By MLF Communications Staff

Chilly temperatures in the mid-20s greeted the 40 Bass Pro Tour anglers in Group A competing on Lake D’Arbonne Saturday morning. It was a cold, tough day on the water for most, but a few 5-, 6- and 7-pound D’Arbonne largemouth still made their national debuts on the MLF NOW! livestream.

After the final bass had been tallied, Stephen Browning caught six bass weighing 21 pounds, 2 ounces, to grab the early lead for Group A in Monroe-West Monroe, Louisiana.

The six-day event showcases 80 of the top professional bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a purse of $805,000, including a cash prize of $100,000 to the winner. The tournament is livestreamed each day at MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MOTV app, and also being filmed for broadcast later this fall on the Discovery Channel.

Browning will take a 3-04 lead into Monday’s second day of competition for Group A. In 2nd place is Mark Daniels Jr., who caught eight bass totaling 17-14. Bryan Thrift, sits in 3rd place with eight bass weighing 17-01. Rounding out the top five are pro Cody Meyer, who caught four bass for 14-09, and BNPT newcomer Jeremy Lawyer, who weighed in four bass totaling 13 pounds even.

The 40 anglers in Group A will now have an off day from competition Sunday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will begin their first day of competition. Group A will resume competition on Monday.

Browning had a tough morning, catching only one bass for 2 1/2 pounds in the first period. He added two more in the second period, then three in the third period – including a 6-04 brute and a solid 4-04 specimen – to catapult to the top of the leaderboard.

“It’s been a good day – you can’t complain when you’re in the lead against this crew of anglers,” Browning said. “I’m up in the D’Arbonne Bayou area of Lake D’Arbonne, fishing shallow flats – future spawning areas for these fish. It was tough, but I’ve got confidence in my bait, confidence in my equipment and confidence in my area. That is a big key to success in these grinder tournaments.”

Browning said that he targeted standing timber and trees – specifically cypress trees that were still alive with green leaves – in 4 to 6 feet of water.

“If I fished any shallower than that, I didn’t get bit,” Browning said. “My key bait was a 3/8-ounce black and blue jig, with a 7-foot, 4-inch St. Croix Legend Elite and a Lew’s Tournament Pro 8:3:1 reel, with 20-pound Gamma Fluorocarbon Edge line. It’s a combination that I’ve got a lot of confidence in, and we put it to work today.

“Overall, it’s a good start to the 2022 season and that is a big deal,” Browning went on to say. “Momentum is very important – we saw what Michael Neal did last week at Sam Rayburn. I had a good day, and now I am looking forward to the challenge of Day 2. I don’t want to go to the Knockout Round on Caney – I want to go straight to Bussey Brake.”

Meyer earned the first $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the season, weighing a 7-08 largemouth that bit his squarebill crankbait during Period 3. 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.

After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers who finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Tuesday’s Knockout Round on Caney Creek Reservoir, 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 on Bussey Brake. On the final day, weights are again zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

In the Qualifying Rounds, anglers will launch at 8:30 a.m. from the Lake D’Arbonne State Park, located at 3628 Evergreen Road in Farmerville, Louisiana. The Knockout Round will launch Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. from the Caney Creek Hooks Marina, located at 400 Spillway Road in Chatham, Louisiana. Thursday’s Championship Round on Bussey Brake will launch at 8:30 a.m. from Bonner Ferry Road, five miles northwest of Bastrop off of Hwy 593.

Each day’s takeout will be held at the respective launch ramps, beginning at 5:30 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 features anglers competing with a 1-08 minimum weight requirement on Lake D’Arbonne, and a 2-pound minimum weight requirement on Caney Creek and Bussey Brake for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action on all six days of competition from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! is live-streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One Presented by Power-Pole will premiere at 7 a.m. ET, Sept. 3 on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.

Group A Qualifying Round – Day 1

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

1. Stephen Browning -- 21-02 (6) -- 6-04

2. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 17-14 (8) -- 4-05

3. Bryan Thrift -- 17-01 (8) -- 2-09

4. Cody Meyer -- 14-09 (4) -- 7-08

5. Jeremy Lawyer -- 13-00 (4) -- 4-06

6. Alton Jones -- 11-07 (5) -- 3-03

7. Terry Scroggins -- 11-06 (2) -- 5-14

8. Andy Morgan -- 10-13 (4) -- 3-02

9. Edwin Evers -- 10-06 (3) -- 4-02

10. Scott Suggs -- 9-10 (4) -- 3-02

11. Ott DeFoe -- 9-08 (4) -- 2-15

12. Casey Ashley -- 9-05 (3) -- 5-07

13. Gary Klein -- 8-12 (2) -- 5-04

14. Shin Fukae -- 8-10 (3) -- 4-05

15. Alton Jones Jr. -- 7-15 (3) -- 3-07

16. Chris Lane -- 7-08 (3) -- 3-00

17. Greg Vinson -- 6-15 (4) -- 1-15

18. Adrian Avena -- 6-13 (3) -- 2-06

19. Timmy Horton -- 6-02 (2) -- 4-01

20. Bobby Lane -- 5-09 (2) -- 3-14

21. Cliff Pace -- 5-00 (2) -- 3-00

22. Skeet Reese -- 4-11 (3) -- 1-11

23. David Walker -- 4-08 (2) -- 2-13

24. Kelly Jordon -- 4-07 (2) -- 2-10

25. Dustin Connell -- 4-03 (1) -- 4-03

26. Boyd Duckett -- 4-01 (2) -- 2-04

27. Jesse Wiggins -- 4-00 (2) -- 2-08

28. Ryan Salzman -- 3-13 (1) -- 3-13

29. John Murray -- 3-01 (1) -- 3-01

30. Mark Rose -- 2-14 (1) -- 2-14

31. Brent Ehrler -- 2-06 (1) -- 2-06

32. Luke Clausen -- 2-03 (1) -- 2-03

33. Roy Hawk -- 2-02 (1) -- 2-02

34. Dean Rojas -- 2-01 (1) -- 2-01

35. Mike McClelland -- 2-00 (1) -- 2-00

36. Jeff Kriet -- 1-14 (1) -- 1-14

37. Dakota Ebare -- 1-13 (1) -- 1-13

38. Dave Lefebre -- 0-00 (0)

38. James Watson -- 0-00 (0)

38. Russ Lane -- 0-00 (0)