By MLF Communications Staff

Jason Lambert of Michie, Tenn. overtook Day-1 leader Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala. early in Period 1 Sunday and never looked back. Lambert boated 17 bass on the day totaling 60-08 to win the Qualifying Round for Group A at the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tenn.

Lambert’s two-day total of 34 bass weighing 109-13 earned him the win by a 22-01 margin over Lane, who finished the round in 2nd place with a two-day catch of 26 bass totaling 77-12. Reigning Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year (AOY) Jordan Lee of Cullman, Ala. boated a two-day total of 20 bass weighing 73-13 to end the round in 3rd place, while his brother, Matt Lee, also of Cullman, finished in 4th place with a two-day total of 20 bass for 59-12. Rounding out the Top 5 was Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., who caught a two-day total of 16 bass weighing 59-01.

The Top 20 anglers from Group A will now enjoy an off day while the 40 anglers in Qualifying Group B complete their two-day Qualifying Round on Monday. The Knockout Round, featuring 38 anglers competing to finish in the Top 8, will take place on Tuesday. Wednesday’s Championship Round will feature Lambert, Monday's Group B winner, and the Top 8 anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“I was sitting in 3rd coming into today and my objective was to go out and have a good first period,” said Lambert, who qualified for his first career Championship Round on the BPT. “If I did, I knew that I would have a good chance to win the round. That happened, we got ahead in the first period and we never looked back.

“I ended up with a little more than 60 pounds today,” Lambert continued. “It wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be – especially in the afternoon – but this morning is what mattered. What was really cool for me, though, was catching them the way I want to catch them. Not only the way I want to catch them, but on the stuff that I’ve designed like the Hardcore (Bullet) Crank 7+, a crankbait that we worked very hard on to get put together just right, and the Kitana Stagger (Scrounger) Head with a (Castaic) Jerky J. Catching them the way you want to catch them, on the stuff you built to catch them, is really cool.”

With six career victories on the Tennessee River in MLF competition – two FLW Tour (now Pro Circuit) wins on Kentucky Lake, one Toyota Series win on Kentucky Lake and three BFL wins on Pickwick Lake – Lambert is known to be a tournament-closer on the ledges, and he will absolutely be one of the favorites heading into the finals.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back out there for the Championship Round on Wednesday,” Lambert said. “I’ve just got to go out there and catch them again. I think I’ve got just as good of a shot as anyone.”

Luke Clausen won Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 7-14 largemouth that bit a shaky-head during Period 1. 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.

Anglers will take off from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton, at 6:30 a.m. ET each day of competition. Takeouts will also be held at the Dayton Boat Dock, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all takeoff and takeout ceremonies and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney breaks down the extended action on all six days of competition from 6:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! will be live-streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Group A Qualifying Round – Day 2

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)

1. Jason Lambert -- 49-05 (17) -- 60-08 (17) -- 109-13 (34) -- 6-01

2. Russ Lane -- 70-12 (23) -- 7-00 (3) -- 77-12 (26) -- 7-10

3. Jordan Lee -- 49-06 (13) -- 24-07 (7) -- 73-13 (20) -- 8-02

4. Matt Lee -- 29-12 (10) -- 30-00 (10) -- 59-12 (20) -- 5-10

5. Justin Lucas -- 26-02 (8) -- 32-15 (8) -- 59-01 (16) -- 6-12

6. Wesley Strader -- 44-08 (17) -- 6-09 (3) -- 51-01 (20) -- 3-12

7. Andy Morgan -- 19-04 (6) -- 31-12 (10) -- 51-00 (16) -- 5-14

8. Zack Birge -- 16-05 (7) -- 34-09 (12) -- 50-14 (19) -- 5-15

9. Mark Rose -- 38-14 (11) -- 11-14 (3) -- 50-12 (14) -- 6-12

10. Ott DeFoe -- 27-05 (9) -- 23-00 (8) -- 50-05 (17) -- 7-00

11. Luke Clausen -- 11-07 (4) -- 37-08 (10) -- 48-15 (14) -- 7-14

12. Cliff Pace -- 21-10 (8) -- 26-15 (8) -- 48-09 (16) -- 4-09

13. Bryan Thrift -- 20-08 (8) -- 26-14 (10) -- 47-06 (18) -- 5-05

14. Roy Hawk -- 22-13 (8) -- 21-10 (8) -- 44-07 (16) -- 4-01

15. Jesse Wiggins -- 21-04 (7) -- 21-13 (10) -- 43-01 (17) -- 4-08

16. Matt Becker -- 31-11 (8) -- 11-02 (4) -- 42-13 (12) -- 7-04

17. Mark Davis -- 6-04 (2) -- 34-04 (12) -- 40-08 (14) -- 5-07

18. Ish Monroe -- 9-06 (3) -- 30-14 (11) -- 40-04 (14) -- 5-02

19. Anthony Gagliardi -- 10-09 (5) -- 25-04 (9) -- 35-13 (14) -- 3-13

20. Scott Suggs -- 18-13 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 35-08 (10) -- 7-01

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round

21. Gerald Spohrer -- 19-05 (7) -- 15-12 (5) -- 35-01 (12) -- 5-08

22. Fletcher Shryock -- 15-02 (6) -- 19-13 (7) -- 34-15 (13) -- 4-07

23. Adrian Avena -- 20-04 (5) -- 12-10 (5) -- 32-14 (10) -- 5-07

24. John Murray -- 16-09 (6) -- 15-12 (7) -- 32-05 (13) -- 5-00

25. John Cox -- 12-09 (4) -- 18-04 (6) -- 30-13 (10) -- 7-01

26. Alton Jones -- 23-05 (9) -- 7-06 (3) -- 30-11 (12) -- 4-05

27. Bobby Lane -- 20-04 (7) -- 5-03 (2) -- 25-07 (9) -- 4-11

28. Andy Montgomery -- 13-08 (5) -- 8-13 (4) -- 22-05 (9) -- 4-02

29. Skeet Reese -- 18-12 (7) -- 2-01 (1) -- 20-13 (8) -- 4-03

30. Timmy Horton -- 18-07 (6) -- 2-02 (1) -- 20-09 (7) -- 5-09

31. James Watson -- 2-12 (1) -- 16-15 (5) -- 19-11 (6) -- 6-12

32. Tommy Biffle -- 10-11 (2) -- 8-08 (3) -- 19-03 (5) -- 8-07

33. David Walker -- 15-11 (5) -- 3-02 (1) -- 18-13 (6) -- 4-14

34. Kelly Jordon -- 10-13 (4) -- 3-10 (1) -- 14-07 (5) -- 3-11

35. Mike McClelland -- 14-02 (6) -- 0-00 (0) -- 14-02 (6) -- 2-09

36. Keith Poche -- 8-03 (4) -- 5-03 (2) -- 13-06 (6) -- 3-01

37. Chris Lane -- 10-00 (4) -- 2-03 (1) -- 12-03 (5) -- 2-14

38. Gary Klein -- 6-00 (2) -- 2-00 (1) -- 8-00 (3) -- 3-01

39. Aaron Martens -- 4-10 (2) -- 0-00 (0) -- 4-10 (2) -- 2-10

40. Evan Barnes -- 2-00 (1) -- 2-02 (1) -- 4-02 (2) -- 2-02