By MLF Communications Staff
For the first time ever, a major professional bass-fishing tournament will take place in Early, Texas. Major League Fishing (MLF) is bringing the 2024 Team Series to west-central Texas this week for the third Team Series event of the season – the Patriot Cup.
The event, which runs Thursday through Tuesday, fatures 12 two-man teams of professional anglers from the Bass Pro Tour competing at fisheries in the region that are unknown to the competitors until they arrive to the launch ramp each morning.
In keeping with traditional MLF Cup protocols, Early was not revealed to Team Series anglers until 30 days prior to the start of the tournament. All fishable waters within 60 miles of Early then went off limits. Fans watching the MLFNOW! livestream will find out the day’s competition waters right along with the anglers each morning, and then watch all the action unfold live as teams work together and share their knowledge as they compete for the Patriot Cup and to claim a part of a season-long purse of more than $720,000.
“Well, I don’t know where exactly we’re heading, but we grow big ones in Texas and there are a couple of lakes within the 60-mile limit that are absolute giant factories,” said Wills Point, Texas pro Jeff Sprague, who will be fishing alongside Bryan Thrift for Team Coign. “This is a really exciting Team Series event to go to. It won’t be like the northern fisheries where you catch 100 fish a day, but we have the potential to see some absolute giants here.”
Sprague said he expects the fish will be fully into their fall patterns when the tournament begins.
“The bass will be chasing the baitfish,” he said. “We’ll see a lot of topwater action, a lot of crankbaits, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits – just power-fishing. And you can still throw the finesse stuff at them, chasing the bait balls. That’s one of the things that make this event so cool – we don’t know which pattern is going to be the strongest. And every cast has the potential to catch a giant.”
Despite the potential to catch huge bass and the numerous different patterns available, Sprague said he’s most excited to be sharing the boat again with Thrift, who was his partner last month at the Heritage Cup in Wisconsin. Although they had a disappointing event and didn’t advance past the Elimination Round, Sprague said he thinks their experience fishing together will be beneficial in this tournament.
“We learned so much from each other at the last event,” Sprague said. “Even though we’ve fished together a lot as friends, we’d never competed together on the same boat, and we learned a lot. I feel like we’ll work together, better, and fish faster and more efficiently at this one. I’m more excited for this one than I have been in quite a while.”
Here are the 12 teams that will compete:
Team 7 Brew Coffee
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala.
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif.
Team B&W Trailer Hitches
Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C.
Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas
Team Builders FirstSource
Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas
Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn.
Team Coign
Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas
Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C.
Team Ferguson
Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La.
Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala.
Team Knighten Industries
Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn.
Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan.
Team Kubota
Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La.
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.
Team Lucas Oil
Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn.
Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
Team REDCON1
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn.
Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches
Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash.
Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va.
Team Star brite
Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala.
Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark.
Team U.S. Air Force
Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La.
James Elam, Tulsa, Okla.
The MLFNOW! broadcast of the event will be livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) apps and on Rumble. The broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live on all six days of competition at the from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT.
