Shaw Grigsby Leads Day 1 of Bass Pro Tour Stage Four on Lake of the Ozarks
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – It was a sight-fishing seminar for fishing fans Saturday, and after the final bass had been tallied on SCORETRACKER®, two of the all-time best sat atop the leaderboard after Day 1 of Bass Boat Technologies Stage Four Presented by Bass Cat in Osage Beach, Missouri. Bass Fishing Hall-of-Famer Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Florida, sight-fished his way to 14 scorable largemouth totaling 37 pounds, 15 ounces, to grab the early lead in the Qualifying Round for Group A.
The six-day tournament, hosted by Central Missouri’s Tri-County Lodging Association, the Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Council and BassingBob.com, showcases 80 of the top pro bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a purse of $805,000, including a top cash prize of $100,000 to the winner. The tournament is live streamed each day at MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MOTV app, and also filmed for broadcast later this fall on the Discovery Channel.
Link to Hi-Res Photo of Qualifying Group A Leader Shaw Grigsby
Link to Photo Gallery of Shaw Grigsby’s Day 1 Highlights
Link to Photo Gallery of Day 1 Highlights
Grigsby will bring a slim 11-ounce lead into Monday’s second day of competition for Group A, with fellow sight-fishing guru Alton Jones of Lorena, Texas, right behind him in second place with 11 bass weighing 37-4. Redlands, California, pro Brent Ehrler also spent the day targeting bedding fish and boated 11 bass totaling 34-10, as did current Bally Bet Angler of the Year leader Jordan Lee of Cullman, Alabama, who caught 10 bass totaling 32-13. Alton Jones, Jr., of Waco, Texas, rounds out the top five with 12 bass weighing 32-3.
Grigsby was in his element Saturday, catching all of his 14 keepers sight-fishing with several different baits. His key bait was a 4-inch Strike King KVD Ocho, in bubble gum and sweet potato pie colors.
“I’m pretty pleased to finally catch them in a Bass Pro Tour event,” the affable Florida pro said. “Today was such a fun day. But it wasn’t easy – especially this afternoon. I’ve done this a long time and usually when we’re sight-fishing and the sun comes out and it gets warm, the fish start biting. That really didn’t happen this afternoon.
“We had 20+ mile-per-hour winds blowing and we’ve had all that rain, so the water is pretty stained up,” Grigsby said. “My biggest two fish that I found, I couldn’t even fish – the water went to chocolate milk from the rain runoff. I know it’s only Day 1, but every fish matters here, and the good thing is that I only lost one scorable fish. Execution wise, I had pretty much a flawless day so I can’t complain.”
Despite the challenging day on the water, Grigsby is still very much looking forward to finishing out the Qualifying Round on Monday.
“I’m excited about getting back out and going fishing on Monday – I sure hope that I can do it again,” Grigsby said. “I’m looking forward to my off-day tomorrow – I need it. I tore up every one of my spinning rods today. I’ll be tying FG knots all over and getting my new Triton XRT gassed up and ready to get after them again on Monday.”
The 40 anglers in Group A will now have an off day from competition, while the 40 anglers competing in Group B will begin their first day of competition Sunday. Group A will resume competition on Monday.
The Top 20 pros in Group A after Day 1 on Lake of the Ozarks are:
1st: Shaw Grigsby, Gainesville, Fla., 14 bass, 37-15
2nd: Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, 11 bass, 37-4
3rd: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 11 bass, 34-10
4th: Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 32-13
5th: Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, 12 bass, 32-3
6th: Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., nine bass, 30-3
7th: Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., 11 bass, 29-4
8th: Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., eight bass, 28-1
9th: Matt Lee, Cullman, Ala., eight bass, 22-4
10th: Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan, seven bass, 22-0
11th: Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif., seven bass, 20-6
12th: Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., six bass, 20-2
13th: Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., seven bass, 19-11
14th: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., four bass, 17-9
15th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., four bass, 17-1
16th: Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas, four bass, 16-14
17th: Boyd Duckett, Guntersville, Ala., six bass, 16-3
18th: Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., six bass, 15-8
19th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, six bass, 15-5
20th: David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn., five bass, 14-1
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 217 scorable bass weighing 640 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 39 pros Saturday, which included 26 four-pounders, four five-pounders, and five six-pounders.
Pro Dakota Ebare of Brookeland, Texas, boated a 6-pound, 14-ounce largemouth that earned him the first $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award of the event. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass each day, and a $3,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the heaviest bass of the tournament.
The 40 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Saturday and Monday – the 40 anglers in Group B on Sunday and Tuesday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the anglers that finish in second through 20th place from both groups advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round, while the winner of each group advances directly to Thursday’s Championship Round. In the Knockout Round, weights are zeroed, and the remaining 38 anglers compete to finish in the Top 8 to advance to the Championship Round. In the final day Championship Round, weights are zeroed, and the highest one-day total wins the top prize of $100,000.
Anglers will launch each day at 7:30 a.m. from the Grand Glaize Marina Recreation Area, located at 711 Public Beach Road in Osage Beach. Each day’s General Tire Takeout will be held at the Marina, beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and takeout events and are also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! live stream and SCORETRACKER® coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
On Championship Thursday, May 5, from 4-6 p.m. MLF will host a Celebration Event for fans of all ages, inviting fans to come out and celebrate with the professional anglers from the Bass Pro Tour as they crown the champion of Bass Boat Technologies Stage Four Presented by Bass Cat. The FREE, family-friendly event will be fun for fishing fans of all ages. The first 50 middle school or high school anglers will receive a free Abu Garcia rod and reel combo valued at $100. The final 10 Championship Round Bass Pro Tour anglers will be on hand to meet and greet fans, sign autographs, take selfies and participate in tackle giveaways.
Bass Boat Technologies Stage Four Presented by Bass Cat features anglers competing with a 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable. Minimum weights are determined individually for each competition waters that the Bass Pro Tour visits, based on the productivity, bass population and anticipated average size of fish in each fishery.
The Bass Pro Tour features a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country, competing for millions of dollars and valuable points to qualify for the annual General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event and the REDCREST 2023 championship.
The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of Bass Boat Technologies Stage Four Presented by Bass Cat will premiere as two two-hour episodes at 7 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 15, and Saturday, Oct. 22, on the Discovery Channel. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.
Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Bass Pro Tour include: 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Bally Bet, Bass Cat, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Covercraft, Favorite Fishing, Garmin, General Tire, Googan Baits, Grundéns, Guaranteed Rate, Humminbird, Lowrance, Luminox, Mercury, Minn Kota, Mossy Oak, Nitro Performance Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Power Stop, Rapala, Starbrite, Toro, Toyota, Wrangler, Yellowstone Bourbon and Zoom.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Bass Pro Tour, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.