Rose Secures 30th Spot in 2020 Challenge Cup
TULSA, Okla. –The top 30 point-earners from Stage One and Two of the MLF Bass Pro Tour have qualified for the 2020 Major League Fishing Challenge Cup.
Some anglers, like Jordan Lee and Edwin Evers, locked in their spots rather comfortably. But the angler who eventually earned the coveted 30 spot – and the final qualification for the Challenge Cup – knew he had work to do on Lake Conroe in order to make the first Cup event of the year.
Arkansas pro Mark Rose came into Stage Two with something to prove after a 23rd-place finish in Group B’s Elimination Round of Stage One on the Kissimmee Chain in Florida. While Rose didn’t make it to the Knockout Round there, he kept his sights on the Challenge Cup qualification.
“I knew I was going to have to have a solid event in Conroe to qualify for the Cup,” Rose said. “I knew I was in the middle of the field and if I had a strong showing, I knew I had a good chance to make it.”
With 79 others anglers looking to etch their name into the Top 30, the former FLW Tour Angler of the Year had to make sure he was at his best on Lake Conroe. Rose succeeded in the Shotgun and Elimination Round by throwing a finesse worm around the plethora of docks on Lake Conroe.
A two-day total of 48 pounds, 15 ounces gave Rose a third-place finish in his Elimination Round and a spot in the Knockout Round. However, he needed a few more points to put himself above the cutoff and locked into the Top 30.
Making a change = making a move
Rose made a change going into the Knockout Round, relying more on a prototype Strike King Thunder Cricket vibrating jig, which he threw on a Lews Custom Pro Ledge Series Hair Jig rod, and a Lews HyperMag reel spooled with 20-pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon. The switch proved beneficial to Rose as he reeled in 11 fish for 19-13 on the day.
In the stacked field of 40 anglers, Rose was below the Elimination Line after the Knockout Round in 19th place. Not exactly the finish he wanted, but a silver lining came just a day later when he found out that he had accumulated 97 points between the first two Stages.
That was just enough to put him at the No. 30 spot in the Challenge Cup points.
“Right now, even though I was the 30th guy in, I’m tied for first,” Rose explained. “That’s tournament fishing for you. As long as you advance, you have a shot in MLF. I’m just really excited and blessed to have the opportunity.”
Rose will simplify for Cup
Rose has multiple years of MLF Selects experience and that should help him in this Cup event. While other anglers begin to formulate how to prepare for the mysterious MLF Cup format, Rose has a time-tested plan that he will choose to follow once again.
“I’m a really simple guy when it comes to the Cups,” Rose outlined. “I take one tackle bag and 10 rods. Outside of that, if it doesn’t go in the tackle bag, I don’t take it. I just try to fish with a simple mindset. It’s so intense that you don’t have a lot of time to second guess yourself.”
Rose and the rest of the Top 30 will compete June 9-14 in the 2020 Challenge Cup, which will air on the Outdoor Channel next year. The MLF Bass Pro Tour continues with Stage Three from Raleigh, N.C. on March 26-31.