By MLF Communications Staff

After taking over the lead early in the day and holding off several hard-charging competitors in the third period, Michael Neal of Dayton, Tennessee held his ground to win the Group B Qualifying Round at the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama with a two-day total of 69-12.

Neal caught 21 scorable bass for an even 44 pounds on the day. He advances directly to Monday's Championship Round, joining Group A winner Jacob Wheeler.

This will mark Neal’s 11th Championship Round appearance on the BPT and the second time he's won the automatic berth straight to the final round – the first of which carried him to the win at last year's event on Lake St. Clair.

“It’s definitely good to make it into the Championship Round,” said Neal. “If I can have another day like I had today, I have a shot to win. We’ll have very different weather on the final day, so I’m not sure how the bass in this area will like that, but I’m ready to find out.”

Neal spent the day out in open water – over 100-feet deep – using forward-facing sonar to target suspended fish that were chasing bait.

“It was a grind in that second period again, so I don’t know if I’m going to have to leave this area during the second period and then come back in the third or try something different,” said Neal. “It’s not really late enough in the day to be able to get on an evening bite, but there are tons of fish here – all pretty decent-sized – and I’m looking forward to coming back out here on Monday.

“There are still a lot of fish in this area to catch, and while it would be nice to be out here tomorrow and continue practicing and figuring things out, I can’t win if I don’t make it to Championship day. I have to take the automatic berth, skip the Knockout Round and go straight to the final day.”

Fletcher Shryock of Guntersville, Alabama caught a two-day total of 24 bass weighing 48-11 to finish the round in second place, while Jordan Lee of Cullman, Alabama ended the round in third place with a two-day total of 24 bass weighing 48 pounds even. Jasper, Texas pro Todd Faircloth caught 23 bass weighing 46-07 to land in fourth, while Gerald Spohrer of Gonzales, Louisiana advanced to the Knockout Round in fifth place with a two-day total of 21 bass weighing 44-05.

Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee sat without a scorable bass after the first two periods before going on a flurry in period three to catch 10 bass for 22-10 ounces and slide into the Knockout Round in 18th place.

After hovering around the cut line throughout most of the day, local pro Jesse Wiggins of Addison, Alabama made a clutch catch with eight minutes remaining in the final period, boating a 3-03 spotted bass to jump over the cut line and end the day in 20th place.

“We got in by the skin of our teeth, on my home lake,” said Wiggins. “I hate that it was that close, but I caught some big ones today, and several that were close to 3 pounds. I caught tons of fish in one area – none that were above the 1 pound, 8-ounce mark to be scorable – but we made it. I caught most of my fish on a 7-foot 6-inch medium St. Croix Legend Xtreme Spinning Rod with a 2.8-inch Jackall Rhythm Wave Swimbait and a Keitech Swimbait.

“It was tough, I mean that was a freaking grind. But just knowing this one little stretch to end on saved me and thank the good Lord it did. We’re tied for first place now,” Wiggins laughed.

The remaining 38 anglers – 19 from each group – now advance to Sunday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed and the anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to the Championship Round on Monday. The Championship Round will feature Wheeler, Neal and the eight survivors from the Knockout Round competing in a final-day shootout for the top prize of $100,000.

David Walker of Sevierville, Tennessee caught a 4-12 largemouth on a jig in the third period that earned him Saturday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award. 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.

The 38 anglers competing in Sunday’s Knockout Round will launch at 7:30 a.m. from the Smith Lake State Park, located at 403 County Road 386 in Cullman. The takeout will be held at the park beginning at 4:30 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-pound, 8-ounce 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 MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended on each day of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! is livestreamed 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 day)

1. Michael Neal -- 25-12 (14) -- 44-00 (21) -- 69-12 (35) -- 3-08

2. Fletcher Shryock -- 18-13 (8) -- 29-14 (16) -- 48-11 (24) -- 2-14

3. Jordan Lee -- 15-05 (8) -- 32-11 (16) -- 48-00 (24) -- 3-04

4. Todd Faircloth -- 36-10 (18) -- 9-13 (5) -- 46-07 (23) -- 2-10

5. Gerald Spohrer -- 21-07 (9) -- 22-14 (12) -- 44-05 (21) -- 2-09

6. Tommy Biffle -- 13-05 (6) -- 28-11 (13) -- 42-00 (19) -- 3-11

7. Alton Jones Jr. -- 31-13 (14) -- 8-10 (4) -- 40-07 (18) -- 3-09

8. Marty Robinson -- 24-02 (12) -- 14-12 (8) -- 38-14 (20) -- 2-09

9. Clabion Johns -- 25-09 (11) -- 12-15 (7) -- 38-08 (18) -- 2-01

10. Fred Roumbanis -- 19-14 (10) -- 18-07 (11) -- 38-05 (21) -- 2-06

11. Cole Floyd -- 17-15 (8) -- 19-07 (9) -- 37-06 (17) -- 3-04

12. Brent Ehrler -- 13-07 (7) -- 23-11 (12) -- 37-02 (19) -- 3-00

13. Matt Lee -- 22-08 (11) -- 14-05 (8) -- 36-13 (19) -- 2-13

14. Dustin Connell -- 29-06 (13) -- 7-06 (4) -- 36-12 (17) -- 2-01

15. Dylan Hays -- 12-06 (6) -- 22-13 (11) -- 35-03 (17) -- 3-00

16. Shin Fukae -- 22-13 (12) -- 12-04 (7) -- 35-01 (19) -- 1-15

17. Bryan Thrift -- 10-09 (5) -- 23-05 (11) -- 33-14 (16) -- 4-01

18. Ott DeFoe -- 9-01 (5) -- 22-10 (10) -- 31-11 (15) -- 3-13

19. Anthony Gagliardi -- 20-00 (11) -- 10-11 (6) -- 30-11 (17) -- 2-02

20. Jesse Wiggins -- 16-07 (8) -- 13-15 (6) -- 30-06 (14) -- 3-03

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

21. Ryan Salzman -- 10-04 (5) -- 18-01 (11) -- 28-05 (16) -- 2-02

22. Dakota Ebare -- 9-08 (5) -- 15-12 (9) -- 25-04 (14) -- 2-03

23. James Elam -- 12-14 (7) -- 11-11 (7) -- 24-09 (14) -- 2-00

24. Chris Lane -- 5-13 (2) -- 17-00 (7) -- 22-13 (9) -- 3-08

25. Greg Vinson -- 17-08 (8) -- 5-04 (3) -- 22-12 (11) -- 1-15

26. Bobby Lane -- 13-05 (6) -- 7-15 (3) -- 21-04 (9) -- 3-02

27. Britt Myers -- 7-11 (3) -- 13-05 (7) -- 21-00 (10) -- 2-13

28. Skeet Reese -- 12-11 (7) -- 7-13 (4) -- 20-08 (11) -- 2-10

29. David Dudley -- 9-01 (4) -- 11-03 (5) -- 20-04 (9) -- 3-13

30. Boyd Duckett -- 8-07 (5) -- 10-08 (6) -- 18-15 (11) -- 2-02

31. Mark Davis -- 12-11 (7) -- 6-02 (3) -- 18-13 (10) -- 2-12

32. Cliff Pace -- 6-07 (4) -- 11-14 (6) -- 18-05 (10) -- 3-02

33. Shaw Grigsby -- 3-05 (2) -- 13-05 (8) -- 16-10 (10) -- 2-00

34. Alton Jones -- 12-10 (6) -- 3-14 (2) -- 16-08 (8) -- 2-05

35. Takahiro Omori -- 7-00 (4) -- 7-15 (4) -- 14-15 (8) -- 2-04

36. David Walker -- 7-08 (4) -- 6-06 (2) -- 13-14 (6) -- 4-12

37. Jeff Kriet -- 4-03 (2) -- 9-05 (5) -- 13-08 (7) -- 2-07

38. Jonathon VanDam -- 1-09 (1) -- 8-14 (4) -- 10-07 (5) -- 2-10

39. Roy Hawk -- 3-09 (2) -- 4-09 (2) -- 8-02 (4) -- 2-12

40. Timmy Horton -- 3-06 (2) -- 0-00 (0) -- 3-06 (2) -- 0-00