By MLF Communications Staff
The fifth event of the 2022 MLF Pro Circuit Presented kicks off in Richmond this week at the James River in Richmond, Va.
While the James River has seen plenty of bass tournaments on it over the years, the majority of MLF experience is limited to some BFL tournaments, a handful of Toyota Series events and a Forrest Wood Cup back in 2003. Powhatan, Va.'s Cody Pike, who will be among the pros competing in this event, knows the river better than most in the field and though he acknowledges the tournament may hit the postspawn funk, he also knows just how good it can be.
“June is a weird month where fish are getting away from their spawning thing, but we’ll probably still have some fish spawning because they spawn later in a tidal fishery than in a lake,” Pike says. “There will be a bunch of fry-guarders and the frog bite should be starting down in the Chickahominy in the pads. And there should be some postspawn fish getting out on brush, so they’ll be scattered all over from drops to brush to spawning and guarding fry.”
The Potomac River to the north has long been the Pro Circuit’s staple tidal fishery. Anglers fishing in big crowds and rarely running the tide has been what fans have become accustomed to, but Pike points out that the James is a whole different animal.
“You can catch them on high water flipping a marsh bank and three hours later you’ll be looking at the bottom where you just caught one, so timing is way more crucial on the James,” Pike said. “There’s also a whole lot more water to fish than the Potomac because the Potomac is a decent-sized body of water, but it fishes real small. On the James, you’ve got 60 or 70 miles to run that’s all good water, especially if you’re chasing the tide.
“You’ll have guys go to the Chickahominy and commit to it and not chase a tide, but if you run the tide you can catch 60 fish and likely stumble across five big ones.”
In Pro Circuit competition, the full field of anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 50 based on their two-day cumulative weight will advance to Saturday. Only the Top 10, based on cumulative weight from the first three days, will continue competition on Day 4, when 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.
After four events in the regular season, Spencer Shuffield leads the Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 732 points. Josh Butler is next with 720, while John Hunter sits in third with 695. Reigning AOY Michael Neal sits in fourth place with 685, while Matt Becker rounds out the Top 5 with 677.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. ET each day from the Osborne Landing, located at 9530 Osborne Turnpike in Richmond. Weigh-ins will also be held at the landing daily at 2:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to attend the morning take offs 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.
As part of the event, on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., fans are invited out to the Major League Fishing Festival at the Osborne Landing. Hosted by Richmond Region Tourism, the event will feature fans meeting and getting autographs from pro anglers. Children are welcome to visit the Kids Zone to meet Skye & Marshall from PAW Patrol, fish for live fish in the Kids Fishing Pond, show off their artistic skills at the coloring stations, and more. Vendor booths from MLF sponsors, food, prizes and giveaways, including a free Abu Garcia rod and reel combo for the first 50 high school or middle school anglers, are available to festival-goers. One lucky attendee will play for a 2022 Toyota Tundra in the Bully Dog Pick ‘Til You Win game, with runner-up prizes of a new 70-inch 4K UHD Smart TV or a Bully Dog Performance Tuner.
