By MLF Communications Staff
Major League Fishing is set to visit Onamia, Minnesota this week and next for the seventh and final regular-season event of the 2022 MLF Bass Pro Tour season at Mille Lacs Lake. Action gets under way Saturday and will conclude Thursday.
While Mille Lacs Lake has seen plenty of tournaments over the years, this event will mark the first time that MLF will hold an event on the storied fishery. The tournament will feature the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day.
“I’ve done well on Mille Lacs a couple of times in September,” said James Elam, a Tulsa, Okla.-based pro who will be among the 80 anglers competing. “I believe the bass will be transitioning throughout the lake, from shallow, mid-depths and deep. An angler just needs to figure out which program is going on.
“I can also see the largemouth deal playing a role here because of our format,” Elam continued. “I will check that bite out for sure. But I believe smallmouth will be the primary fish targeted. I believe we could see smallmouth in excess of 6 pounds caught.”
Fellow competitor Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala., echoed Elam’s smallmouth sentiments.
“I’m going to be targeting smallmouth – I believe mainly with a dropshot rig,” Lucas said. “It’s no secret – I’ll have a Berkley (PowerBait) MaxScent Flat Worm tied on. That’s the thing about Mille Lacs, though, you never know. Tournaments have been won there on crankbaits, football jigs, swimbaits – all of that stuff can be a player.
“It’s been a few years since I’ve been there, but it is the perfect venue to wrap up our season,” Lucas went on to say. “It’s an amazing lake with giant smallmouth – I can’t wait to get back out on the water.”
After six events, reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) Jacob Wheeler again sits in first place in the points race with 459, whilethe 2020 AOY Jordan Lee is behind Wheeler in second place with 394. Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn. is third with 373, followed by Lorena, Texas’ Alton Jones with 356.5 and Florida's Randall Tharp with 352.
Anglers will launch each day at 7:30 a.m. CT from Eddy’s Resort, located at 41334 Shakopee Lake Road in Onamia. Takeouts will be held at the resort beginning at 4 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.
On the final day (Sept. 15) from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. MLF will host a Celebration Event for fans of all ages, inviting them to come out and celebrate with the BPT pros as they crown the champion of the tournament. The first 50 youth anglers 10 and under in attendance will receive a free Shakespeare Kid’s Rod and Reel combo. The championship-round anglers will be on hand at the trophy celebration to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take selfies.
The event will feature anglers competing with a 2-pound 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 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday, with the 40 anglers in Group B on the water Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers who finish in 2nd through 20th place from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Thursday’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 the final day, weights are again zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
