By MLF Communications Staff
EARLY, Texas – Team BuildersFirstSource – made up of pros Ott DeFoe of Blaine, Tenn, and Alton Jones Jr. of Waco, Texas – were considered a favorite by many industry pundits coming into the third event of the MLF Team Series in Texas. Jones is a Texas native with extensive experience in the region, and of DeFoe’s four career victories on the Bass Pro Tour, three have come on Texas fisheries.
After a second consecutive tough day on O.H. Ivie, the famed west-central Texas reservoir, DeFoe and Jones demonstrated why they are a team to be reckoned with. They caught 14 bass weighing 22 pounds, 12 ounces to claim the top spot in the second match of the Elimination Round at the Patriot Cup.
The victory advances the team to the Knockout Round, where they will be joined by the Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches duo of Luke Clausen and Martin Villa, who finished the day in second. Clausen and Villa combined to catch 11 bass weighing 17-11 – just 6 ounces ahead of Team Ferguson.
Team Ferguson (Randy Howell and Nick LeBrun) and Team Kubota (Justin Cooper and Edwin Evers) were eliminated from the competition.
“Fishing was tough, but man, what a day it was,” Jones said in his postgame interview. “Most likely people are going to look at the weights on ScoreTracker and think, ‘Man, that doesn’t really look any fun at all.’ But Ott and I had a blast today.
“We fished dirt-shallow in some of the fresh, flooded green bushes and grass, and it was a really unique bite. The fish were feeding on dragonflies. I know it sounds crazy, but I witnessed it dozens of times today.”
Like the first elimination match on Thursday, anglers found the bass extremely shallow and way back in the thickest grass that they could fish.
“It was so hard to fish,” DeFoe said. “Alton and I were talking earlier – if you land 80 percent of them, you’re happy. Just because of how much stuff we’re fishing in. And a lot of those fish showed themselves to us, coming up and feeding in the back of the little pockets. But they were tough to get to.”
DeFoe and Jones mainly used a 1-2 punch of a buzzbait and a frog, but they also added a couple fish on a wacky rig.
“We threw the buzzbait in the thinner, more open stuff. Then when it would get really thick and dense, we caught some key fish on the frog,” Jones said. “I was throwing a white one all day – I broke two off. We really lived and died by the topwater today, and luckily, we lived.”
DeFoe and Jones now advance to Match 1 of the Knockout Round on Sunday, while Clausen and Villa will compete in Match 2 of the Knockout Round on Monday.
“It was a good start to Texas for us. We didn’t catch a lot of big ones like O.H. (Ivie) is known for, but we got enough to keep us in it,” DeFoe went on to say. “I feel like we really kind of figured them out at the end, and hopefully we’ve got a little pattern that we can carry into the future rounds.”
“Yeah, if they send us back here, I feel like we have a really good idea of what to go look for,” Jones added. “I’d feel really confident. But, if not, a lot of the terrain and brush around here looks the same. And they’ve all had rain, so I would expect a similar opportunity even at other lakes. But you never know.”
Here are the final numbers for the day:
1st: Team Builders FirstSource, 14 bass, 22-12
Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., five bass, 7-4
Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, nine bass, 15-8
2nd: Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches, 11 bass, 17-11
Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., five bass, 8-12
Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., six bass, 8-15
Eliminated
3rd: Team Ferguson, 11 bass, 17-5
Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., eight bass, 12-12
Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., three bass, 4-9
4th: Team Kubota, five bass, 11-6
Justin Cooper, Zwolle, La., zero bass, 0-0
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., five bass, 11-6
Evers caught a 4-7 largemouth that was the Berkley Big Bass of the day.
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.
