Faircloth Finishes First, Five More Move on to Sudden Death

Todd Faircloth won Elimination Round 3 of the 2020 Heritage Cup. Photo by Garrick Dixon

March 2, 2020 • Mason Prince • Cup Events

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For those anglers that were able to figure out the bite on Henderson Bay for Elimination Round 3 of the Bass Pro Shops Heritage Cup Presented by Berkley, it was a fun day of fishing. For the four anglers who missed out on the Top 6, it was a long and arduous day that left the pros with more questions than answers.

Todd Faircloth, Aaron Martens, Jacob Powroznik, Luke Clausen, Tommy Biffle and Greg Vinson are moving on to the Sudden Death Rounds while Fletcher Shryock, Jeff Sprague, Stephen Browning and Dave Lefebre are all heading home.

Faircloth Figures it out Early

Todd Faircloth jumped into the lead right out of the gate, landing a 5-2 and a 6-4 just 30 minutes into the round. The Texas pro never looked back after that, never surrendering his lead thanks to 21 bass for 65-2. The Strike King pro put on a drop-shot clinic with a Strike King Dream Shot in Magic color. That bait helped Faircloth average over 3 pounds per scorable bass, the highest average of the day.

Faircloth easily advances to Sudden Death Round 2 to keep his Heritage Cup hopes alive.

Martens Masters the Drop-Shot

Whether he likes to admit it or not, when you think about drop-shots, Aaron Martens is one of the first anglers that comes to mind. Martens didn’t do much to help that narrative after finishing in second place with 17 bass for 45-5, more than 15 pounds ahead of third-place Jacob Powroznik.

We saw how effective Martens can be with a drop-shot in Stage Six of the 2019 Bass Pro Tour in which he took home the championship. If the search for smallmouth continues, consider Martens to be one of the anglers to watch to take home the Heritage Cup.

Aaron Martens utilized a drop-shot to secure a second-place finish. Photo by Garrick Dixon

Bottom Four Struggle for Bites

While SCORETRACKER® was lighting up for the Top 6, the bottom four anglers were left scratching their heads for most, if not the entire day. Shryock, Sprague, Lefebre and Browning all couldn’t land a scorable bass in the second period, pretty much sealing their fate. Shryock said multiple times how he was not confident in his ability to go find a school of offshore smallmouth, calling it a “gamble.”

Fresh off of a Challenge Cup win, Jeff Sprague was feeling the frustration on Henderson Bay. The Texas pro had only one scorable bass through two periods of fishing. Sprague said that this was the first event in his MLF career that he had ever been held to one scorable bass in a period, let alone two periods.

Up Next

The Bass Pro Shops Heritage Cup Presented by Berkley continues on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. EST on Outdoor Channel. Nine anglers will race to be one of the first four pros to reach the SIG SAUER Target Weight for the right to advance on to the Championship Round.