DeFoe Finishes Strong at Summit Select Qualifier

2015 Bass Pro Shops Summit Select, Muskogee, Okla., May 19, 2014 : Day One Qualifier

January 7, 2015 • Dan O'Sullivan • Select Events

Major League fishing has entered a new realm with the announcement of the GEICO Selects. While the MLF Cup events have captured the attention of fans and the industry, there was a call for expansion. People wanted to see new blood, they wanted to see some of the other great anglers in the world of professional fishing, and the Selects became that group. Six anglers from the 2015 Bass Pro Shops Summit Select will qualify to compete in the 2015 General Tire Summit Cup against the original 24 MLF anglers.

Along with the new crowd came a new set of rules for the events. The group will still fish three periods, they will still catch, weigh, score and release fish from their boats, and SCORETRACKER LIVE will still dispense information to the competitors throughout the day. The difference is that the daily winners advance to the Summit Cup.

With so much on the line, the first six Select anglers blazed a new trail on one of the three bodies of water near the Muskogee, Okla., base of operations. This first group had no idea they were headed to the fertile waters of Lake Tenkiller, a northeast Oklahoma fishery that features clear water and a healthy population of largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass.

The six anglers launched onto Tenkiller on a day with very strong winds, which limited mobility and hindered their fishing in general. The biggest impact occurred in the early morning as the anglers moved quickly and frequently trying to locate cooperative fish and a pattern that could catapult them to the top of SCORETRACKER LIVE. DeFoe found himself posting fish to SCORETRACKER early and frequently. The Tennessee pro started his day up the lake in a junction area where the main river channel and a major creek channel came together. He bounced quickly around shallow flats and points with reaction baits. He found himself able to get bites steadily, keeping himself close until the last fifteen minutes of the day. At that point, he produced enough late keepers to allow him to leapfrog to the win.

DeFoe’s late heroics awarded him a total weight of 30 pounds, 6 ounces to earn a spot in the 2015 General Tire Summit Cup in Waterville, Maine. His performance bested second-place finisher Mark Rose, who tallied 28-pounds, 4-ounces, third-place finisher Todd Faircloth with 23-pounds, 7-ounces, and fourth-place finisher Andy Montgomery with 23-pounds, 5-ounces. By finishing second through fourth, Rose, Faircloth and Montgomery survived to fish another day in the Survival Round.

Fifth place finisher Marty Robinson had a total weight of 16-pounds, 10-ounces, Kurt Dove finished with 10-pounds, 14-ounces. Both anglers were eliminated and will have to wait until the 2015 Challenge Select for another opportunity to qualify for a Cup event.

Be sure to watch Outdoor Channel on Thursday, January 8, at 8 p.m. ET to see which of the anglers competing in the Day Two Qualifier will advance to the Summit Cup, who will place high enough to move to the Survival Round and who will be eliminated.