PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON
The trio advanced to the semifinals alongside James Elam , Matt Lee and Jonathon VanDam of Team Crockett Creek . Their 34 bass for 60-12 topped Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches ( Bryan Thrift , Luke Clausen and Josh Butler ) by 14 pounds . VanDam , a Michigan native , accounted for more than half the team ’ s weight , catching 19 bass for 34-15 . Team Smokey Mountain was eliminated from the competition .
Boyd Duckett peppered the docks around Muskegon / Bear Lake with a wacky-rigged stickworm , racking up 38-10 of his team ’ s 101-15 .
PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON
GRAND RAPIDS , Mich . – The second season of Major League Fishing ’ s team-format series – the General Tire Team Series – launched into its four-event 2024 run in mid- September in Grand Rapids , Michigan , the site of the Lucas Oil Qualifier Presented by B & W Trailer Hitches . Arriving at Muskegon / Bear Lakes , the Grand River and White Lake in early fall , the nine three-man teams picked apart a diverse mix of water conditions , cover and weather in pursuit of three berths in the Bass Pro Shops Team Series final .
See match highlights , photo galleries and full results on the General Tire Team series page at MajorLeagueFishing . com
Jonathon VanDam put on a show in Match 1 , accounting for 19 of his team ’ s 34 fish and more than half of the team ’ s 61-2 total .
ELIMINATION MATCH 1
Muskegon / Bear Lake
Jacob Wheeler and Dylan Hays of Team Kubota opened General Tire Team Series competition with a strong defense of their 2023 title . Along with teammate Boyd Duckett , they racked up 59 bass for 101 pounds , 15 ounces . That bested Team Crockett Creek by more than 50 pounds .
Team Kubota caught all largemouth on Michigan ’ s Bear Lake , which they had never visited prior to competition . Duckett boated 22 of them for 38-10 , most falling for a wacky-rigged stickworm . Wheeler chipped in 33-4 on 19 fish , while Hays added 18 keepers for 30-1 .
PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON
Tommy Biffle connected with the two biggest fish of the day in Match 2 – a pair of 4- pounders – while working along the face of the dam .
ELIMINATION MATCH 2
Muskegon / Bear Lake
Team Knighten Industries and Team Sqwincher both cruised into the semifinals ; the real question became which team would pull out the win . Ultimately , Matt Becker , Wesley Strader and Scott Suggs of Team Knighten Industries edged Team Sqwincher ’ s Dustin Connell , Cole Floyd and Roy Hawk by 7 pounds , 7 ounces .
Strader led the way for Knighten Industries , which totaled 94-5 on 58 bass . He found a population of fish that contained both smallmouth and largemouth , primarily using a jerkbait to fool them . He totaled 32 keepers for 48-5 . His teammates came through in the clutch , too . Suggs and Becker accounted for 10 of the team ’ s last 11 catches , which propelled them from a 6-pound deficit to a 7-7 lead in the final 45 minutes .
Roy Hawk did most of the heavy lifting for Team Sqwincher . Using a crankbait and a bladed jig , he put 23 bass in the boat for 51-3 . Team Sqwincher totaled 86-15 on 40 fish . Team Ferguson ( Tommy Biffle , Dakota Ebare and Justin Cooper ) was eliminated after mustering just 18 bass for 39-13 .
ELIMINATION MATCH 3
Muskegon / Bear Lake
The battle to stave off elimination came down to the wire during the third and final match of the round . Team Builders FirstSource ( Zack Birge , Cliff Pace and Mark Rose ) secured the victory by catching 48 bass for 77 pounds , 12 ounces . The drama came from a battle between Team B & W Trailer Hitches and Team Star brite for second place .
After the two teams remained neck-and-neck for most of the day , Team Star brite went on a flurry late in the second period to take a lead of more than seven pounds . Team B & W — comprised of Adrian Avena , Ryan Salzman and Spencer Shuffield — closed strong , though , catching 14 scorable bass for more than 28 pounds in the last two hours . They finished the day with 69-11 on 36 fish , just 2-10 clear of Star brite ’ s 67-
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