – 9-14 (5) – 14-11 (5) – 24-09 (10) – 6-15
20. Andy Morgan – 9-13 (5) – 14-09 (5) – 24-06 (10) – 3-12
The following anglers didn’t make the cut and didn’t get into the knockout round
21. Skeet Reese — 9-07 (5) — 14-13 (5) — 24-04 (10) — 3-10
22. John Hunter — 16-11 (5) — 7-08 (4) — 24-03 (9) — 2-14
23. David Dudley — 11/14 (5) — 12/02 (5) — 24.00 (10) — 3/14
24. Michael Neal — 08/14 (5) — 09.00 (5) — 23.08. (10) — 02.08
25. Josh Bertrand — 10-11 (5) — 12-09 (4) — 23-04 (9) — 6-10
26. Alton Jones – 01/13 (5) – 9.04. (5) – 22.05. (10) – 2.08
27. Randall Tharp – 10/15. (3) – 01.11. (5) – 10.00 p.m. (8) – 08.02
28. Luke Clausen — 12-01 (5) — 9-12 (5) — 21-13 (10) — 2-11
29. Dave Lefebre – 10/07. (5) – 05.11. (5) – 21.12. (10) – 14.02
30. Zack Birge – 07.10. (5) – 00.11. (5) – 21.07. (10) – 13.02
31. Marty Robinson – 9-08 (5) – 11-12 (5) – 21-04 (10) – 3-14
32. David Walker — 7-02 (3) — 13-06 (5) — 20-08 (8) — 5-05
33. Gary Klein – 09/14 (5) – 05.03. (3) – 19.12. (8) – 02.01
34. Jonathon VanDam — 9-06 (5) — 10-02 (3) — 19-08 (8) — 5-00
35. Kelly Jordan – 8-03 (5) – 9-09 (5) – 17-12 (10) – 3-00
36. Cody Meyer – 6-15 (5) – 10-05 (5) – 17-04 (10) – 2-08
37.James Elam—4:10(3)—11:07(4)—16:01(7)—5:04
38. James Watson – 4-08 (2) – 9-05 (3) – 13-13 (5) – 6-00
39. Greg Vinson – 7-13 (5) – 5-09 (3) – 13-06 (8) – 2-01
40. Dean Rojas — 04.08 (5) — 05.04 (3) — 09.12 (8) — 12.1
