By MLF Communications Staff

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Favorable conditions greeted the 40 anglers competing in Group A Sunday at Lake Murray on Day 1 of the MLF Bass Pro Tour event. As predicted, a variety of tactics and baits were in play as Top 5 anglers caught the majority of their bass in different ways and nine of the Top 10 had at least one 4-pound kicker bass in their limit.

After a dominant first period, Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., grabbed the early lead with a lipless crankbait and then held it throughout the day. VanDam boated 15 scorable largemouth, with his best five weighing 21 pounds, 14 ounces – good for a 1-10 advantage over second-place angler Marty Robinson of Lyman, S.C. Robinson had struggled early, ending the second period in 39th place before going on a third-period rally to catch 20-04.

Weights are stacked up in the remainder of the Top 5 as just 1 pound separates second place from fifth. Second-year pro Cole Floyd of Leesburg, Ohio, ended the day in third with five bass totaling 20-03, while rookie Mitch Crane, a practicing dentist from Columbus, Miss., ended the day in fourth with five bass weighing 19-04. Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas continued his red-hot pace with a solid start to the round, catching five bass weighing 19-04 to finish the day in fifth place.

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

“Well, we’re off to a good start,” VanDam said. “We did what we needed to do today, and we really rode that first period. I caught a lot of fish, today. That first spot that I stopped on, they were really firing.”

VanDam caught 21 pounds in Period 1, upgrading slightly throughout the day. He did most of his damage with a lipless crankbait – a sexy shad-colored Strike King Red Eye Shad, according to MLFNOW! analyst Marty Stone.

“I had a chance to have a really big bag – I lost a great big one,” VanDam continued. “But I did catch a 6 1/2-pounder there, so we’re sitting right where we want to be.”

After his first period flurry, VanDam spent much of the remainder of his day scouting new water and practicing for the remainder of the week.

“We did a lot of practicing today, and I was able to run around and do some looking,” VanDam went on to say. “I found three or four other places that have a lot of fish on them, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the week and hopefully we can keep this up.”

Robinson earned the first $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the event with a 6-12 largemouth that bit his wacky-rigged worm in Period 3. 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 Top 20 anglers from each group advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 40 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round where weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Anglers launch each day at 7:30 a.m. ET from Dreher Island State Park, located at 3677 State Park Road in Prosperity. Each day’s takeout is held at the launch location beginning at 4 p.m.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action live on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.



Qualifying Group A – Day 1

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

1. Jonathon VanDam -- 21-14 (5) -- 6-07

2. Marty Robinson -- 20-04 (5) -- 6-12

3. Cole Floyd -- 20-03 (5) -- 5-04

4. Mitch Crane -- 19-13 (5) -- 5-02

5. Dakota Ebare -- 19-04 (5) -- 4-15

6. Andy Montgomery -- 18-07 (5) -- 4-08

7. Matt Becker -- 18-05 (5) -- 4-04

8. Jared Lintner -- 18-02 (5) -- 4-13

9. Jordan Lee -- 18-00 (5) -- 4-01

10. Todd Faircloth -- 17-15 (5) -- 3-15

11. Keith Poche -- 17-13 (5) -- 5-05

12. Casey Ashley -- 17-13 (5) -- 5-02

13. Anthony Gagliardi -- 17-12 (5) -- 4-06

14. David Dudley -- 17-04 (5) -- 5-04

15. Brandon Coulter -- 17-02 (5) -- 4-00

16. Gary Klein -- 16-14 (5) -- 4-11

17. Bryan Thrift -- 16-03 (5) -- 4-02

18. Tommy Biffle -- 16-02 (5) -- 4-11

19. Brett Hite -- 15-15 (5) -- 3-10

20. Matt Lee -- 15-13 (5) -- 3-11

21. John Murray -- 15-12 (5) -- 4-06

22. Scott Suggs -- 15-10 (5) -- 3-06

23. Alton Jones -- 15-06 (5) -- 3-08

24. John Hunter -- 15-05 (5) -- 3-15

25. Jeff Kriet -- 15-04 (5) -- 3-12

26. Dylan Hays -- 15-00 (5) -- 4-07

27. Brent Ehrler -- 15-00 (5) -- 3-06

28. Fred Roumbanis -- 14-07 (5) -- 3-11

29. Jeremy Lawyer -- 14-07 (5) -- 3-10

30. Mark Rose -- 13-15 (5) -- 3-07

31. James Elam -- 13-12 (5) -- 3-06

32. Jacob Wheeler -- 13-05 (5) -- 4-00

33. Bradley Roy -- 13-01 (5) -- 3-11

34. Brent Chapman -- 12-15 (5) -- 3-00

35. David Walker -- 12-13 (5) -- 3-06

36. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 12-12 (5) -- 3-09

37. Britt Myers -- 12-12 (5) -- 3-03

38. Shin Fukae -- 12-09 (5) -- 3-03

39. Gerald Spohrer -- 12-05 (5) -- 3-13

40. Boyd Duckett -- 11-14 (5) -- 2-11