TULSA, Okla. – All 80 anglers on the MLF Bass Pro Tour roster bring years of experience and knowledge of lakes from across the country whenever they compete. However, when the pros head to Raleigh, North Carolina for the Favorite Fishing Stage Three presented by Evinrude, they’ll be faced with three relatively unknown fisheries.
The Shotgun, Elimination and Knockout Rounds will take place on Falls and Jordan lakes, while Shearon Harris Reservoir will play host to the Championship Round. Save for a small handful of pros, these bodies of water will be new to the majority of the field.
That’s alright with Kelly Jordon, who is anxious to get Stage Three underway.
“I think it’s going to be great because MLF has never been there, and not a lot of the guys have been there before,” Jordon confirmed. “That leaves the door wide open because it’s a fresh place. I think that’s really cool, because anyone has a chance to win it.”
Tennessee pro John Murray finished 18th at Stage One but failed to make the cut in the Elimination Round in Stage Two. He shares the same sentiment as Jordon.
“I’ve fished for 34 years and these are two lakes that I have never laid eyes on,” Murray admitted. “It’s really going to be a ‘start-from-scratch’ mentality. What it comes down to is what we’ve been trained to do for years: You look for the stuff that looks familiar to you. You have to take the baits and techniques you know, and try to transfer them to work for you on the new lakes.”
In Stages One and Two, the bodies of water were very familiar: most of the field had fished multiple previous tournaments on both the Kissimmee Chain and Lake Conroe. As the pros head for the Tar Heel State, Falls, Jordan and Shearon Harris are three blank pages where Murray hopes he can write some history.
“This is really what we’ve all wanted,” Murray conveyed. “A fair tournament on new lakes where not really anyone has been before. Our goal is to be fair to everyone and this is about as fair as you can get.”
As the anglers look ahead to practice, most of them have plans in their heads about how to make the most of their time. Managing one lake is difficult enough, let alone having to prepare for both Falls and Jordan.
“My preparation is going to remain the same just like it was for the first two stages,” Jordon surmised. “I’ll have everything I can in the boat so I can be ready for any situation.”
Murray is taking a 50/50 approach when it comes to his two practice days.
“I’m going to split up my practice evenly: one day on Falls Lake, one day on Jordan Lake,” Murray explained. “(I’ll) see how the two compare, and (figure out) what I need to do to be successful on both of them.”
Falls and Jordan may not be the biggest lakes the anglers see on tour this season (Falls covers 12,400 acres while Jordan sits at 13,900 acres), but Jordon says that their small sizes benefit the pros more than it hurts them.
“These lakes are perfect size lakes for MLF competition,” Jordon pointed out. “They’re not too small and not too big. You could probably run the whole lake in a day of competition if you wanted to. The best part is there is no benchmark, and you don’t know what you might catch and that keeps everyone on their toes.”
The Favorite Fishing Stage Three presented by Evinrude gets underway on March 26 and can be seen on the MLF NOW! live stream on MajorLeagueFishing.com