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PHOTO BY CHARLES WALDORF PHOTO BY PATTERSON LEETH |
PHOTO BY MATT BROWN |
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1 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED
BY PHOENIX BOATS NORTHERN DIVISION PRESENT- ED BY RABID BAITS
Potomac River
Sept . 21-22
The arrival of tropical storm Ophelia canceled the event ’ s third and final day , but it didn ’ t dampen Christian Greico ’ s week on the Potomac River . The Florida native rode a punching bite — his favorite — to a two-day total of 33 pounds , 10 ounces . That gave him a 1-3 win over newly crowned Tackle Warehouse Invitationals AOY Ron Nelson .
Punching grass mats in a popular area of Mattawoman Creek where most other competitors were frogging , Greico didn ’ t get many bites — especially on Day 2 , when he caught his fifth keeper with about 10 minutes left to fish . But he stuck to his strengths , keeping the big stick in his hands . Most of his fish bit a Googan Bandito
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Bug beneath a 1 1 / 2-ounce Epic Tungsten Flipping Weight . The victory earned him more than $ 40,000 .
2 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED BY PHOENIX BOATS PLAINS DIVISION
Lake of the Ozarks
Sept . 28-30
As he returned to weigh-in on the final day of the Plains Division season , Travis Harriman was sure he had blown it . The Arkansas native caught the largest limit on each of the first two days and led by nearly 5 pounds , yet he boated just one keeper on Day 3 .
That lone fish , a 4-4 , would prove just enough as Harriman ’ s three-day total of 42-12 gave him a 14-ounce victory over Cody Huff .
Harriman probed the lake ’ s omnipresent docks using a pair of jigs from Jewel Bait Company with a Strike King Scounbug as a trailer . He
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got off to fast starts each of the first two days en route to sacking up 20-7 and 18-1 . He would need just about every ounce to hold off Huff . The win netted Harriman a $ 40,000 payday and a spot in the Toyota Series Championship , where he ’ d earn another check .
3 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED
BY PHOENIX BOATS CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY SIMMS
Table Rock Lake
Nov . 2-4
Without a keeper in the boat at noon of the final day , Chad Mrazek pulled off a late rally to clinch the biggest win of his young career . The 23-year-old Texan shifted his game plan on Day 2 to target bass in timber submerged in 20 to 37 feet of water , and a big day vaulted him into second place . He struggled to recapture the success on Day 3 , though .
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That is , until about 1 p . m ., when he caught a pair of 3-plus-pounders off a fallen , submerged tree .
The consecutive catches sparked a 16-pound limit that gave Mrazek a 7- ounce win over All-American champion Emil Wagner . Like most of his keepers on the latter two days , Mrazek caught them by fishing a 7 / 16- ounce jig painfully slowly to entice bites from Table Rock ’ s wary bass .
Mrazek went all-in to launch his professional career this year , fishing the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals plus two Toyota Series divisions . While the results were up-and-down , the ending more than made up for any struggles along the way , as his championship victory earned him more than $ 200,000 plus a berth in REDCREST 2024 .
FOR ALL THE MOST RECENT TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS , ACTION AND RESULTS , VISIT MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM
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