By MLF Communications Staff
Despite only catching one bass in the third and final period of the day, Brandon Coulter of Knoxville, Tennessee managed to stay atop the leaderboard and grab the early lead for Group A on Day 1 of the MLF Bass Pro Tour event on Watts Bar Lake in Spring City, Tennessee with a 30-06 haul.
Coulter will take a modest lead into Monday’s second day of competition for Group A, with a mere 11-ounce margin over second place angler Takahiro Omori of Tokyo, Japan, who caught 13 bass totaling 29-11. Port St. Joe, Florida, pro Randall Tharp sits in third place, with a total of 11 bass weighing 24-09. After leading at the end of the first period, Timmy Horton of Muscle Shoals, Alabama , finished the day in fourth place with 11 bass for a total of 22-07, while Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, South Carolina finished the day with 11 bass weighing 21-11 to round out the Top 5.
The 40 anglers in Group A will now have an off day from competition, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will begin their first day of competition Sunday. Group A will resume competition on Monday.
“Well, that was unexpected. I mean, I do have a house here on Watts Bar Lake, but I don’t fish here nearly as often as some of these other guys, so this was really unexpected,” Coulter said. “I thought I had a good game plan – it’s a Saturday and there was a big team tournament out there today – but I had a good plan and I stuck to it.
“We really had a blast today, just bounced around,” Coulter continued. “There were a lot of boats on the water, but we just fished little ditch places until we finally landed on them – and when we did, man was it fun.”
Coulter said he left his main spot after 30 minutes when he had only caught one fish. But after catching a few more in some brush piles, he decided to hit it one more time before leaving the area.
“I’d caught a 4-pounder there during practice, so I ran back to it, and it was lights out,” Coulter continued. “You’ve really got to have a place that will fire on the Tennessee River, and we had that today.”
Coulter said he credits his big fish of Day 1 – including the 6-08 largemouth he boated during Period 2 – to a deep-diving crankbait with Savage Gear Savage Grip treble hooks on a 7’4” medium-heavy Savage Gear Battletek Crankbait Rod with a 6:1 Savage Gear Reel and 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line .
“The biggest player for me today was the Savage Gear Savage Grip Treble Hooks,” Coulter said. “It’s basically a triple-grip treble with braid instead of a traditional loop. I didn’t lose a single fish today, thanks to those hooks – and reeling in that 6-08 – that was incredible.
“Not sure if we will find it again on Monday, but we survived today and have a shot to win our Qualifying Round and go on to the Championship Round, so that’s what we’re working towards. It was a great day, all in all,” Coulter concluded.
Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from the Spring City Boat Ramp, located at 417 Toestring Valley Road. Takeouts are held at the ramp, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The tournament features anglers competing with a 1 1/2-pound minimum weight requirement 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 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Saturday and Monday, with the 40 anglers in Group B on the water on Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers who finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Thursday’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. Weights will again be zeroed for the Championship Round, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Group A Qualifying Round – Day 1
(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the day)
1. Brandon Coulter -- 30-06 (12) -- 6-08
2. Takahiro Omori -- 29-11 (13) -- 4-15
3. Randall Tharp -- 24-09 (11) -- 3-07
4. Timmy Horton -- 22-07 (11) -- 3-06
5. Andy Montgomery -- 21-11 (11) -- 2-10
6. Kevin VanDam -- 21-03 (9) -- 3-15
7. Mark Davis -- 20-12 (7) -- 5-00
8. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 20-06 (9) -- 3-12
9. Michael Neal -- 18-05 (9) -- 2-10
10. Alton Jones -- 18-03 (10) -- 2-07
11. Gary Klein -- 17-02 (7) -- 4-08
12. Wesley Strader -- 15-12 (9) -- 2-00
13. Andy Morgan -- 15-11 (7) -- 3-03
14. Bobby Lane -- 14-11 (6) -- 4-03
15. Ryan Salzman -- 14-04 (8) -- 3-00
16. Jordan Lee -- 14-02 (7) -- 3-10
17. Brent Ehrler -- 14-01 (7) -- 3-00
18. Dean Rojas -- 12-14 (6) -- 3-10
19. Randy Howell -- 12-09 (5) -- 3-10
20. Dakota Ebare -- 11-09 (5) -- 3-00
21. Cliff Crochet -- 11-05 (6) -- 2-03
22. Mark Rose -- 11-01 (5) -- 3-03
23. James Elam -- 10-11 (6) -- 2-09
24. Greg Vinson -- 9-08 (4) -- 3-05
25. Jared Lintner -- 9-06 (5) -- 2-06
26. Shin Fukae -- 9-00 (5) -- 2-02
27. David Dudley -- 8-08 (3) -- 4-11
28. Cody Meyer -- 8-05 (4) -- 3-06
29. Paul Elias -- 8-00 (3) -- 4-13
30. Keith Poche -- 6-11 (4) -- 1-13
31. Boyd Duckett -- 6-11 (3) -- 2-09
32. James Watson -- 6-05 (3) -- 2-06
33. Marty Robinson -- 6-01 (3) -- 2-06
34. Fred Roumbanis -- 5-01 (3) -- 2-01
35. Shaw Grigsby -- 4-09 (2) -- 2-09
36. Britt Myers -- 3-03 (2) -- 1-10
37. Edwin Evers -- 3-00 (1) -- 3-00
38. Mike McClelland -- 2-10 (1) -- 2-10
39. Anthony Gagliardi -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00
39. John Murray -- 0-00 (0) -- 0-00
