Neal Turns On The Jets In Final Period

By MLF Communications Staff

MASSENA, N.Y. – The mighty St. Lawrence River provided a fitting end to the 2024 MLF Bass Pro Tour season. Ultimately, after a back-and-forth third-period slugfest between Michael Neal and John Hunter, Neal sealed the deal with 28 bass for 88 pounds, 14 ounces. His margin of victory over Hunter was 15-3, but the final day was much closer than the closing numbers would indicate.

Hunter led for much of the day, trading blows and the lead with Neal before Neal hit another gear. The final hour saw the eventual winner catch six bass for 17-2 to put it away. The win marks Neal's first since the 2021 season finale on Lake St. Clair and comes after many close calls, including two runner-up finishes this season.

Neal finished the year strong with the win and joined the list of two-time Bass Pro Tour winners. Both of his victories came on famed northern smallmouth fisheries and both were season-ending events.

15 regular-season BPT Top 10s (second only to three-time Angler of the Year Jacob Wheeler), it's surprising that this is only Neal's second win. The Championship Round experience paid off as he sealed the victory, and Neal was as relieved as anyone.

"It's been a long time coming," he said. "Today was starting to feel like the Chowan River, where I got out to a big lead and it slipped away from me. I've had a ton of seconds in my career and felt like I was on that path again. When I won the last event in 2021, I won the first event of the 2022 season on the Invitationals, and hopefully I can get on another hot streak like that."

This win here is special to Neal as he was able to clinch his first major title, the 2021 Pro Circuit Angler of the Year, on these same waters. It also cements him as a certified smallmouth specialist after claiming his previous win on Michigan's Lake St. Clair.

"I won my first AOY title right here on the same spot,” he said on the MLFNOW! broadcast. “This place will always be special to me. Growing up on Lake Chickamauga, if I caught a smallmouth, it was by accident. I've never considered myself a smallmouth fisherman, and I never thought I'd win a smallmouth tournament once, let alone twice."

Neal spent much of his time in deeper water than many competitors. He stuck with the tried-and-true dropshot rig with a slight twist while also mixing in a finesse jig.

"I primarily stayed in the 40- to 60-foot depth range keying on rock, but my biggest fish on the last day was in 65 feet of water," he said. "I don't think depth mattered a lot and the current was the main thing, and the fish, especially the bigger ones, were on sharper drops. The fish were either on the up-current side or down current, using the breaks as current drops. Most of my weight this week came from one stretch where the bottom was wavy looking with a bunch of rolling ups and downs."

Instead of rigging up a standard dropshot worm, Neal improvised and went with the current trend of soft plastics with protruding silicone skirting material. His version was homemade, with a Big Bite Baits Scentsation Quarantine Craw serving as the plastic.

"I went to Walmart and bought some sewing needles and cut a banded skirt in half," he said. "I threaded eight stands into each one, so the bait had 16 strands coming out of the bait. They were green pumpkin baits with some green pumpkin purple skirt materials, and they looked just like the gobies the bass were spitting out. I was fishing around guys all week and felt like that got me more bites."

Neal fished his creation on a 7-foot, 6-inch medium Denali Kovert, a 3000-sized spinning reel and 10-pound-test Sunline Overwatch braid with a leader of 7-pound-test Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon. He threaded the bait on a 1/O Gamakatsu G-Finesse Stinger dropshot hook with a 3/8-ounce Denali Kovert tungsten weight.

"That setup was key for me, and I didn't break off a fish all week," he said. "I also caught some fish on a 1/2-ounce Beast Coast OW Sniper Jig and used that same rod but modified to be a casting model. I had a guy back home turn that blank into a casting rod by changing the handle and the first couple of guides. It's the perfect rod for fighting big smallmouth with a lot of line out because you had to let a lot of line out to keep it on the bottom. And when you'd hook one, there'd be 100 feet of line out there, and you can still land them with that rod."

As much thought as Neal put into his setups for the event, it begs the question: How did he transform into a smallmouth guru? Neal said a change in thinking and a better understanding of the species are likely the reasons.

"I think it's all because I knew nothing about them,” he admitted. “I've learned that you must have an open mind when smallmouth fishing because they move so much daily. Largemouth are always going to be right on some cover, and smallmouth will always just be around something. That took me a while to figure out. I'm still not sure I like smallmouth fishing, but it seems to suit me."

Hard to argue. He now has two BPT wins to show for it.

Nick Hatfield earned Sunday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a smallmouth he caught in Period 3 that weighed 6 pounds even The $3,000 prize for heaviest bass of the tournament went to Cliff Crochet, who caught a largemouth weighing 6-7 on Day 2 of Group A competition.

Final Standings

1. Michael Neal -- 88-14 (28) -- 4-15 -- $100,000

2. John Hunter -- 73-12 (23) -- 5-00 -- $45,000

3. Nick Hatfield -- 55-14 (15) -- 6-00 -- $38,000

4. Drew Gill -- 55-06 (18) -- 4-11 -- $32,000

5. Matt Becker -- 53-12 (17) -- 4-10 -- $30,000

6. Chris Lane -- 52-01 (18) -- 4-11 -- $26,000

7. Brent Ehrler -- 42-06 (13) -- 4-04 -- $23,000

8. Spencer Shuffield -- 40-08 (13) -- 4-03 -- $21,000

9. Bryan Thrift -- 38-04 (13) -- 4-09 -- $19,000

10. Marty Robinson -- 34-12 (12) -- 4-02 -- $16,000

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