By MLF Communications Staff

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – Bass Pro Tour rookie Jacob Wall of New Hope, Ala. boated 16 scorable bass Tuesday, with his best five weighing 26 pounds, 8 ounces, to take the early lead in Qualifying Group A on Day 1 of the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Lake Guntersville.

Wall will bring a 2-12 lead into Thursday’s second day of competition for Group A. In second place is Addison, Ala. pro Jesse Wiggins, who caught five bass weighing 23-12. New Jersey's Adrian Avena sits in third place with five bass weighing 23-03.

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

“What a great way to start the tournament,” Wall said in his post-game interview. “Today was just a super fun day. I live about 25 minutes from where I’m sitting in the boat and I had some of my best friends following me around this morning, and they got to witness me catch right up to 24 3/4 pounds, which was super cool. It was just one of those days where every decision that I made was the right one.”

Wall spent his morning targeting bass out deep with a Nichols Lures Magnum Spoon. In the afternoon he caught a couple of upgrades on a big glide bait.

“Those last 2 or 3 big ones I caught, I ran to a community hole – a spot that every local and every pro in this tournament probably knows about it because it’s so obvious – and figured I would experiment with some baits and try some different stuff out,” Wall said. “I picked up a big swimbait and I couldn’t believe it. I caught a 5-something, and then an almost-5, and then another good one on it. And then I didn’t make another cast in there. I didn’t want to educate those fish any more than I already had with those three casts. I only made about five or six casts total with that swimbait and they acted like they had never seen it before.

“Those fish that I caught late this afternoon were 15 to 20 miles away from where I caught my fish this morning, so it was just one of those days,” Wall went on to say. “I’m looking forward to getting back out here in two days to hopefully catch enough to make the Knockout Round, so then I can go out there and crush on them again and make the Championship Round. That’s ultimately the goal – to be fishing that final day and have a shot at the title this week on Lake Guntersville.”

Avena earned the daily $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award Tuesday with a 6-03 that bit in Period 2. 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 Top 20 anglers from each group advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round.

In the Championship Round, weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. CT from Guntersville Civitan Park, located at 1130 Sunset Dr. Each day’s takeout is held at the launch locations 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 MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on each competition day from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Qualifying Group A – Day 1

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

1. Jacob Wall -- 26-08 (5) -- 5-10

2. Jesse Wiggins -- 23-12 (5) -- 5-06

3. Adrian Avena -- 23-03 (5) -- 6-03

4. Michael Neal -- 21-07 (5) -- 6-02

5. Zack Birge -- 21-00 (5) -- 4-12

6. Takahiro Omori -- 19-12 (5) -- 4-09

7. Russ Lane -- 19-06 (5) -- 4-02

8. Cody Meyer -- 19-05 (5) -- 4-07

9. Timmy Horton -- 18-13 (5) -- 4-11

10. Greg Vinson -- 18-05 (5) -- 5-04

11. Justin Lucas -- 18-01 (5) -- 4-10

12. Kelly Jordon -- 18-01 (5) -- 4-05

13. Cliff Crochet -- 17-12 (5) -- 4-01

14. Luke Clausen -- 17-03 (5) -- 5-03

15. Chris Lane -- 16-15 (5) -- 4-12

16. Alton Jones Jr. -- 16-13 (5) -- 3-15

17. Ryan Salzman -- 16-12 (5) -- 4-06

18. Wesley Strader -- 16-05 (5) -- 4-10

19. Cliff Pace -- 16-04 (5) -- 4-03

20. Randall Tharp -- 16-02 (5) -- 4-02

21. Jeff Sprague -- 15-14 (5) -- 3-08

22. Stephen Browning -- 15-08 (5) -- 3-12

23. Fletcher Shryock -- 15-04 (5) -- 4-02

24. Randy Howell -- 14-15 (5) -- 4-00

25. Josh Bertrand -- 14-14 (5) -- 3-08

26. James Watson -- 14-03 (5) -- 3-10

27. Skeet Reese -- 14-01 (5) -- 3-09

28. Josh Butler -- 14-00 (5) -- 3-10

29. Dean Rojas -- 14-00 (5) -- 3-02

30. Dustin Connell -- 13-14 (5) -- 5-05

31. Edwin Evers -- 13-07 (5) -- 3-06

32. Kevin VanDam -- 13-05 (5) -- 3-01

33. Mark Davis -- 13-04 (5) -- 3-04

34. Terry Scroggins -- 12-07 (5) -- 3-08

35. Spencer Shuffield -- 11-13 (5) -- 2-14

36. Andy Morgan -- 11-04 (5) -- 3-00

37. Dave Lefebre -- 11-00 (5) -- 2-09

38. Ott DeFoe -- 10-12 (4) -- 3-06

39. Nick Lebrun -- 10-11 (4) -- 3-03

40. Roy Hawk -- 7-00 (3) -- 2-08