PHOTO BY PHOENIX MOORE |
PHOTO BY CHARLES WALDORF |
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1 . LUCAS OIL CHALLENGE CUP PRESENTED BY B & W TRAILER HITCHES Lake Wateree , Lake Wylie January 1 – February 5
Call it a 10-year anniversary , if you will . Or maybe just call it Brent Ehrler ’ s time to win another MLF Cup event . Ehrler started off his MLF career with a win in the league ’ s very first event , the 2012 Challenge Cup on Lake Amistad in Texas . So when the California pro sealed the deal on the 2022 Lucas Oil Challenge Cup Presented by B & W Trailer Hitches 10 years later , it seemed fitting .
Ehrler connected with 12 scorable bass on South Carolina ’ s Lake Wylie for 20 pounds , 12 ounces to outpace Alton Jones Jr . ( 18-3 ) in the Championship Round to secure his second Cup trophy . He did it with some of the tools that have earned him the reputation as a finesse ace : a Neko rig and Yamamoto bait that he skipped around docks .
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2 . TACKLE WAREHOUSE PRO CIRCUIT GUARANTEED RATE STOP 1 Sam Rayburn Reservoir January 27 – 30
Earning his second major-tournament victory in four months – after clinching 2021 AOY honors on the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit – Michael Neal might be the hottest angler on the planet . The Dayton , Tennessee pro started off his 2022 season with a bang at Sam Rayburn , jumping out to fifth place on Day 1 with 18 pounds , 7 ounces before tallying 15- 2 on the second day of competition ( Day 2 was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions ) to jump into first .
With weights zeroed on the final day , Neal kept the momentum going with the largest bag of the tournament ( 26-5 ) to clinch the victory by more than 8 pounds over Josh Bragg . To get it done , Neal called an audible and moved away from his typical morning spot in the Canyons
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area , opting for a drain near Mud Creek where he went on to land a mammoth 8-9 kicker on a jerkbait .
3 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED BY A . R . E . SOUTHERN DIVISION Lake Okeechobee February 3 – 5
Rob Branagh was the most consistent angler during the Toyota Series Presented by A . R . E . opener at Okeechobee , and his reward was 51 pounds , 5 ounces of bass over three days and a $ 65,000 check . The Malabar , Florida pro , who fishes Okeechobee “ about once a week ” knew he needed a secluded spot to catch big largemouth moving up shallow to spawn on the heels of the recent cold snap . He found one at the south end of the lake – a shallow spawning area full of grass and devoid of other boats – and hunkered down with a Texas-rigged NetBait Big Bopper worm .
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There , Branagh caught bags of 15-1 , 16-9 and 19-11 , respectively , to jump from seventh to first and unseat Okeechobee hammer and Day 2 leader Brandon Medlock .
4 . BASS PRO TOUR B & W TRAILER HITCHES STAGE ONE PRESENTED BY POWER-POLE Caney Creek , Lake D ’ Arbonne , Bussey Brake February 5 – 10
Ask MLF pro Bradley Roy what he remembers most about the final hours of his first-ever tour-level win and he ’ ll answer bluntly : “ It was brutal .”
Roy emerged from northern Louisiana ’ s Bussey Brake after the final day of the B & W Trailer Hitches Stage One presented by Power-Pole with a shiny red BPT trophy after landing five largemouth for 26-2 , but he also probably earned a few grey hairs with it . The Kentucky pro went fishless for the final three hours of
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