LIVE BLOG: Stage Eight Underway on Lake Winnebago

James Watson celebrates after catching a scoreable bass in Shotgun Round 1. Photo by Joe Branch

June 25, 2019 • Mason Prince • Bass Pro Tour

Neenah, WI — The final stage of the Bass Pro Tour season is off and running on Lake Winnebago. Our anglers saw some tough conditions during practice with high winds and choppy water, but the weather today looks like it has calmed down in eastern Wisconsin. Today, the 40 anglers in Group A will battle it out in the Shotgun Round to try and position themselves in a favorable spot heading into Thursday Elimination Round 1.

3:30 p.m. CT – Edwin Evers has now fallen down to 23rd place but he is only 3-14 below the Elimination Line with still a full day of fishing to go. You can never count Evers out of any competition, but he has gotten off to a slow start in Wisconsin.

3:15 p.m. CT – Only 45 minutes remain in Shotgun Round 1 and Gary Klein remains at the top of SCORETRACKER™. Greg Hackney is in 20th place and the angler just above the Elimination Line. Hackney leads 21st-place Brent Ehrler by 1-9.

2:15 p.m. CT – Kevin VanDam is showing that he is a threat up north. VanDam is in fourth place with 29 bass for 41 pounds and seems to be in comfortable position.

Roy Hawk lands a 3-11 largemouth in Period 3.

1:30 p.m. CT – Gerald Swindle is doing all he can to move on to the REDCREST. Swindle entered Stage Eight in 35th place in overall points, and nine points back of the Qualification Line. A Top 40 finish should help his chances and he is currently sitting in seventh place in Period 3 of Shotgun Round 1.

Mark Daniels Jr. catches a 3-pounder during Period 3.

12:05 p.m. CT – Let’s take a look at the REDCREST Qualification Line, shall we? Dave Lefebre is in 28th place in points but is currently in 30th place in Shotgun Round 1. A missed but could prove costly to Lefebre in more ways than one. Alton Jones is in 31st place in the REDCREST points standings but sits in 26th place and below the Elimination Line. We will continue to keep an eye on REDCREST qualification throughout the event.

11:30 a.m. CT – A quick look at the Race for the Points Championship. Edwin Evers leads Jeff Sprague by three points in the standings but Evers is currently outside of the Top 20. Sprague does not hit Lake Winnebago until tomorrow morning and Evers still has plenty of time to change his positioning. However, this could get very interesting come Thursday and Friday if both Evers and Sprague are near the Elimination Line.

John Murray lands a 2-5 to stay inside the Top 10 during Period 2.

10:42 a.m. CT – Mike Iaconelli just said that he received some “good karma” when he landed a 1-3 along the banks of Lake Winnebago. He said he wanted to fish a spot along the rocks but there was a local angler fishing for bluegill there earlier in the morning. Ike chose not to bother the local and moved on to another spot. When he came back to the spot, the local angler was gone and Ike was able to catch himself a scoreable bass. The New Jersey pro sits in fourth place.

Alton Jones Jr. added this 2-8 to SCORETRACKER™ in Period 2.

10:09 a.m. CT – It’s a log jam towards the top of the standings. John Murray still leads with 21-14, but there are eight other pros that are within 6 pounds of overtaking him. Gary Klein was able to grab back-to-back 2-10 largemouths to move into second place.

Gary Klein caught this 2-10 in Period 2 to move him into third place.

9:45 a.m. CT – Lines are in for Period 2 as we are back underway on Lake Winnebago. There have been some issues with SCORETRACKER™ this morning which caused some of the fish weights to be kept manually during Period 1. As of right now, John Murray is in the lead with 19 pounds, 7 ounces. Kevin VanDam is close behind with 17-5 and Scott Suggs with 15-1.

8:10 a.m. CT – We have yet to see a bass break 4 pounds this morning, but . we have already seen three break 3 pounds. John Murray, Scott Suggs, and Alton Jones are all inside the Top 20 thanks to their 3-pounders. Jones and Murray found themselves largemouth while Suggs grabbed a 3-1 smallmouth.

Mark Daniels Jr. lands a 2-4 largemouth in Period 1.

7:30 a.m. CT – John Murray is the current leader with eight bass for 11 pounds, 2 ounces. He has had some success using a jig this morning along some rock on Lake Winnebago. He has seen a flurry of largemouth come after his bait in the last 15 minutes.

Brandon Coulter lands a 2-15 largemouth in Period 1.

7:15 a.m. CT – Gerald Swindle is out to an early lead with three bass for 5 pounds, 14 ounces. Swindle has been working a spinnerbait and has so far landed all largemouth this morning. Look for the Alabama pro to continue to hunt for largemouth throughout the day.

7:00 a.m. CT – Lines are now in and the Evinrude Stage Eight Presented by Tracker Off Road is officially underway. Whether it be smallmouth or largemouth, these 40 pros will have to try to take advantage of both if they want a chance to come home with a Stage Eight Championship.