By MLF Communications Staff

Fishing what he called a “Bubba Shot”, Jared Lintner weighed in 11 scorable bass on Lake D’Arbonne Sunday totaling 33 pounds, 2 ounces, to take a commanding lead on Day 1 for Group B at the MLF Bass Pro Tour season opener in Monroe-West Monroe, Louisiana.

Lintner grabbed the lead around 11 a.m. and never relinquished control, increasing his lead by another 10 pounds in the third period alone. He will take a 14 1/2-pound lead into Tuesday’s Qualifying Round finale for Group B.

Gerald Spohrer ended the day in 2nd place, catching six bass for 18-11, while David Dudley boated seven scorable bass totaling 16-06 for 3rd place. Bradley roy also weighed in 16-06, but sits in 4th place due to tiebreaker rules, and Jonathon VanDam rounds out the Top 5 with eight bass for 16-01.

The 40 anglers in Group B will now have an off day on Monday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group A will complete their two-day Qualifying Round of competition. Group B will conclude their Qualifying Round on Tuesday.

“Today was a good day,” said Lintner, a California native who recently moved east to Georgia. “I assumed it was going to be tough, and it was. I threw crankbaits and flipping jigs and vibrating jigs – at one point I even broke out a buzzbait – but I never had any bites on anything other than my Bubba Shot.

“It’s basically a dropshot rig with heavier line,” Lintner continued. “I’m using 16-pound Sunline Shooter with a Roboworm, Aaron’s madness-colored, and just making a lot of casts. It ended up being a really great day.”

Lintner threw his Bubba Shot around boat docks and brush near docks. He fished it painstakingly slow and would often make multiple casts and presentations to the same spots. He used a 7-foot, 3-inch medium-heavy Daiwa Tatula Elite rod with a Daiwa Zillion TW HD reel. His Bubba Shot consisted of a 3/0 Trokar hook, an Eco Pro Tungsten Full Contact Drop Shot weight, 16-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line, and a Marten’s Madness-colored Roboworm, dipped in Pautzke Fire Gel bait scent.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back out here and fishing again on Tuesday,” Lintner went on to say. “This is a neat lake, and the people out here are awesome.”

Unlike Lintner who mainly targeted docks, sSpohrer did most of his damage cranking around riprap on the lower end of the lake.

“It was very hard for me to get fish to bite, but the ones that did for me came on a Nomad squarebill crankbait, and that was the key,” Spohrer said. “I fished it with a very slow retrieve, letting it tick off of every single rock. Sometimes I had to make six or seven casts in a row to get a fish to bite it. But that’s what it took to trigger those fish. They didn’t want to chase anything, they wanted it right across their mouth.”

Andy Montgomery boated a 5-12 largemouth in Period 1 – the largest of the day – to earn Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award. The fish came on a jig. 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 group's 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, when weights will again be zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

In the four-day opening Qualifying Rounds, anglers 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. The 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 event 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 breaks down the extended action on each day of competition from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Group B Qualifying Round – Day 1

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

1. Jared Lintner -- 33-02 (11) -- 5-09

2. Gerald Spohrer -- 18-11 (6) -- 5-09

3. David Dudley -- 16-06 (7) -- 3-10

4. Bradley Roy -- 16-06 (7) -- 2-15

5. Jonathon VanDam -- 16-01 (8) -- 2-11

6. Keith Poche -- 14-09 (6) -- 3-06

7. Kevin VanDam -- 13-04 (5) -- 3-07

8. Jacob Wheeler -- 12-04 (6) -- 3-00

9. Jeff Sprague -- 12-04 (5) -- 3-01

10. Andy Montgomery -- 12-03 (3) -- 5-12

11. Jordan Lee -- 11-03 (5) -- 3-01

12. Brent Chapman -- 8-07 (4) -- 3-01

13. Randy Howell -- 7-07 (4) -- 2-10

14. James Elam -- 6-07 (2) -- 4-06

15. Todd Faircloth -- 6-00 (3) -- 2-09

16. Fletcher Shryock -- 5-02 (1) -- 5-02

17. Paul Elias -- 4-10 (1) -- 4-10

18. Cliff Crochet -- 4-03 (1) -- 4-03

19. Michael Neal -- 3-15 (2) -- 2-05

20. Britt Myers -- 3-15 (2) -- 2-00

21. Anthony Gagliardi -- 3-06 (2) -- 1-12

22. Randall Tharp -- 3-05 (1) -- 3-05

23. Shaw Grigsby -- 2-14 (1) -- 2-14

24. Ish Monroe -- 2-07 (1) -- 2-07

25. Cole Floyd -- 2-06 (1) -- 2-06

26. Dylan Hays -- 2-05 (1) -- 2-05

27. Josh Bertrand -- 2-02 (1) -- 2-02

28. Fred Roumbanis -- 1-13 (1) -- 1-13

29. Mark Davis -- 1-12 (1) -- 1-12

29. Marty Robinson -- 1-12 (1) -- 1-12

31. Justin Lucas -- 1-11 (1) -- 1-11

32. Wesley Strader -- 1-09 (1) -- 1-09

33. Brandon Coulter -- 0-00 (0)

33. Brett Hite -- 0-00 (0)

33. Clabion Johns -- 0-00 (0)

33. Jason Lambert -- 0-00 (0)

33. Matt Lee -- 0-00 (0)

33. Takahiro Omori -- 0-00 (0)

33. Tommy Biffle -- 0-00 (0)

33. Zack Birge -- 0-00 (0)