Wisconsin Locale Offers Many Possibilities

By MLF Communications Staff

NEENAH, Wis. – Major League Fishing visits Fox Cities and Neenah, Wis. this Sunday through Friday for the second event of the 2024 Team Series– the Heritage Cup. The event will feature 12 two-man teams of professional anglers from the Bass Pro Tour competing at fisheries in the region that are unknown to the competitors until they arrive to the launch ramp each morning.

The MLFNOW! broadcast is livestreamed daily on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and on Rumble. The broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT.

In keeping with traditional MLF Cup protocols, the host city was not revealed to Team Series anglers until 30 days prior to the start of the tournament. All fishable waters within 60 miles of Neenah then went off limits to anglers. Fans watching the MLFNOW! livestream will find out the day’s competition waters right along with the anglers each morning, and then watch all the action unfold live as teams work together and share their knowledge as they compete for the Heritage Cup and to claim a part of a season-long purse of more than $720,000.

“This is going to be a fun event to watch,” said Junction City, Wis. pro Matthew Stefan, who competed as a part of Team Coign in the first Team Series event held in late August. “Off of the top of my head, within 60 miles of Neenah, there are probably 100 bodies of water where these guys could be going. And most of them are pretty good.

“Another X-factor is that fall fishing in Wisconsin is so fishery-dependent,” Stefan continued. “The deep, clear-water lakes fish very differently than the local rivers and pop-up lakes that they could be competing on. So it’s going to be cool to see where these guys end up going, and how they decide to approach things.”

Stefan said that he enjoyed competing in the Team Series and it offers fans a great opportunity to watch exactly how these anglers break down the unknown fisheries.

“Nobody has any knowledge of the fisheries that you’re going to, so it creates this very unique environment. And then when you have two anglers in the same boat, working together and talking through their thought processes, as a viewer you get to hear what these guys are saying,” Stefan said. “That’s something that you don’t get when you watch a traditional individual tournament. The Team Series is a really great format and a lot of fun for both the viewers and the anglers.”

The 12 teams that will compete are:

Team 7 Brew Coffee
Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla.
Ryan Salzman, Guntersville, Ala.

Team B&W Trailer Hitches
Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn.
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala.

Team Builders FirstSource
Alton Jones, Sr., Lorena, Texas
Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas

Team Coign
Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas
Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C.

Team Ferguson
Marshall Robinson, Landrum, S.C.
Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C.

Team Knighten Industries
Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas
Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala.

Team Kubota
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif.
Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif.

Team REDCON1
Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn.
Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C.

Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches
Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C.
Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla.

Team Star Tron
Grae Buck, Green Lane, Pa.
Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va.

Team U.S. Air Force
Matt Lee, Cullman, Ala.
Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala.

Team WIX Filters
David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va.
Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa.

The Heritage Cup will also air on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon starting Feb. 15, 2025, airing from 2 to 4 p.m. EDT. The complete television schedule for the 2024 Team Series on Outdoor Channel will be posted at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

---