By MLF Communications Staff

The Major League Fishing TITLE Championship kicked off Tuesday on the Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wis. with a grueling day on the water for the anglers. Veteran pro Mike McClelland stayed near the top of the unofficial leaderboard throughout the day, securing his position in the No. 1 spot at the end of the day with a limit weighing 13-12 – a mere 2 ounces ahead of 2nd-place Alex Davis.

The six-day tournament showcases the Top 48 pros from the 2021 Pro Circuit standings, along with last year’s reigning TITLE champion and reigning Angler of the Year – all competing for a purse of nearly $900,000 and a top prize of up to $235,000.

“Having past experience here on the Mississippi River definitely helped me today,” said McClelland. “The fortunate part is that I’ve actually fished here when the river was down. Every time we showed up here for a tournament in the past, a massive flood would hit, so nothing I had done in practice would work.

“This week as we got to town, they’d had localized heavy flooding and the river had risen 1 1/2 to 2 feet, muddying the water and messing up some areas. It forced me to go look at some spots that I had found over the years where I knew the river could be hot when the water level was down.”

McClelland said he had never gotten to fish those areas during an actual tournament due to the rapidly changing conditions on the Mississippi, but those spots were his saving grace on day 1.

“Today I was able to settle in,” said McClelland. “I caught a big largemouth right off the bat and caught a couple smallmouth shortly after. That allowed me to learn exactly how these fish were positioned and once I figured that out, it really took off.

“It was pretty incredible the number of bites I got today. I just hope I didn’t lean on them too hard and that they don’t get hammered tomorrow. Hopefully when I get back there on Thursday, they will still be ready to bite.”

McClelland said he’s had his fair share of ups and downs over the past couple years and admitted his success on the Bass Pro Tour had not been astounding, but he feels like this event could be different.

“The grinders are the tournaments I typically do better in,” McClelland said. “I feel like I have a chance at this event, where a lot of guys were probably coming in not really knowing how many fish truly live in some of these areas. I knew they might lay off thinking they’ve caught them all, but I’ve seen places on this river where you can literally catch 25 or 30 2 1/2- to 3-pounders when it’s good.”

McClelland said he probably had an opportunity to upgrade another pound or so, but I didn’t want to lean too heavy on the fish on day 1.

“The key for me this week has really been being open-minded,” he said. “Typically, this place has been so well-known for a swim jig – not necessarily a big, bulky swim jig, but more of a finesse-style swim jig. For me this week, the swim jig has caught a few – it caught the better largemouth today – but I’m actually throwing a 3.3-inch Big Bite Baits Pro Swimmer.

“I found the fish that would normally bite a swim jig were pushing it, but they would hit the swimmer, so I feel like I’ve got a little trick up my sleeve. I’ve got a little bit of topwater activity, some [SPRO] RKCrawler activity and am throwing a little brown jig like we do in the Ozarks.

“I mixed it up quite a bit today and feel like I’ve got a lot of things working – I’m really looking forward to Thursday,” concluded McClelland.

The 25 anglers in Group A will now have the day off on Wednesday, while the 25 anglers in Group B will begin their first day of competition. Group A will resume competition on Thursday.

The winner of each group will advance directly to the Championship Round on Sunday, while pros who finish in 2nd to 10th place in each group will again battle it out with zeroed weights in the Knockout Round on Saturday. In the Championship Round, weights will again be zeroed and the Top 8 pros from the Knockout Round, plus the two Qualifying Round winners will compete. The winner will be determined by the heaviest five-bass limit of the final round.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CT each day from Veterans Freedom Park, located at 1 Clinton Street in La Crosse. Weigh-ins will also be held at the park daily at 3 p.m.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Fans are welcome to attend the event or follow the action online through the MLF NOW! live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.