Neal Quietly in Position for Points Championship
Consistency is key on the Bass Pro Tour, and you’ll be hard pressed to find another angler more consistent this season than Michael Neal.
“I feel like I’ve been making really good decisions on the water this season,” Neal said. “I’m not getting too locked in on things in practice, just keeping an open mind and adjusting as needed.”
Overcoming a Missed Cut
Those good decisions that Neal is referring to have led him to appearances in five out of seven Knockout Rounds and three Top 10 finishes. Only a handful of anglers can say that they’ve done what Neal has done this year, but the Mercury pro thinks his track record could be even better.
“I was really close to only missing one Knockout Round this season if I hadn’t gotten bumped in the last couple of minutes in North Carolina,” Neal said of his 42nd-place finish in Stage Three. “I’ve really liked all the fisheries we’ve been to and after Stage Three I feel like everything has just kind of clicked for me.”
Championship Within Reach
Clicked to the tune of four straight Knockout Round appearances and an average finish of ninth place since Stage Three (he finished 10th, third, 12th and 12th, respectively, in the past four events).
The Tennessee pro currently sits in third place in the Race for the Points Championship behind Edwin Evers and Jeff Sprague, and owns a lead over Stage champions like Jordan Lee, Jacob Wheeler and Aaron Martens. Neal’s success has him in a position to do something he wasn’t expecting heading into the year.
“Being locked into the REDCREST at this point in the season is all you could ask for, let alone being in a position to win the Points Championship,” Neal said. “This has just been way above my expectations and I’m really excited to have a shot to come home with that Points Championship trophy at the end of the season.”
Neal has three wins in his career but is still without one on the Bass Pro Tour. A win in Stage Eight would be the highlight of his seven-year career, but even if he’s not able to take home a Stage Championship this season, a Points Championship would be just as sweet.
“A Points Championship would solidify my career in my mind,” Neal stated. “I’ve never had a win or an Angler of the Year title so to be at the top of the standings when all is said and done would be just as good as a tour-level victory in my mind.”
Not a New Face to MLF
While there are a few anglers who are new to the MLF format, Neal is not one of them. The Nitro pro entered the Bass Pro Tour with a couple of years of MLF experience thanks to his time fishing the MLF Selects. Because of his MLF background, Neal came into this season feeling right at home.
“I don’t know if I had to make a lot of adjustments coming on to the Bass Pro Tour because I’ve always liked to get a lot of bites in traditional five-fish tournaments and not just go for five good bites,” Neal reflected. “After fishing the MLF Selects for two years, I knew that this format really fit my style of fishing.”
As Neal prepares to head north from his Dayton, Tennessee home to Neenah, Wisconsin for Stage Eight, he readies himself for a new situation. He has never fished a competitive event on Lake Winnebago—site of the Shotgun and Knockout Rounds—but he has done some research on the unfamiliar body of water.
“I think Stage Eight is going to be a very different event than what we’ve seen this year,” Neal hinted. “Lake Winnebago doesn’t seem to be a regular northern-type fishery. There’s not a lot of vegetation, it has some dirty water and it’s pretty shallow in some spots. It’s different than a Lake Champlain or the Great Lakes, but if anyone can figure out how to catch them, it will be this group of guys.”
Neal and the rest of the Bass Pro Tour field begin the Evinrude Stage Eight Presented by Tracker Off Road on June 25 in Neenah, Wisconsin.