JVD Has Another Good Day To Claim Group A Win

By MLF Communications Staff

COLUMBIA, S.C. –Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich. caught six scorable bass, with his best five weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces to earn the win Tuesday during the Group A Qualifying Round at the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Lake Murray.

VanDam’s two-day Qualifying Round catch of 10 bass totaling 41-12 earned him the win by a 2-08 margin over Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., who caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 39-04 to finish in second place. Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 38-10 to finish the round in third, while Leesburg, Ohio’s Cole Floyd ended the round in fourth place with a two-day total of 10 bass for 38-02. Rounding out the Top 5 was rookie Matt Becker of Ten Mile, Tenn., who caught 10 bass weighing 36-12.

“Today was overall a great day – we did exactly what we had to do,” VanDam said in his post-game interview. “I didn’t catch very many today, but I really wasn’t trying to. We got our work done early in the first period and then I spent a lot of time looking.

“I’m doing my best to set myself up for the Knockout Round,” VanDam continued. “I found a couple of more groups of fish, and a couple of them with some really big ones around. Hopefully the weather will help a little bit and they’ll get to chewing.”

VanDam started out the day with a 6-07 lunker that bit his sexy-shad-colored Strike King Red Eye Shad. He caught four of his six keepers on the lipless crankbait, and his last two fish of the day came on a dropshot rig.

“The weather was a little bit different – it was sunny, it was calm, and I had to switch it up a little bit,” VanDam said. “I tried not to lean on them too much. I caught a bunch on a Strike King Red Eye Shad, then had to switch to the dropshot later as it got slick.

“Knowing where those fish are sitting, it’s important to throw a variety of different baits at them to try to get them to react. Sometimes these fish, especially when they’re sitting there for these herring, get educated pretty quickly. So I tried to mix it up, and today went just as planned. I’m looking forward to the Knockout Round.”

The top 20 advancing anglers from Group A will now have an off day from competition Wednesday, while the 40 anglers competing in Qualifying Group B complete their two-day Qualifying Round. 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, whre weight carries over from the Knockout Round and the angler with the heaviest two-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

Montgomery earned Tuesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with an 8-08 largemouth bass that he caught fishing boat docks with a worm late 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.

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 2

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

1. Jonathon VanDam -- 21-14 (5) -- 19-14 (5) -- 41-12 (10) -- 6-07

2. Andy Montgomery -- 18-07 (5) -- 20-13 (5) -- 39-04 (10) -- 8-08

3. Dakota Ebare -- 19-04 (5) -- 19-06 (5) -- 38-10 (10) -- 5-00

4. Cole Floyd -- 20-03 (5) -- 17-15 (5) -- 38-02 (10) -- 4-00

5. Matt Becker -- 18-05 (5) -- 18-07 (5) -- 36-12 (10) -- 4-03

6. Gary Klein -- 16-14 (5) -- 19-11 (5) -- 36-09 (10) -- 6-02

7. Mitch Crane -- 19-13 (5) -- 16-02 (5) -- 35-15 (10) -- 4-01

8. Bryan Thrift -- 16-03 (5) -- 19-11 (5) -- 35-14 (10) -- 6-00

9. Anthony Gagliardi -- 17-12 (5) -- 17-08 (5) -- 35-04 (10) -- 4-01

10. John Hunter -- 15-05 (5) -- 19-06 (5) -- 34-11 (10) -- 4-08

11. Marty Robinson -- 20-04 (5) -- 13-10 (5) -- 33-14 (10) -- 3-11

12. Brent Chapman -- 12-15 (5) -- 20-09 (5) -- 33-08 (10) -- 6-00

13. Keith Poche -- 17-13 (5) -- 15-08 (5) -- 33-05 (10) -- 3-15

14. Brandon Coulter -- 17-02 (5) -- 15-15 (5) -- 33-01 (10) -- 3-15

15. John Murray -- 15-12 (5) -- 17-01 (5) -- 32-13 (10) -- 4-14

16. Todd Faircloth -- 17-15 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 32-12 (10) -- 3-08

17. Jared Lintner -- 18-02 (5) -- 14-01 (5) -- 32-03 (10) -- 3-07

18. Alton Jones -- 15-06 (5) -- 16-10 (5) -- 32-00 (10) -- 4-02

19. Jeff Kriet -- 15-04 (5) -- 16-10 (5) -- 31-14 (10) -- 5-02

20. Scott Suggs -- 15-10 (5) -- 16-03 (5) -- 31-13 (10) -- 4-13

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round

21. Dylan Hays -- 15-00 (5) -- 16-10 (5) -- 31-10 (10) -- 4-06

22. Brett Hite -- 15-15 (5) -- 15-11 (5) -- 31-10 (10) -- 3-09

23. Jordan Lee -- 18-00 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 30-08 (10) -- 2-15

24. Matt Lee -- 15-13 (5) -- 14-06 (5) -- 30-03 (10) -- 4-13

25. James Elam -- 13-12 (5) -- 15-08 (5) -- 29-04 (10) -- 3-05

26. Brent Ehrler -- 15-00 (5) -- 14-01 (5) -- 29-01 (10) -- 3-05

27. Tommy Biffle -- 16-02 (5) -- 12-07 (4) -- 28-09 (9) -- 4-08

28. Britt Myers -- 12-12 (5) -- 15-02 (5) -- 27-14 (10) -- 6-04

29. Jeremy Lawyer -- 14-07 (5) -- 13-07 (5) -- 27-14 (10) -- 3-04

30. Fred Roumbanis -- 14-07 (5) -- 13-05 (5) -- 27-12 (10) -- 3-14

31. David Walker -- 12-13 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 27-11 (10) -- 3-15

32. David Dudley -- 17-04 (5) -- 10-06 (5) -- 27-10 (10) -- 2-12

33. Bradley Roy -- 13-01 (5) -- 13-14 (5) -- 26-15 (10) -- 3-00

34. Mark Rose -- 13-15 (5) -- 12-15 (5) -- 26-14 (10) -- 3-01

35. Casey Ashley -- 17-13 (5) -- 8-01 (4) -- 25-14 (9) -- 3-06

36. Boyd Duckett -- 11-14 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 25-13 (10) -- 4-00

37. Shin Fukae -- 12-09 (5) -- 13-02 (5) -- 25-11 (10) -- 3-11

38. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 12-12 (5) -- 12-14 (5) -- 25-10 (10) -- 3-03

39. Jacob Wheeler -- 13-05 (5) -- 12-05 (5) -- 25-10 (10) -- 2-13

40. Gerald Spohrer -- 12-05 (5) -- 2-04 (1) -- 14-09 (6) -- 2-04