Three for Three: Sprague’s Key Moments as he Qualified for Three Final Rounds
TULSA, Okla. – Through three stages of the 2019 Bass Pro Tour, there have been only two anglers that have made it to every Championship Round. The first, MLF veteran and Stage Two Champion Edwin Evers. The second, a newcomer to the MLF format, Jeff Sprague.
In each of the first three stages, there has been a significant moment that has stuck out to Sprague as special or critical. I spoke with Sprague just as he arrived home in Texas from a seventh-place finish in North Carolina about what he remembers most from Stages One, Two and Three.
Finding Confidence in Florida
Sprague came into Stage One in Kissimmee, Florida as a rookie to the MLF format. With 80 of the best anglers in the world all in one place, the Texas native was more focused on how he stacked up against the competition than coming home with a trophy.
“I went into Florida and my expectations weren’t set really high,” Sprague said. “I just wanted to gauge where I stood in comparison to the other guys on tour.”
He found out rather quickly. Sprague finished 14th in his Elimination Round, providing him the opportunity to move on to the Championship Round if he could secure a top-10 finish in the Knockout Round. He was able to notch a second-place finish, and as the clock was winding down, he made sure he took a moment to be thankful.
“When my MLF official gave me that final countdown and told me that I made the Championship Round, it was a humbling moment that I will never forget,” Sprague recalled. “I dropped my rod for a minute and just looked to the sky and realized that dreams do come true.”
Back Home in Texas
After an eighth-place finish in Florida, Sprague shifted his focus to Conroe, Texas for Stage Two. Although he is a proud Texan, he had never fished Lake Conroe, which led to an interesting experience for him.
“Stage Two was a really unique event because the fish were changing every single day,” Sprague said. “The most memorable thing about that week is that I would fish an area, leave it, and then make the decision to go fish it one more time. That’s different than what I normally do because I like to cover new water. However, when I went back through the water, I would get an additional one, two or three bites.”
The bites continued to stack up for Sprague throughout the week, taking him all the way to the Championship Round before finishing in second place to Evers. Still, the week was about more than winning and losing for Sprague.
“It really reinforced the things that I thought I knew and the things I was trying to learn about the fish and their stages,” Sprague explained. “As fishermen, we don’t get to see the fish develop in a tournament setting because we are going so fast. I was actually able to see the progression of the fish from every single day and every single hour. It was great for me to learn and to see how quickly those fish were changing and it was really impressive to see.”
Adapting in North Carolina
Sprague was well-aware of the impressive weights that were hitting SCORETRACKER from Shotgun Round 1 on Jordan Lake (most notably Kelly Jordon’s 82 pounds, 4 ounces). With one day of practice on Jordan under his belt, the Gene Larew pro was confident heading into his Shotgun Round 2. However, he ran into an unexpected problem.
“The water level fell a lot faster than I was anticipating,” Sprague said of Jordan Lake. “The area I was trying to get to, unbeknownst to me, was the area that Kelly Jordon had success that first day. I couldn’t get into that area the way that I had gotten to it in practice because of the low water level. It really spun me out, and it’s hard to explain unless you’ve been in that situation.”
Sprague was only able to catch four bass for 7-15 and started his Elimination Round on Falls Lake in 36th place. With his back against the wall and knowing he needed to make a big move if he wanted to make it to the Knockout Round, Sprague made the decision to fish an area on Falls that he got one big bite during practice.
“I knew from practice that the fish were starting to move to shallow areas to get their territory for their spawn,” Sprague predicted. “I made the decision to go to an area where I had one bite during practice, but it was a big bite. I ended up catching enough weight in that area to move on to Saturday. The best part about that is I made the decision to change the course of my event, and it worked. That gave me a lot of confidence.”
A seventh-place finish in Raleigh gives Sprague confidence heading into Stage Four in Dayton, Tennessee. While each stage has presented its own specific challenges for the Texas angler, he has shown time and time again that you can never count him out.