Wheeler Day 2 Lake-Fork Photo By Phoenix Moore

FEBRUARY 20, 2022 • MLF • PRESS RELEASES

QUITMAN, Texas – It was the Alton Jones Sr. show for the start of Group B’s Qualifying Round at the Toro Stage Two on Lake Fork Presented by Grundéns in Quitman, Texas. The affable Lorena, Texas, pro caught the most bass, the biggest bass, and the most weight on Sunday to grab the early lead for Group B. Jones caught 18 bass weighing 80 pounds, 7 ounces to pace the 40-angler field.

Fellow Texan Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, fishing in just his second career Bass Pro Tour event, sits in second place, 14 pounds, 15 ounces back of Jones with 17 bass totaling 65-8. Pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, finished the day in third place with 17 bass for 61-5, while Shelby, North Carolina’s Bryan Thrift caught 10 bass totaling 42-13 to end the day in fourth place. Costa pro Casey Ashley of Donalds, South Carolina, rounds out the top five, as he caught 11 bass weighing 40 pounds, 15 ounces.

The 40 anglers in Group B will now have an off day on Monday, 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 Tuesday.

The six-day event, hosted by the Lake Fork Area Chamber of Commerce, the Wood County EDC, the Sabine River Authority and the Rains County Tourism Board, showcases 80 of the top professional bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a purse of $805,000, including a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner. The tournament is live-streamed each day at MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MOTV app, and also filmed for broadcast later this fall on the Discovery Channel.

“Whew, what a great day today was, and my hats are off to the guys who got close to me,” Jones said as time expired. “Today couldn’t have been better – it was much better than my practice – and the rest of the field still kept up. I still can’t believe I caught an 11-2 today.”

Jones is satisfied with what he discovered Sunday and thinks his pattern will hold no matter what the weather does later in the event. Wednesday’s Knockout Round and Thursday’s Championship Round are forecasted to be substantially colder.

“I expanded my area and feel like I can still catch fish here if the weather gets bad,” Jones said. “I’m going to keep mixing it up, fishing slowly and fast, because I know how the fish are positioned and know what to look for, even if they move around in here.”

The top 20 pros in Group B after Day 1 on Lake Fork are:

1^st: Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, 18 bass, 80-7

2^nd: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, 17 bass, 65-8

3^rd: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 17 bass, 61-5

4^th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 42-13

5^th: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 11 bass, 40-15

6^th: Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 11 bass, 38-4

7^th: Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., 11 bass, 33-6

8^th: Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., eight bass, 31-8

9^th: Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., seven bass, 30-14

10^th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., nine bass, 30-5

11^th: Roy Hawk, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., six bass, 29-11

12^th: Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., five bass, 29-2

13^th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, eight bass, 28-15

14^th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., seven bass, 25-0

15^th: Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla., six bass, 24-13

16^th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., six bass, 23-10

17^th: Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., six bass, 23-9

18^th: Jeff Kriet, Ardmore, Okla., six bass, 22-12

19^th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 19-5

20^th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., seven bass, 19-1

A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, on Sunday, there were 241 scorable bass weighing 904 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 39 pros.

Jones also caught the third-largest bass in MLF Bass Pro Tour history Sunday, weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces, to earn the day’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award. 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.