By MLF Communications Staff

Josh Bertrand of Queen Creek, Arizona, caught 27 scorable smallmouth bass weighing 86 pounds, 13 ounces, to grab the early lead after Day 1 of the MLF Bass Pro Tour season-ending event at Mille Lacs Lake. Right behind Bertrand in second place is Hot Springs, Arkansas’ Stephen Browning, who caught 20 scorable bass weighing 84-13. The duo traded the lead back and forth multiple times throughout the third period, with Bertrand ending on top by the narrow 2-pound margin as time expired.

It seems to be a two-horse race in Group A, as Bertrand and Browning have a substantial 30-pound lead on the rest of the field. Weights are fairly stacked up in the remainder of the Top 10. Matt Lee of Cullman, Alabama, ended the day in third place with 15 bass totaling 53-11. Ardmore, Oklahoma’s Jeff Kriet caught 13 bass weighing 50-05 to end the day in fourth, while Jordan Lee of Cullman, Alabama , rounds out the Top- 5 with 15 bass weighing 46-11.

The 40 anglers in Group A will now have an off day on Sunday, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will begin their first day of competition. Group A will resume competition on Monday.

“It was a great first day – I caught a bunch of fish and a lot of really good quality ones,” Bertrand said. “I caught them multiple different ways. This morning I caught them cranking and throwing a Carolina rig – they were really biting the reaction baits early. Then this afternoon it slicked off and I ended up catching them on a dropshot rig, using a Berkley (PowerBait) MaxScent Hit Worm.

“The forecast is calling for really calm conditions for the next few days, but it’s supposed to get nasty again in our Knockout Round on Wednesday. So, I’m really going to try hard to win this Qualifying Round and advance straight to Championship Thursday – I do not want to be out here when it’s nasty,” Bertrand went on to say. “We’ve got a lot of fishing still ahead of us, but I’m thankful to be off to a really good start.”

Browning caught the biggest fish of the day, a chunky 5-08 smallmouth during Period 1 to earn the first $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the event. 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 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, where weights will again be zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. CT from Eddy’s Resort, located at 41334 Shakopee Lake Road in Onamia, Minnesota. Each day’s takeout is 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.

The tournament features 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 MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney breaks down the extended action 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 A Qualifying Round – Day 1

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

1. Josh Bertrand -- 86-13 (27) -- 5-04

2. Stephen Browning -- 84-13 (20) -- 5-08

3. Matt Lee -- 53-11 (15) -- 4-07

4. Jeff Kriet -- 50-05 (13) -- 4-10

5. Jordan Lee -- 46-11 (15) -- 4-01

6. Michael Neal -- 43-14 (13) -- 4-10

7. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 43-14 (12) -- 4-13

8. Mark Rose -- 42-12 (14) -- 4-03

9. Brent Ehrler -- 41-09 (11) -- 4-15

10. Marty Robinson -- 41-02 (11) -- 5-05

11. Anthony Gagliardi -- 38-08 (11) -- 4-07

12. David Walker -- 37-10 (11) -- 4-03

13. Jesse Wiggins -- 34-07 (10) -- 5-06

14. Luke Clausen -- 34-06 (9) -- 5-01

15. Mike McClelland -- 34-01 (9) -- 5-01

16. Zack Birge -- 33-10 (10) -- 4-13

17. Boyd Duckett -- 33-06 (11) -- 5-05

18. Cole Floyd -- 32-04 (10) -- 5-01

19. Brent Chapman -- 31-11 (11) -- 4-06

20. Takahiro Omori -- 31-05 (8) -- 5-06

21. Andy Montgomery -- 31-04 (11) -- 4-12

22. James Watson -- 31-03 (10) -- 4-13

23. Dakota Ebare -- 31-03 (8) -- 4-15

24. Edwin Evers -- 30-14 (9) -- 4-05

25. Jonathon VanDam -- 30-12 (8) -- 4-12

26. Ish Monroe -- 29-11 (9) -- 5-00

27. Gary Klein -- 27-13 (8) -- 4-13

28. David Dudley -- 27-06 (9) -- 4-07

29. Chris Lane -- 26-08 (9) -- 4-08

30. Paul Elias -- 23-02 (7) -- 4-11

31. Andy Morgan -- 22-02 (7) -- 4-09

32. Fred Roumbanis -- 20-14 (6) -- 4-12

33. Todd Faircloth -- 20-09 (7) -- 3-15

34. Dylan Hays -- 18-11 (7) -- 3-06

35. Greg Vinson -- 18-06 (6) -- 4-00

36. Scott Suggs -- 18-03 (6) -- 3-12

37. Roy Hawk -- 17-14 (6) -- 4-12

38. Dave Lefebre -- 16-01 (5) -- 4-05

39. Fletcher Shryock -- 11-02 (4) -- 4-01

40. Tommy Biffle -- 8-13 (3) -- 3-08