By MLF Communications Staff

While most of the anglers on Lake Chickamauga were throwing standard summer-time Tennessee River baits – big crankbaits, big jigs, big worms and big spoons – Japanese pro Shinichi Fukae proved Monday that sometimes finesse is best. Fukae caught 24 scorable bass totaling 79-06 to win the two-day Qualifying Group B round at the MLF Bass Pro Tour event in Dayton, Tenn.

Fukae’s two-day total of 37 bass weighing 114-02 earned him the round win by a 20-12 margin and advances him straight into Wednesday’s Championship Round.

Day-1 leader Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla. caught a two-day total of 30 bass weighing 93-06 to end the round in 2nd place, and reigning REDCREST champion Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala. finished the round in 3rd place with a two-day total of 21 bass weighing 75-05.

The remaining 38 anglers – 19 from Group A and 19 from Group B – will now compete Tuesday in the Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed, and the anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to the finals. Wednesday’s Championship Round will feature Group A winner Jason Lambert, Group B winner Fukae, and the eight anglers from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

“It was a little bit hard to catch (them) the first day, and I had no idea where I was going to start today,” Fukae said. “I chose this area in the morning, and that was the super-right decision for me. I caught 79 pounds and finally made a Championship Round. I am so happy for that and I am ready to go right now.”

Fukae has battled through plenty of adversity this week, not only on the water but off of it as well. His father-in-law passed away just a few days ago in Japan, and his wife Miyu, who has been by his side since he first came to the United States in 2004, is back in Japan mourning with her family.

“Thank you so much to my wife for letting me fish,” an emotional Fukae said in his post-game interview. “She has been in a super-tough situation the last two or three days. I want to try to help her, but she told me to just concentrate on fish and don’t think about other things. But, of course, I cannot do that. I worry a lot. I talked to her yesterday. She is so strong. My father-in-law helped me from the sky today, and I thank him so much.”

Fukae caught his fish on two main baits Monday – a Ned Rig and a soft-body swimbait. However, he credited his Lowrance units as being the main reason that he had so much success.

“The most important thing for me today was my Lowrance ActiveTarget,” Fukae said. “I can see where the fish come from, what depths the fish are at, and that was the key to me making the Championship Round.

“I also used Shimano rods and Shimano reels, and YGK fishing line, the most famous braided line in the world,” Fukae went on to say. “I used their sinking braided line, which was very helpful because the wind was blowing hard and it made the line really drift a lot. So, the sinking line really helped me today.”

Fukae also earned Monday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a 7-05 largemouth that bit a Ned Rig in 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. 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! live stream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

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 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 B Qualifying Round – Day 2

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

1. Shin Fukae -- 34-12 (13) -- 79-06 (24) -- 114-02 (37) -- 7-05

2. Edwin Evers -- 74-14 (23) -- 18-08 (7) -- 93-06 (30) -- 8-09

3. Dustin Connell -- 53-14 (15) -- 21-07 (6) -- 75-05 (21) -- 7-08

4. Josh Bertrand -- 32-14 (11) -- 37-09 (13) -- 70-07 (24) -- 7-00

5. Kevin VanDam -- 56-11 (22) -- 10-01 (4) -- 66-12 (26) -- 5-13

6. Jacob Wheeler -- 41-10 (15) -- 17-14 (7) -- 59-08 (22) -- 6-03

7. Brent Ehrler -- 27-03 (11) -- 31-06 (13) -- 58-09 (24) -- 4-11

8. Stephen Browning -- 23-02 (8) -- 33-08 (12) -- 56-10 (20) -- 4-11

9. Takahiro Omori -- 20-03 (7) -- 31-16 (9) -- 52-03 (16) -- 6-08

10. Britt Myers -- 31-08 (11) -- 16-14 (6) -- 48-06 (17) -- 5-06

11. Greg Vinson -- 10-01 (4) -- 35-03 (13) -- 45-04 (17) -- 4-02

12. Michael Neal -- 29-07 (12) -- 14-14 (6) -- 44-05 (18) -- 3-13

13. Shaw Grigsby -- 13-15 (4) -- 28-07 (10) -- 42-06 (14) -- 5-08

14. Casey Ashley -- 26-07 (9) -- 13-04 (5) -- 39-11 (14) -- 3-13

15. James Elam -- 12-05 (5) -- 26-08 (9) -- 38-13 (14) -- 3-13

16. Todd Faircloth -- 16-15 (6) -- 20-07 (7) -- 37-06 (13) -- 6-04

17. Randy Howell -- 17-08 (5) -- 18-09 (8) -- 36-01 (13) -- 5-11

18. Terry Scroggins -- 13-07 (4) -- 21-14 (7) -- 35-05 (11) -- 5-09

19. Bradley Roy -- 8-15 (4) -- 22-01 (7) -- 31-00 (11) -- 6-03

20. Alton Jones Jr. -- 17-07 (6) -- 13-04 (5) -- 30-11 (11) -- 3-13

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

21. Jeff Kriet -- 19-14 (7) -- 10-07 (3) -- 30-05 (10) -- 4-10

22. Brent Chapman -- 8-08 (3) -- 20-00 (8) -- 28-08 (11) -- 3-15

23. Jeff Sprague -- 16-05 (5) -- 12-01 (5) -- 28-06 (10) -- 4-01

24. David Dudley -- 7-04 (3) -- 19-06 (8) -- 26-10 (11) -- 3-04

25. Randall Tharp -- 9-00 (3) -- 17-08 (6) -- 26-08 (9) -- 5-01

26. Paul Elias -- 6-11 (3) -- 18-08 (6) -- 25-03 (9) -- 4-10

27. Cody Meyer -- 13-15 (6) -- 10-11 (5) -- 24-10 (11) -- 2-11

28. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 10-12 (3) -- 13-10 (5) -- 24-06 (8) -- 4-00

29. Jared Lintner -- 11-12 (5) -- 12-04 (5) -- 24-00 (10) -- 3-02

30. Cliff Crochet -- 7-00 (2) -- 16-05 (6) -- 23-05 (8) -- 3-12

31. Dave Lefebre -- 8-01 (3) -- 12-16 (4) -- 21-01 (7) -- 4-14

32. Brandon Coulter -- 14-03 (6) -- 6-13 (3) -- 21-00 (9) -- 3-09

33. Boyd Duckett -- 10-06 (4) -- 10-04 (3) -- 20-10 (7) -- 5-01

34. Brett Hite -- 10-14 (4) -- 7-16 (3) -- 18-14 (7) -- 3-08

35. Marty Robinson -- 4-10 (2) -- 14-01 (6) -- 18-11 (8) -- 3-00

36. Fred Roumbanis -- 4-08 (2) -- 10-13 (4) -- 15-05 (6) -- 3-11

37. Tai Au -- 4-11 (2) -- 7-14 (3) -- 12-09 (5) -- 3-01

38. Jonathon VanDam -- 4-09 (2) -- 7-02 (3) -- 11-11 (5) -- 2-12

39. David G Williams -- 2-12 (1) -- 8-05 (3) -- 11-01 (4) -- 3-05

40. Dean Rojas -- 6-14 (3) -- 2-05 (1) -- 9-03 (4) -- 2-12