One of the few feelings better than boating a big bass on tournament day is celebrating such a catch with a teammate. That camaraderie has made two-person team tournaments one of the most popular forms of competitive fishing across the country, from high school and college circuits to bass clubs everywhere.
However, rarely have the top touring pros paired up and shared boats while competing against one another. Until now.
Major League Fishing’s General Tire Team Series presented by Bass Pro Shops will kick off its 2024 season on Sunday with the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup in Erie, Pennsylvania. That will mark the first of four events this fall featuring Bass Pro Tour anglers competing against one another in teams of two, much like the buddy tournaments populated by anglers across the country.
“It’s the most relatable way to fish,” 2022 Team Series champion Jacob Wheeler said of the partner format. “Literally what got me started bass fishing is team tournaments, weeknight tournaments with your buddies. That’s some of the most fun fishing.”
All six days of the Challenge Cup will stream live MLFNOW! on MajorLeagueFishing.com, on the MLF app, and on the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) and Rumble apps. Lines in is set for 7:30 a.m. ET each day, and competition will last until 2:30 p.m.
Teams for the Cup events were determined just like they are in bass clubs everywhere — by the competitors. A team selection was held in May, when the top 24 anglers in the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year standings after Stage Four selected their partners in order of the standings. The 12 tandems that don’t participate in the Challenge Cup will contend for the Heritage Cup Sept. 15-20.
Owning the first pick thanks to his points lead, Wheeler selected Dustin Connell. While that might not come as a surprise given the tight friendship between the pair, having two anglers who combined to win each of the first four events of the 2024 season in the same boat is sure to turn some heads.
“We’ve fished the USA Bass tournaments together as a team several times, we’ve fished weeknight tournaments with each other,” Wheeler said of Connell. “So, out of anybody in the field, I’ve had the most experience fishing with Dustin, and so knowing that we can work together, that’s what it’s all about. … It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m going to have to deal with some shenanigans. But, overall, I am beyond excited.”
Among the teams Wheeler and Connell will face in the Challenge Cup are Wesley Strader and Scott Suggs, who are reuniting after comprising two-thirds of the winning team at the 2023 Team Series Championship. In the Heritage Cup, we’ll see two different father-son duos take the water: Alton Jones and Alton Jones Jr. as well as Marty and Marshall Robinson.
Another draft will be held based on the final 2024 AOY standings to determine the fields for the Patriot Cup (Oct. 24-29) and Summit Cup (Nov. 17-22), with the top 24 finishers once again serving as captains.
One of the fascinating dynamics of the Team Series format will be seeing how anglers who are used to commanding their own vessels and making their own decisions work together. Strader believes he and Suggs have an advantage in that department because they’ve not only competed alongside one another in the Team Series but fished out of the same boat enough times to know which is better suited to take the lead in given situations.
“It’s good to fish with someone that you’re familiar with, you’ve fished with, and you know their quirks, you know how they’re thinking and how they’re not thinking,” Strader said. “And we’ve fished enough together to know which one is good at certain things and the mindset of one and the mindset of the other, how they think.”
The teams will be seeded and slotted into brackets based on their combined Angler of the Year standing. Each Cup event will open with a three-day Elimination Round. Four teams will take the water each day, with the two highest finishers advancing to the Knockout Round.
The Knockout Round will span two days, with three teams competing each day. The last-place tandem will be eliminated. That will leave four teams to vie for victory in the one-day Championship Round.
MLF will award $180,750 at each event for a total of $723,000 across the entire Team Series.
The competitions will be contested under MLF’s every-fish-counts format with live scoring provided by SCORETRACKER®, so anglers and viewers will know where teams stand in relation to one another at all times. MLF is also maintaining another staple of its Cup events by not revealing which body of water anglers will be fishing until the morning of competition.
Strader believes that element of unknown combined with the fact that teams will no longer be able to deploy boats to three separate areas will offer viewers a unique window into how pros break down new water and make decisions in real time.
“You’re not going to be able to be in three separate boats to break the water down in sections,” Strader said. “Now, you’re going to have to concentrate on an area, and if it ain’t working, move to another area sight unseen just on a gut feeling. So, that’s the thing that’s going to add a new twist to it.”
“The whole thing with this is you’re dialing in a body of water together,” Wheeler added. “That’s going to be a really cool deal, trying to figure out what’s going on that given day, figuring out what’s happening, and then ultimately going out there and trusting your teammate.”