By MLF Communications Staff

MONROE, La. – Major League Fishing returns to northwest Louisiana this week for the 4th annual Heavy Hitters event. The first five days of competition (which gets under way Monday) will be held at Caney Creek Reservoir, but on the sixth and final day the final 10 competitors will compete on Bussey Brake.

The will showcase the 30 pros who qualified from the 2022 Bass Pro Tour season competing in a no-entry-fee tournament for a purse of more than $500,000, with a top prize of $100,000 to the winner. Anglers will also be awarded big-bass bonuses during the competition that pay out $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 to the single biggest bass in the Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds.

To qualify for Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single-largest bass from each event of the seven 2022 Bass Pro Tour tiournaments was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this event.

Although he failed to qualify this year, pro Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tennessee, was the event winner last season, earning the top prize of $100,000 on Texas’ Lake Palestine. Waco, Texas, pro Alton Jones, Jr. , was the big winner, however, as he finished fifth, but earned the big-bass bonuses in both the Knockout and Championship Rounds for a total of $165,000 in winnings.

“Last year’s event was magical. I just love the format of this tournament, and I love hunting big fish,” said Jones, who will be among the 30 competitors in this event. “It’s what I do for fun in the offseason – I love to target one big fish. Hopefully this year I’ll get a chance to compete on Bussey Brake. All money aside, I just want to fish there because of the quality of fish that live there. It looks so fun.”

The Bass Pro Tour visited Caney Creek and Bussey Brake to open the season last year, in a tournament in early February. In that event, Randy Howell of Guntersville, Alabama, set a new Bass Pro Tour record in the Knockout Round on Caney Creek for largest bass ever weighed – a 10-pound, 14-ounce brute. The very next day, Howell broke his own record, catching a 12-11 behemoth on Bussey Brake.

“I was excited to see this event when the schedule was announced, and I pray that I can make it to the final day,” Howell said of a chance to beat his record. “We were there in February, and it was freezing. I can only imagine how good it will be with warmer weather, throwing topwaters around those bushes.”

“Caney is a great lake, and the grass was just starting to grow the last time we were there,” Howell continued. “Later in the year, it should be much healthier, and the fish should be done spawning and feeding up. I can see big topwaters, swimbaits and a bladed jig catching some big bass.”

Anglers will launch each day at 7:30 a.m. CT. The Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, Days 1-5, will launch from Caney Creek Hooks Marina, located at 400 Spillway Road in Chatham, La. The final 10 anglers competing in the Championship Round will launch from Bonner Ferry Road, located five miles northwest of Bastrop off of Highway 593. 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.

Different from the Bass Pro Tour regular-season events, this tournament will feature anglers competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format in which anglers catch as many scorable bass and as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the ScoreTracker leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable.

The 15 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Monday and Wednesday – the 15 anglers in Group B on Tuesday and Thursday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the Top 8 anglers from both groups advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round weights are zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round.

For the Championship Round, weights carry over from the Knockout Round and the highest two-day total wins.

The 30 anglers who will be competing are:

Group A

Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz.
Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla.
Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark.
Mark Daniels, Jr., Tuskegee, Ala.
Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark.
Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas
Alton Jones, Sr., Lorena, Texas
Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas
Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas
Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala.
Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky.
Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala.
Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla.
Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C.
Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Group B
Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C.
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn.
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif.
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.
Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala.
Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala.
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala.
Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho
Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn.
Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala.
Randall Tharp, Port Saint Joe, Fla.
Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn.
Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala.

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.