By MLF Communications Staff
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. – The Team Star brite duo of brothers Chris and Bobby Lane caught 17 scorable bass weighing 34 pounds, 2 ounces to narrowly win Tuesday’s final Elimination Round match at the MLF Team Series Summit Cup. They earned the victory by a 15-ounce margin over Team REDCON1, John Murray and Skeet Reese, who had charged to the top of the leaderboard after a furious third-period rally from Murray.
Four teams started the day on Headwaters Lake, but by the end it was really a two-horse race for the top spot. The final hour turned into the John Murray show – after starting the period in third place, Murray caught fire for Team REDCON1, catching five keepers in the final hour to catapult them past Team Smokey Mountain and Team Star brite and into first place.
However, after leading for pretty much the entire day to that point, the Lane brothers refused to be denied the victory. Chris Lane boated a 1-7 scorable bass with 24 minutes remaining in the day to retake the lead and give Team Star brite just enough to hold on to victory.
“I couldn’t have had more fun today,” said Chris Lane, who caught nine scorable bass throughout the day for 19-3. “Being out here with my brother, Bobby ... I think the last time that he and I fished as a team, in the same boat, you’d have to go back to when we were like 20 or 22 or something like that. Our whole careers, we’ve been competitive – back and forth, back and forth. And we saw that today, I think I caught one more than he did. But it was a really great day to be fishing with my brother.”
The Lane brothers used a 1-2 punch on the day with Bobby flipping almost the entire day to catch eight bass for 14-15, while Chris alternated between a Bass Pro Shops Stik-O Worm and a couple of different topwater baits.
“We worked hard today and we grinded,” Bobby said. “Fishing as a team, alongside my brother at the front of the boat, was just a really cool experience. But there was some tension. I could feel the turmoil between he and I today, when he would flip in front of me or catch my line. But we kept it cool.”
“Turmoil, Bobby?” Chris responded.
“Yes, turmoil! I could feel it,” Bobby replied. “I could feel the heat. When you would flip and cross my line, I wanted to elbow you in the side of the face, Chris. We weren’t clicking. But I knew we had to keep our cool. And now we’ve won the round. We don’t need that to happen again in any of these rounds.”
“Yeah, don’t let it happen again captain,” Chris joked. “Coming into this event, our goals were high – we’re not settling for anything less than first place. I’m glad that we’re fishing again on Thursday, but it really didn’t matter whether we fished tomorrow or the next day. We’re here to win.”
A six bass, 16-pound final period from Team REDCON1 – five from Murray – was the highlight of the day for most of the audience watching the livestream. The key for Murray was picking up an old-school, big-bladed spinnerbait. After not throwing it at all earlier in the day, the spinnerbait was the difference-maker for Murray and Reese to rally and claim the final Knockout Round spot.
Here are the final numbers for the match:
1st: Team Star brite, 17 bass, 34-2
Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., eight bass, 14-15
Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., nine bass, 19-3
2nd: Team REDCON1, 16 bass, 33-3
John Murray, Spring City, Tenn., seven bass, 20-3
Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., nine bass, 13-0
Eliminated
3rd: Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches, nine bass, 21-7
Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., four bass, 12-1
Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., five bass, 9-6
4th: Team 7 Brew Coffee, eight bass, 15-15
Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., three bass, 3-11
Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark., five bass, 12-4
Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Berkley Big Bass of the day went to Murray, who boated a largemouth weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces in the third period.
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. ET. MLFNOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.
The Summit Cup features 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they enter the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three 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 2 teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Friday’s Championship Round, the final four teams will compete in a one-day shootout to determine which team will win the Summit Cup.
