ERIE, Pa. – It was an exciting first day of competition on Erie’s Presque Isle Bay for both the anglers competing on the water and the fans watching a professional fishing team event live for the first time ever at the season-opening event for the 2024 General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops.

When Erie, Pennsylvania, was announced to the anglers as the host destination for the first event of the year, many expected smallmouth bass to be a prominent factor throughout the tournament. If Sunday’s first day of competition at the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota is any indicator, the largemouth are going to reign supreme this week.

Link to Hi-Res Photo of Day 1 Elimination Round Winners Team REDCON1 (Morgan/Floyd)
Link to HD Video Clip of Day 1 Elimination Round Highlights
Link to Photo Gallery of Day 1 Elimination Round Morning On-The-Water Highlights

Team REDCON1, made up of pros Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, and Cole Floyd of Leesburg, Ohio, led the way, Sunday, catching 34 largemouth bass weighing 49 pounds, 6 ounces, to earn the win after the Day 1 Elimination Round. For the win, Team REDCON1 will now advance to the Elimination Round, along with second-place finishing Team Coign – pros Matthew Stefan of Junction City, Wisconsin, and Drew Gill of Mount Carmel, Illinois – who caught 32 bass weighing 43-15 to finish in second.

The REDCON1 team caught the majority of their weight on the west side of Presque Isle Bay, flipping grass with a variety of soft plastics. The duo started shallow with their flipping sticks, but after a slow start to the day they moved out deeper – about 8 to 9 feet deep – and found some fish holding on clean milfoil that had a hard edge. Knowing what to look for, the REDCON1 team covered water and vaulted into the lead midway through the second period and never looked back.

“We had a freaking blast, today,” said Morgan, who caught the most bass and the most weight of any angler on the day. “This is how we got started and what I love about bass fishing – team tournaments. And when you have a good fisherman in the boat with you like Cole, that just makes it all the much better. I was so happy when Cole picked me as his teammate. He and his dad Steven used to kick butt in team tournaments back in the day, so I knew he’d be a great team partner.”

“This was a whole different concept for me,” Floyd said. “It was so much fun. And we got to catch them Andy Morgan-style – on big line, with a big rod. Man, that bite is so addicting.”

They fished the way Morgan is known for – flipping and pitching various soft plastics in all sorts of colors. And they used Floyd’s old team tournament partner’s secret stash.

“We used a dozen different baits today – everything from a Zoom Z Craw to a Strike King Rage Bug,” Morgan said. “Cole actually got his dad’s big bulk bag of soft plastics and brought them for the Team Series. We dipped into Steve’s free baits today and used every color in the bag. Color really didn’t matter though – if you got it around bass, they bit it.”

Morgan’s flipping setup was a 7-foot, 11-inch flipping stick with a Lew’s Pro SP Skipping & Pitching Baitcast Reel, spooled with 65-pound braided line, a 4/0 Hayabusa hook and a 3/4 ounce Strike King tungsten weight.

“We didn’t need but two rods, today,” Floyd went on to say.

With just over an hour remaining in the final period of the day, Team Coign pros Stefan and Gill rallied from fourth place into second after finding an area that held a decent population of largemouth. They caught 24 of their 32 bass total in the third period to overtake Team WIX and Team Ferguson and advance in the final spot.

“The Great Lakes are known for having very spot-specific largemouth, and we happened to fall into an area and caught a pile of fish,” said Stefan, who caught 13 keepers.

Despite only catching three bass in the first two periods, Gill added 16 scorable largemouth in the third period alone.

“I’ve never been out here before, so it took us a bit to find our groove. We were chasing something that I don’t think ever developed,” Gill added. “We found a spot that had sand, rock, a little bit of grass, adjacent to a backwater – everything we needed to make a comeback that we did. What a great final period.”

The results from the Day 1 Elimination Round at the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota are:

1st:        Team REDCON1, 36 bass, 52-0
                Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 23 bass, 34-6
                Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 13 bass, 17-10
2nd:       Team Coign, 32 bass, 43-15
                Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 19 bass, 26-1
                Matt Stefan, Junction City, Wis, 13 bass, 17-14
3rd:       Team Ferguson, 15 bass, 26-6
                Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., nine bass, 15-13
                Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., six bass, 10-9
4th:        Team WIX Filters, 15 bass, 23-15
                Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 11 bass, 16-11
                Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., four bass, 7-4

Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 98 bass weighing 146 pounds, 4 ounces caught by the four teams during the Day 1 Elimination Round on Presque Isle Bay. Team Ferguson pro Nick LeBrun caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a largemouth weighing 3 pounds, 3 ounces.

The B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota is hosted by VisitErie and takes place over six days in Erie, Pennsylvania. The competition water for each day is top secret and is only revealed to the anglers after they arrive at the host hotel each morning.

Anglers depart the host hotel in Erie each morning at 4:30 a.m. ET. They are driven directly to the day’s competition area launch ramp by their officials. Competition begins on the water at 7:45 a.m.

The MLFNOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live every day of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET. MLFNOW! is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

The Challenge Cup features 12 two-man teams, divided into three groups as they enter the one-day Elimination Rounds. Each of the three Elimination Rounds will feature four new teams, with the top two teams from each of the Elimination Rounds advancing to the Knockout Rounds on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams will compete each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Friday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams will compete in a one-day shootout to determine which team will win the 2024 B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota.

The 2024 General Tire Team Series is comprised of four events – Challenge Cup, Heritage Cup, Patriot Cup and Summit Cup – featuring two-man teams of Bass Pro Tour pros competing from the same boat. Each event features a roster of 24 anglers, teamed up and working together to claim part of a season purse of more than $720,000. Teams were formed through a selection process, where 48 team captains – based on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings throughout the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season – selected a teammate. Teams will compete throughout the fall of 2024.

Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour episodes starting in January 2025. New MLF General Tire Team Series episodes will premiere each Saturday morning on Outdoor Channel and posted to MOTV.

Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: 7 Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coign, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Nitro Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala Baits, REDCON1, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, Toyota, USAA, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.