TYLER, Texas – The second day of the 2022 General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops went a lot better for the 16 anglers in Group B than for those who fished in Group A on Saturday. Arkansas pro Stephen Browning put the most weight on SCORETRACKER® while Brent Ehrler leads in the $25,000 big-bass race on Lake Palestine with an 8-pouind, 5-ouncer.
Browning ended his first day of competition with 16 bass for 51 pounds, 4 ounces and brought in what was the big bass for the majority of the day — a 7-7 largemouth. Ehrler eclipsed that in the third period with his 8-5. If that fish holds through Tuesday’s second qualifying day, Ehrler will walk away with Group B’s $25,000.
Browning Bests the Field
It was a wire-to-wire first-place finish for Browning on Sunday. His lead never really seemed to be threatened and his comfort on the water showed throughout the day. The Arkansas pro bested the field thanks to a bladed jig which caught him 14 of his 16 scorable bass. The other two came off of a crankbait in the morning.
Browning got off to a hot start and ended his first period with 24-4. The St. Croix pro said whether it was luck, good fortune or whatever you want to call it, the spot he fished in all day provided him some magic protection from a blustery wind.
“I think the key for me was to have an area that had a large population of fish that were protected out of the wind,” Browning said. “I was able to fish this morning and all day without the wind really affecting me. That’s going to be huge as I try to win this group on Tuesday.”
Browning never went more than an hour-and-a-half without putting a scorable bass on SCORETRACKER® and ended his day leading by more than 18 pounds over second-place Jordan Lee. It’s hard to wonder how the “Puma’s” day could have gone any better, but he already has some ideas on how to improve some of the finer points of his fishing game on the Lone Star State reservoir.
“I’m going to change it up just a hair on Tuesday to see if I can’t fine-tune some things,” Browning said. “I was using an extra-heavy St. Croix rod and I’m probably going to make the switch to a moderate-heavy. That should help me when I’m setting the hook so I don’t bring the fish all the way to the top.”
Lee Lurking in Second
Lee will have some ground to make up on Browning if he wants to clinch an automatic berth in the Championship Round: he finds himself looking up at an 18-pound, 6-ounce deficit to Browning on Tuesday.
Lee is looking for his second Heavy Hitters trophy to add to his already-crowded mantle. But he’s proven that he doesn’t need to be at the top of SCORETRACKER® to get himself a win. During his 2020 win, Lee finished third in the Qualifying Round and third in the Knockout Round before getting to the Championship Round.
It’s safe to say that as long as the Alabama star is making cuts, he’s going to make his fellow competitors look over their shoulders.
Ehrler in Big Bass Lead
Ehrler has his name on top of the big bass leaderboard with his 8-5, but he wasn’t even convinced he would find himself there after Browning started his day with a 7-7.
“When I heard that Stephen caught that 7-7, I thought to myself, ‘Well, done deal. He’s got the $25,000 fish,’” Ehrler said. “I hate that I caught that 8-pounder today and I’ve given everyone else one more day to beat it. Hopefully it holds up.”
Ehrler said he was in the same area as about five other competitors, so he doesn’t necessarily want to give away all of the details on how he caught it. He has no problem mentioning how much of a fight it was to get it into the boat, however.
“The fish honestly short-lined me,” Ehrler said. “I only had about 10 or 15 feet of line off the end of my rod. It was a battle royale from there. I had her under the boat, off to the side, around the trolling motor and finally in the boat. It was a great feeling to put it on the scale finally.”
Daily Leaders
- The Berkley Big Bass of the Day was Ehrler’s 8-5 largemouth.
- Browning had the most weight on SCORETRACKER® with 51-4.
- Browning also had the most scoreable bass with 16.
What’s Next & How to Watch
Group A returns to Lake Palestine after their off day for their second and final qualifying day. Those 16 anglers will look to position themselves on SCORETRACKER® above the Elimination Line while also searching for a $25,000 big bass. Ott DeFoe leads Group A while the group’s big bass belongs to Bradley Roy with his 6-9.
The competition kicks off at 8 a.m. CST. Live coverage of the third day of General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops starts at 7:45 a.m. CST on the MLF NOW! live stream. Watch for free on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF app, or the MyOutdoorTV app.