By MLF Communications Staff
EARLY, Texas – Perhaps no fishery in the country has garnered more recent public attention than Texas’ O.H. Ivie Lake. And with good cause – the reservoir has tallied dozens of largemouth bass weighing in at 13 pounds or more over the past three years as a part of the Toyota ShareLunker program managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Inland Fisheries Division.
Thursday demonstrated to the world that even though giants lurk beneath the waters, sometimes they can still be pretty difficult to catch.
The third MLF Team Series event of the 2024 season launched on O.H. Ivie on Thursday, and the four teams competing at the Patriot Cup faced a challenging playing field. Recent water level fluctuations made the fishing extremely tough for the eight pros, and the big ones never came out to play.
The Team Knighten Industries duo of Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., and Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan., paced the field and caught 10 bass totaling 16 pounds, 15 ounces to win the first match of the Elimination Round by a 1-3 margin. Also advancing to the Knockout Round in second place is the 7 Brew Coffee team of Guntersville, Ala.'s Justin Lucas and Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., who caught 12 scorable largemouth bass weighing 15-13.
“It feels awesome to get the win today,” Chapman said in his postgame interview. “It was tough, but what a blast. Today was a good reminder. Here we are on a phenomenal fishery for big fish, but you have to take what the day has to offer you. We could have went out and tried to ‘Scope and maybe found something, but we stuck with our strengths and it paid off.”
The Strader-Chapman duo caught the majority of their fish way back in some shallow, grassy cover. They were on their way to fish another location when they took a shortcut that ended up being a wrong turn. They ended up fishing in the thick cover and added five scorable bass in the final hour and 15 minutes – including a 1-15 with just two minutes remaining – to overtake Lucas and Ehrler.
“Wow, what a freaking move, dude,” Strader said. “Who said getting lost can’t turn into good things? We were catching them so shallow – like 6 inches deep. It was stupid. But today was a grinder. The most challenging part was being able to get (through the grass) to where you could get to the bank.”
Strader caught two scorable bass in the first period – one on a buzzbait and one on a spinnerbait. He added three more on a buzzbait in Period 2. In the final period, Strader caught one on a buzzbait and two on a frog, while Chapman tallied his two scorables with a frog as well.
“There is nothing that beats a buzzbait in the fall,” Strader said. “I like a big one that clacks the head, and I used a black toad (trailer). I threw it on a 7-foot, 5-inch crankbait rod, but it’s a heavy cranking rod – so it has a little bit of tip so you can get that bait in their mouth when they pull away from it – and a Lew's Custom Tournament Light reel.”
Team Knighten Industries will now move on to the first match of the Knockout Round on Sunday, while Team 7 Brew Coffee will compete Monday in Knockout Round Match 2.
“I’m excited to get back out here with Wesley and laugh a little more and do this all over again,” Chapman said.
Here are Thursday's numbers:
1st: Team Knighten Industries, 10 bass, 16-15
Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., eight bass, 13-13
Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., two bass, 3-2
2nd: Team 7 Brew Coffee, 12 bass, 15-13
Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 12-15
Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., two bass, 2-14
Eliminated
3rd: Team REDCON1, four bass, 6-8
Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., three bass, 5-5
Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., one bass, 1-3
4th: Team U.S. Air Force, two bass, 2-9
Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., two bass, 2-9
James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., zero bass, 0-0
Strader caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a largemouth weighing 2-14.
The Patriot Cup takes place over six days in west-central Texas. The competition water for each day is top-secret and is only revealed to the anglers when they arrive at the boat ramp each morning. Anglers are driven directly to the day’s competition area launch ramp by their officials. Competition begins on the water at 8:45 a.m.
The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action live every day of competition from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
The event features 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they enter the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches will feature four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 and 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams compete each day, with the top two teams from each match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Tuesday's Championship Round, the final four teams will compete in a one-day shootout to determine the winner.
