Morgan, Floyd top first Elimination Match at General Tire Team Series Challenge Cup

Cole Floyd and Andy Morgan of team REDCON1 won the first Elimination Match of the 2024 General Tire Team Series with 36 largemouth weighing 52 pounds on Lake Erie's Presque Isle Bay. Photo by Phoenix Moore. Anglers: Cole Floyd, Andy Morgan.

August 25, 2024 • Mitchell Forde, Joel Shangle, Joe Opager • General Tire Team Series

ERIE, Pa. — Even before Andy Morgan and Cole Floyd took to the waters of Presque Isle Bay Sunday for the first Elimination Match of the 2024 General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, the red-jerseyed REDCON1 team was called out as a favorite (and by a guy who would know).

“This is a dangerous team for the largemouths!” Bass Pro Tour pro Justin Lucas commented on a video of the two laid-back shallow-water specialists discussing their Day 1 game plan.

Thirty-six Lake Erie largemouth and 52 pounds later, Morgan and Floyd proved Lucas right as they claimed the top spot in the first elimination day of the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota.

Their victory earned them a spot in the Knockout Round, where they will be joined by Drew Gill and Matthew Stefan of team Coign, who finished second. Gill and Stefan combined to catch 22 bass for 43-15, 17-9 ahead of team Ferguson. Team Ferguson (Nick LeBrun and Gerald Spohrer) and team WIX Filters (Ron Nelson and Keith Carson) were eliminated from competition.

“We had a freaking blast today,” said Morgan, whose 23 bass for 34-6 marked the highest totals caught by any angler on the water. “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.”

Team REDCON1 flips to victory

Floyd and Morgan fished to their strengths, catching all of their largemouth by flipping submerged vegetation. Photo by Phoenix Moore

When Erie was announced as the host destination for the first Team Series event of the fall, many expected smallmouth bass to be the dominant species throughout the tournament. Sunday, however, it was all largemouth — which was right up Floyd and Morgan’s alley.

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

“It was so much fun,” Floyd said. “We got to catch them Andy Morgan-style – on big line with a big rod. Man, that bite is so addicting.

“We didn’t need but two rods today.”

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. He and Floyd used a variety of soft-plastic baits, utilizing a secret stash procured by Floyd.

“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.”

Team Coign rallies to advance

Drew Gill and Matthew Stefan advanced to the Knockout Round thanks to a third-period comeback. Photo by Phoenix Moore

As the second period came to a close, Gill and Stefan found themselves in fourth place. At that point, the duo had caught just seven bass totaling 9-12 and were more than 7 pounds off the pace of the elimination line.

In the final seconds of Period 2, Stefan boated a scorable largemouth weighing 1-8. While not a giant, that fish provided the jumpstart the duo needed. They would ride the momentum into Period 3, when they stacked 24 bass for 32-11 onto SCORETRACKER® and climbed well clear of the cut line.

Stefan, who contributed 13 bass on the day, said the key was simply finding a concentration of largemouth.

“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,” he said.

After catching just three bass in the first two periods, Gill poured on 16 in Period 3 alone, showing that adding another pro to his boat wouldn’t slow down his scintillating season.

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

Four new teams will hit the water Monday for the second Elimination Match. The top two tandems from each of the three Elimination Round days will then compete in the Knockout Round on Wednesday and Thursday. The two best teams on each day will earn a spot in Friday’s single-day Championship Round.

Continue to watch the Challenge Cup unfold on the MLFNOW! live stream at MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.com. Line’s in is set for 7:30 a.m. ET each morning and the action will continue until 2:30 p.m.