Lintner Wins Group B, Advances to Championship; Tharp & Gagliardi Rise Above Cut Line
MONROE-WEST MONROE, La. – While there wasn’t a lot of drama near the top of SCORETRACKER® during Group B’s second Qualifying Day, there was plenty of movement near the Toro Cut Line. After four days of fishing on Lake D’Arbonne, we now have the Top 40 anglers in the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One Presented by Power-Pole.
Jared Lintner will join Mark Daniels Jr. in the Championship Round as the Tackle Warehouse pro held onto his lead for the entire day, pushing his two-day total to 18 bass for 47 pounds, 5 ounces. Randall Tharp was the final man above the Toro Cut Line with a two-day total of three bass for 13-15.
Lintner Wins His First Qualifying Round
Lintner had been close to winning his Qualifying Round a couple of times, and even mentioned he was the man flirting with the Toro Cut Line more times than he cared to admit. But this is the first time “The Milkman” is getting to skip the Knockout Round and head straight to the Championship Round.
The Georgia pro began his day in the lead thanks to a 33-pound day on Sunday, during Group B’s Qualifying Day 1. He was the only pro in the 80-angler field to surpass the 30-pound mark during the first day of competition. Lintner continued his solid fishing on Tuesday and was able to hold off a surging Bradley Roy by 17 pounds. Lintner said that he has the late Aaron Martens to thank for his solid start to Stage One.
“It was a slow, slow day, but I was able to piece some stuff together thanks to Martens’ Madness 6-inch Fat Roboworm,” Lintner revealed. “Just working that bait on a drop-shot around whatever I could find and it worked out. When the fishing is tough like this, put on a bait you’re confident in, and for me, it was this Aaron Martens-designed Roboworm.”
Lintner will now move on straight to the Championship Round on Bussey Brake, joining Group A winner Daniels Jr. on Thursday.
Toro Cut Line Drama on D’Arbonne
SCORETRACKER® shows that Randall Tharp was the last man inside the Top 20 and moving on, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. In reality, it was Anthony Gagliardi who was able to sneak in thanks to a 1-10 in the final 10 minutes of the day.
Tharp knew that he was close to being on the outside looking in, but 12 ounces was the difference he needed to pull ahead of Todd Faircloth for the final spot. After a difficult day, Tharp was elated that he somehow did enough to move on.
“It was brutal and I feel like I’m going to throw up,” Tharp said after his round ended. “It was such a tough day and to only catch two fish all day, for them to be 5-pounders and enough makes me relieved. I’m ready to go fishing tomorrow in that Knockout Round on Caney Creek.”
Daily Leaders
- The Berkley Big Bass of the Day was shared by Fletcher Shryock and Tharp. Both anglers landed a 5-7 largemouth and will split the $1,000 prize.
- Josh Bertrand caught the most weight with seven bass for 20 pounds.
- Lintner, Bertrand, Mark Davis, and Britt Myers all caught seven bass on the day, the most in Group B.
What’s Next & How to Watch
The 38 advancing anglers will now shift their focus to Caney Creek on Wednesday for the Knockout Round. Weights will reset to zero and the top eight anglers on SCORETRACKER® at the end of three periods will move on to the Championship Round. The competition begins at 9 a.m. CST and you can watch it all on the MLF NOW! live stream beginning at 8:45 a.m CST on Wednesday. Watch for free on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF app, or the MyOutdoorTV app.
Bally Bet Angler of the Year
Major League Fishing is proud to partner with Bally Bet for the 2022 Bally Bet Angler of the Year award. Bally’s is MLF’s exclusive sports betting, daily fantasy sports, and free-to-play partner for all MLF tournament circuits. The Bally Bet Angler of the Year will take home a $100,000 prize at the end of the 2022 Bass Pro Tour season. Be sure to check out the Bally Bet AOY standings all year long as the Bass Pro Tour season continues.