PHOTO BY CHARLES WALDORF
Valdivia continues West Coast dominance APRIL 21
While quite a few Western anglers have moved east through the years to pursue fishing careers , there ’ s still plenty of hammers in the area — none better than David Valdivia . Valdivia cemented his claim as the best out west by winning a second consecutive Angler of the Year title in the Toyota Series Western Division . It ’ s his third such crown in the past five years . Valdivia finished seventh at Lake Havasu , ninth at the California Delta in March and 13th in a return to the Delta in April . He ’ s now logged four Top 10s in his past six Western Division events . While Valdivia is still waiting for his first tournament victory , it feels like only a matter of time .
PHOTO BY TYLER BRINKS
PHOTO BY KORY SAVAGE
Alton Jones Jr . dominates Heavy Hitters APRIL 29
Expectations were high when the top BPT pros returned to Louisiana ’ s Bussey Brake , where Randy Howell had previously caught a 12-14 largemouth , the largest bass in tour history . While Howell ’ s big bass record didn ’ t fall during the Championship Round of General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops , viewers were instead treated to one of the most impressive single day displays of tournament fishing in recent memory . Alton Jones Jr . made a key decision , pivoting from flipping bushes to fishing a spinnerbait through cypress trees . The result : 19 bass over 3 pounds weighing a total of 81- 15 . He beat runner-up Dakota Ebare by an astounding 59-1 , the second-largest margin of victory in BPT history and by far the biggest on largemouth waters . It would serve as the crown achievement in a strong season , which saw Jones finish among the top 11 in six of nine BPT events , including runnerup at REDCREST and Stage Six .
Buddies John Cox , Keith Carson finish 1-2 at LOZ MAY 6
If you follow bass fishing at all , you ’ ve heard that John Cox and Keith Carson grew up two streets apart in Florida , that they used to fish team tournaments together , and that both are among the best sight-fishermen in the game . So to see the two friends duke out the win at the bed-fishing beatdown that was Invitationals Stop 4 on Lake of the Ozarks was almost too perfect . Both Cox and Carson primarily wielded weightless Berkley soft plastics on spinning tackle to catch spawning fish in and around the lake ’ s many docks . Cox edged Carson by 1-1 for the win , earning a REDCREST berth in the process , but the result was big for Carson , as well — it helped him qualify for the 2024 Bass Pro Tour .
PHOTO BY KORY SAVAGE
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Morrison conquers Rayburn in record fashion MAY 20
It ’ s not often that an angler dominates a multi-day tournament in the fashion that Alec Morrison did at the May Toyota Series event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir , where the weights make it look as if the winner competed on a different lake than the rest of the field . It ’ s even more rare on a well-worn fishery like Rayburn . For Morrison to do so as a 23-year-old from New York who had never been to the lake before ? Unheard of . Morrison put his name on the national radar in a major way by making the 1,700-mile trip to Texas and earning his first pro win in a landslide . He sacked up 27-9 on Day 1 and backed it up with 29-9 , ultimately winning by 24 pounds . That marked the largest margin of victory in Toyota Series history for a three-day event , breaking the previous mark by more than 6 pounds .
MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | DECEMBER-JANUARY 2024