By MLF Communications Staff

MASSENA, N.Y. – The MLF Bass Pro Tour is set to wrap the 2024 season this week at the St. Lawrence River. Competition days are Tuesday through Sunday.

The St. Lawrence has been the site of hundreds of MLF (and FLW) tournaments over the years, but this event will mark just the second time the venue has hosted the BPT. When last visited Massena in 2021, Jacob Wheeler caught a Championship Round total of 35 bass weighing 129 pounds even to win by an impressive 28-pound, 10-ounce margin over his nearest competitor, Jeff Sprague.

“I was able to spend three days there at the St. Lawrence River before it went off limits and the fishery is just incredible,” said Spencer Shuffield, who won the 2022 TITLE championship event on the St. Lawrence and will be among the 78 competitors. “That place has so many 4-to 5-pound smallmouth. I expect the weights to be really big – I’ll be interested to see the numbers after we wrap up, but I’m willing to bet the average fish that's weighed in averages 3-12 to 3-15.

“It’s also a really good largemouth fishery, but you just can’t compete against the smallmouth over the multiple days,” Shuffield continued. “I think the (Garmin Live)scope guys will dominate again, but the river is a little bit tricky. With the current, the fish suck down to the rocks so tight it can be really hard to see them on your electronics. So, there will be a lot of fish caught dragging with the current – Carolina rigs, dropshot rigs and Ned rigs.”

With so many accolades on the line – Angler of the Year, REDCREST 2025 and Heavy Hitters qualifications, requalification into the 2025 Bass Pro Tour – the final event of the year is sure to be a nail-biter.

“It’s just an awesome fishery – one of my favorite places in the country, no doubt,” Shuffield went on to say. “I think on the final day, you’re going to need to catch at least 140 to 160 pounds to have a chance. It’s going to be a smallmouth smashfest and a great event to wrap up the season.”

Anglers will launch at 7:30 a.m. ET each day from the Massena Intake Boat Launch, located at 1415 State Highway 131. Each day’s takeout will be held at the launch beginning at 4 p.m.

The tournament will showcase the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers catch as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. The tournament will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app, and Rumble.

The event will feature anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. The MLF Fisheries Management Division determines minimum weights for each body of water that the BPT visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.

The 39 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day Qualifying Round on Tuesday and Thursday, with the 39 anglers in Group B on the water on Wednesday and Friday. After each two-day Qualifying Round is complete, the anglers who finish 1st through 10th from each group advance to Saturday’s Knockout Round.

In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 20 anglers compete to finish in the Top 10 to advance to Sunday’s Championship Round, when weights are again zeroed and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on the final four days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.