Sprague Wins Tiebreaker For Top Group B Slot

By MLF Communications Staff

BAY CITY, Mich. – As time expired on the ScoreTracker leaderboard Friday, there was a tie atop the standings. Day-1 leader Britt Myers of Lake Wylie, S.C. and Jeff Sprague of Point, Texas both had caught 33 pounds, 10 ounces, over the two-day Group B Qualifying Round.

Sprague, however, had a 4-12 smallmouth in his limit on Friday. Myers' biggest bass was a 4-03, so Sprague earned the Qualifying Round win via tiebreaker for at the MLF Bass Pro Tour event at Saginaw Bay/

After Sprague and Myers, Randall Tharp of Port Saint Joe, Fla., had the most weight for the day, catching a five-bass limit weighing 19-01 to vault into third place with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 33-02. Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif. finished the round in fourth place with a two-day total of 10 bass for 32-10. Rounding out the Top 5 was Jasper, Texas pro Todd Faircloth, who caught a two-day total of 10 bass for 31-15.

The remaining 40 anglers – the top 20 from each group – now advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round, where weights are zeroed and the anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to the Championship Round on Sunday. Weights will carry over from the Knockout Round into the Championship Round, which will feature the final 10 anglers competing for the heaviest two-day cumulative total and the top prize of $100,000.

“Today was an awesome day. We didn’t catch a whole lot of fish, but the ones we did catch today were the right ones,” said Sprague, who was the only angler inside the Top 20 to weigh in all smallmouth bass. “Those fish are just a bigger class of fish out there, and I do feel like those are the fish that you have to be around to win this event. So, I laid off of them pretty quick today, hopefully saving them for the Knockout Round.”

Sprague said he's been catching his fish this week with a dropshot rig, throwing three different baits. He said that if his smallmouth don’t cooperate over the weekend, he also has a largemouth area as a backup.

“There are a lot of fish where I’m fishing, but I don’t know if anyone else from Group A has also found that water and I’ll be sharing it or not, so we’ll find out tomorrow,” Sprague said. “If I’m not sharing it, then I feel really good about this area.

“If they don’t fire, I’ve got some really good largemouth that if I have to run to them, I can do that too,” Sprague continued. “I’d really rather catch those brown ones, though – they’re bigger. And there are a ton of them there – I’m seeing way more than I’m catching on my (Lowrance) Active Target. It’s just a matter of getting them to bite.”

Sprague said that he has two goal weights in mind for Saturday, which vary based on the conditions.

“If it’s calm, I think you’ll need at least 17 pounds to advance, and if it’s windy again, I think 16 will get you in the Championship Round,” he went on to say.

Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award was awarded to pro Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas, who weighed in a 5-pound largemouth that bit his bladed swimjig early in Period 1. 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 at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from the Golson Boat Launch, located at 1598 N. Johnson St. in Bay City. Each day’s takeout is held at the launch location 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 MLFNOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The event features pros competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, with each angler’s five heaviest bass tallied as their day’s weight. 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 MLFNOW! 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. MLFNOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Group B Qualifying Round – Day 2

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

1. Jeff Sprague -- 15-15 (5) -- 17-11 (5) -- 33-10 (10) -- 4-12

2. Britt Myers -- 17-13 (5) -- 15-13 (5) -- 33-10 (10) -- 4-03

3. Randall Tharp -- 14-01 (5) -- 19-01 (5) -- 33-02 (10) -- 4-14

4. Brent Ehrler -- 15-08 (5) -- 17-02 (5) -- 32-10 (10) -- 4-09

5. Todd Faircloth -- 13-11 (5) -- 18-04 (5) -- 31-15 (10) -- 4-13

6. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 15-08 (5) -- 16-01 (5) -- 31-09 (10) -- 4-05

7. Alton Jones Jr. -- 13-09 (5) -- 17-01 (5) -- 30-10 (10) -- 5-00

8. Keith Poche -- 15-02 (5) -- 15-07 (5) -- 30-09 (10) -- 4-09

9. Casey Ashley -- 15-01 (5) -- 14-12 (5) -- 29-13 (10) -- 4-00

10. Jeremy Lawyer -- 14-09 (5) -- 15-00 (5) -- 29-09 (10) -- 3-15

11. Cody Meyer -- 14-07 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 29-05 (10) -- 3-14

12. Mark Rose -- 14-13 (5) -- 14-07 (5) -- 29-04 (10) -- 3-11

13. Jesse Wiggins -- 14-02 (5) -- 15-00 (5) -- 29-02 (10) -- 3-06

14. Jordan Lee -- 14-07 (5) -- 14-08 (5) -- 28-15 (10) -- 3-02

15. Cliff Pace -- 14-06 (5) -- 14-03 (5) -- 28-09 (10) -- 3-03

16. Mitch Crane -- 14-01 (5) -- 14-05 (5) -- 28-06 (10) -- 3-09

17. Terry Scroggins -- 12-12 (5) -- 15-07 (5) -- 28-03 (10) -- 3-04

18. Gerald Spohrer -- 11-02 (5) -- 17-00 (5) -- 28-02 (10) -- 4-10

19. Matt Becker -- 12-13 (5) -- 15-02 (5) -- 27-15 (10) -- 3-08

20. Brent Chapman -- 14-10 (5) -- 12-11 (5) -- 27-05 (10) -- 3-05

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

21. Kelly Jordon -- 13-02 (5) -- 14-03 (5) -- 27-05 (10) -- 3-06

22. James Elam -- 14-05 (5) -- 12-14 (5) -- 27-03 (10) -- 3-08

23. Cliff Crochet -- 12-14 (5) -- 14-03 (5) -- 27-01 (10) -- 3-01

24. Stephen Browning -- 13-14 (5) -- 12-13 (5) -- 26-11 (10) -- 2-12

25. Alton Jones -- 13-00 (5) -- 13-11 (5) -- 26-11 (10) -- 3-01

26. Jacob Wall -- 14-03 (5) -- 11-13 (5) -- 26-00 (10) -- 2-14

27. Wesley Strader -- 11-12 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 25-11 (10) -- 3-05

28. Luke Clausen -- 12-14 (5) -- 12-06 (5) -- 25-04 (10) -- 3-02

29. Dylan Hays -- 10-13 (5) -- 14-04 (5) -- 25-01 (10) -- 3-03

30. John Hunter -- 12-02 (5) -- 12-13 (5) -- 24-15 (10) -- 2-12

31. Josh Butler -- 12-12 (5) -- 12-02 (5) -- 24-14 (10) -- 2-14

32. Jared Lintner -- 11-00 (5) -- 13-01 (5) -- 24-01 (10) -- 2-15

33. Shin Fukae -- 13-01 (5) -- 10-05 (5) -- 23-06 (10) -- 2-09

34. Timmy Horton -- 9-10 (5) -- 13-06 (5) -- 23-00 (10) -- 3-00

35. Scott Suggs -- 12-07 (5) -- 8-13 (5) -- 21-04 (10) -- 1-14

36. Jeff Kriet -- 10-02 (5) -- 10-09 (5) -- 20-11 (10) -- 2-06

37. Boyd Duckett -- 10-00 (5) -- 9-08 (5) -- 19-08 (10) -- 2-00

38. David Dudley -- 6-04 (3) -- 11-07 (5) -- 17-11 (8) -- 2-09

39. Jonathon VanDam -- 8-11 (4) -- 7-06 (4) -- 16-01 (8) -- 2-01

40. Adrian Avena -- 8-03 (4) -- 0-00 (0) -- 8-03 (4) -- 0-00

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