By MLF Communications Staff
The second event on the 2022 MLF Pro Circuit gets under way Sunday at the Harris Chain of Lakes out of Leesburg, Fla. The tournament will feature 158 anglers – including 19 pros from Florida – competing for a total purse of more than $850,000.
The event will mark the fourth time the Pro Circuit (formerly the FLW Tour) has competed on the Harris Chain. On the last visit in February 2020, local pro Laramy Strickland of Bushnell, Florida, fishing in his rookie season, won the weather-shortened event with a three-day total of 61 pounds, 4 ounces.
Strickland won by flipping a Reaction Innovations Spicy Beaver throughout a 600-acre duck marsh in Lake Griffin. This time around, Strickland says that he expects the bass to be in multiple different phases, and anglers will be able to fish their strengths and do well with numerous different baits and tactics.
“The key to doing well in this tournament is going to be picking an area where the fish are coming and going,” said Strickland. “I think we’re going to see fish in all three stages of the spawn – prespawn, spawning and postspawn. I think the majority of fish have spawned already, but we’ll still catch fish from all three stages and you can expect to see everything in this tournament.
“The (Harris) Chain has been beat up a little bit with the number of tournaments there the past few weeks, but it still is fishing really well,” Strickland continued. “It’s going to take at least 75 to 80 pounds to win this one, no doubt.”
The Harris Chain includes Lake Harris, Lake Apopka, Lake Griffin, Lake Eustis, Lake Dora, Lake Carlton, Horseshoe Lake, Little Lake Harris, Lake Denham and Lake Beauclair. In all, the pros have the run of 10 lakes, plus the residential canals, rivers and backwaters that spread out from them.
“I imagine that the field will be pretty spread out,” Strickland said. “Most of the guys in the field will have had experience here and will be spread all over the map. That being said, it’s still Florida fishing and we’re going to see some areas that are pretty popular. I think Banana Cove in Lake Harris will be a big player.”
Strickland said that he expects the standard Florida-fare of baits to be popular choices amongst tournament competitors.
“Guys are going to catch them on ChatterBaits and (Zoom) Speed Worms. I think we’ll see some topwater fish play. We’re going to see some flipping fish. Lipless crankbaits. With all three phases of the spawn in play, we’ll be able to catch them pretty much however we feel most comfortable.”
The full field will compete in the two-day opening round on Sunday and Monday. The top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight will advance to Tuesday. Only the top 10 pros, based on cumulative weight from the first three days, will continue competition on Wednesday, where weights will be zeroed and anglers will compete in a one-day shootout for the grand prize of up to $135,000, including the $35,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus for qualified anglers.
Anglers will take off at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from the Ski Beach at the Venetian Gardens, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive in Leesburg. Weigh-ins will also be held at the Ski Beach daily at 3:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to attend the morning takeoffs and afternoon weigh-ins, and also follow the live on-the-water action all four days of competition online on MLF NOW! beginning at 8 a.m. ET at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
