Birge Dominates REDCREST Shotgun Round, Leads Field of 30 Heading into Elimination Round

Zack Birge hammered the competition on the first day of REDCREST. Photo by Jesse Schultz

August 21, 2019 • Tyler Brinks • Bass Pro Tour

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The talk of the town before the start of REDCREST Presented by Venmo was the low water conditions on the Upper Mississippi, and how it would affect the fishing.

The bass didn’t seem to mind the lower water and were more than willing to bite both early and often during Wednesday’s Shotgun Round. The fishing actually got better as the day wore on, with 218 bass coming in Period 1, 236 in Period 2, and 252 in Period 3.

The day can be summarized by plenty of scoreable bass, and quite a bit of turbulence throughout the leaderboard as even short lulls in the action resulted in anglers plummeting in the standings.

Frogs, jerkbaits, vibrating jigs and crankbaits were the main players for the REDCREST anglers who tallied 706 bass for 1,213 pounds on the day.

Birge Puts on a Show

Birge set the hook on 50 fish in Wednesday’s Shotgun Round. Photo by Jesse Schultz

As soon as “Lines In” was called this morning, Zack Birge started catching fish, and he didn’t slow down much until the day was through. While sharing water with Michael Neal (seventh place) and Brandon Palaniuk (eighth), Birge jumped to an early lead and stayed at or near the top the entire day. He seized control of first place midway through Period 2 and never gave it back.

“I had one place where I knew I could get a lot of bites,” Birge said of his morning bite. “Michael was also there, and we both caught them pretty good. I only fished a third of my areas because I kept catching them and didn’t need to leave.”

With a big lead and some untapped areas left, Birge is shifting to practice mode tomorrow. “I’ll try to save some of those areas I found in practice for later in the week and tomorrow I’ll bounce around and try to find some more fish,” he said.

Birge ended the day with 50 bass for 81-15 and has a massive 17-pound lead over second place and is nearly 50 pounds above 20th place, which will serve as the Elimination Line after tomorrow.

Browning Lands 64-10

Stephen Browning shows off a 3-9, part of a strong day on Day 1.

Stephen Browning was able to land 35 bass for 64-10 today and leads the non-Birge contingent into the second day. After Period 1, he was the leader and was able to maintain his momentum throughout the day.

“It was a great start to the day and a lot of fun out there,” Browning said. “I only fished two of my places and have plenty of other waypoints to go to if I can make it to the next round. I had a goal of 70 pounds for these first two days, and it looks like that’s going to be pretty close to the Elimination Line. I’ll just go fishing tomorrow and try to catch ten more pounds to get me to the next round.”

Roumbanis Rallies to 3rd

Fred Roumbanis was considered one of the favorites because of his prowess with a frog and past success on the Upper Mississippi. Early on, it didn’t look good for “Boom Boom” as he found himself near the bottom of the standings.

But Roumbanis made his move. In the second period alone he jumped 19th places to sixth, and then continued to climb the rest of the day. He finished up in third with 35 bass for 61-03.

Elimination Line Watch

After the Shotgun Round on Pool 8, Wesley Strader occupies 20th place. He tallied 32-11 and sits on the Elimination Line.

Ott DeFoe, Jordan Lee and Aaron Martens are three anglers that many picked to win this week and they are all currently on the outside looking in with work to do tomorrow to have a chance to advance.

Daily Winners

Shotgun Round daily awards were:

The Berkley Big Bass of the day was Jeff Sprague’s 4-11 largemouth.
Zack Birge won the Berkley Catch Count award with 50 bass on the day.
Birge’s 81-15 earned him the Phoenix Boats Daily Leader award.

Looking Ahead

The entire 30-angler field will compete in tomorrow’s Elimination Round. The Top 20 anglers will advance to the Knockout Round. Weights will be zeroed and the field split, with 10 MLF pros competing on Friday, Aug. 23 and 10 more on Saturday, Aug. 24. The Top 5 from each of these round will advance to Sunday’s Championship Round, where weights will again start over, and the playing field switched to Pool 7.

How, When, Where to Watch

Competition continues Thursday at 7 a.m. CT, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER® on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MLF app.

MLF NOW! Live Stream Schedule

Thursday, Aug. 22: 6:55 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Postgame Show at approximately 4 p.m. CT
Friday, Aug. 23: 6:55 a.m. to 3 p.m. CT
Saturday, Aug. 24: 6:55 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Postgame Show at approximately 4 p.m. CT
Sunday, Aug. 25: 6:55 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Postgame Show at approximately 4 p.m. CT

MLF Midway at REDCREST

Fans are encouraged to go to the Onalaska Omni Center in Onalaska, WI, for the ultimate REDCREST experience for MLF fans! Fans are invited to the MLF Midway and Postgame Show Presented by Berkley.

MLF Midway: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 23-25; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT