Ready or not, here comes MLF!

Are Lake D’Arbonne, Caney Lake and Bussey Brake ready for Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour’s season opener? Well, they better be because some of the top pro bass anglers in America are headed for our back yard!

If you love any kind of fishing, it would be worth a few minutes for you to study up on the MLF tour. What’s about to happen on these three lakes is, in my opinion, the biggest fishing event with the most exposure to ever hit this area. By far…

The full field for the 2022 Bass Pro Tour, the fourth season of professional bass fishing’s most visible and competitive tournament circuit. The field of 80 of the world’s top bass-fishing professionals will visit seven fisheries during the Bass Pro Tour regular season and will compete for a total season purse of more than $7.6 million.

The 2022 Bass Pro Tour roster includes 74 returning anglers, headlined by 2021 Angler of the Year (AOY) Jacob Wheeler, REDCREST 2021 champion Dustin Connell, two-time AOY runner-up Ott DeFoe, Edwin Evers, Justin Lucas and the most decorated angler in the history of professional bass fishing, Kevin VanDam. They’ll be joined by six newcomers who qualified via the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit – Dakota Ebare, Cole Floyd, Dylan Hays, Clabion Johns, Jeremy Lawyer and Ryan Salzman. Pros John Cox and Ron Nelson declined their invitations to the 2022 Bass Pro Tour to focus their efforts on other circuits, including the MLF Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit.

The 2022 Bass Pro Tour will kick off Feb. 5-10, 2022, with Stage One at Caney Creek Reservoir, Lake D’Arbonne and Bussey Brake, sponsored by the Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. The event will have a huge effect on this entire region in exposure and economic benefit, both short term and long term. The first four days of elimination rounds will be held on D’Arbonne, with half of the field fishing two days and the other half fishing two days. The leaders will then fish Caney on Day Five and the top ten anglers will go to Bussey to determine the champion.

“The professional anglers that compete on the Bass Pro Tour are the best in the world, and we look forward to seeing what they can do across nine of the finest fisheries in the United States,” said Don Rucks, Executive Vice President and General Manager for MLF. “We expect the upcoming 2022 season to be one of the most challenging, if not the most challenging and competitive seasons in the history of the MLF Bass Pro Tour. We couldn’t be more excited to kick off another fantastic Bass Pro Tour season in February in Monroe and West Monroe, Louisiana, on three fisheries that have never before hosted a professional tournament.”

In addition to millions of dollars in cash prizes, the 2022 Bass Pro Tour anglers are vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2023 General Tire Heavy Hitters All-Star event and REDCREST 2023, the world championship of professional bass fishing. Each stage of the Bass Pro Tour includes six days of competition using the catch, weigh, immediate-release format, and is broadcast live on the Major League Fishing app, MyOutdoorTV (MOTV), and MajorLeagueFishing.com, totaling more than 450 hours of original programming. Fans can also follow the on-the-water action as it unfolds on the live SCORETRACKER® leaderboard.

The 2022 MLF Bass Pro Tour will air on the Discovery Channel beginning in July 2022 and the Outdoor Channel in early 2023. For complete details and up-to-date tournament information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

The 80 professional anglers, alphabetical order, that will compete on the 2022 Bass Pro Tour are:

• Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C.
• Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J.
• Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz.
• Tommy Biffle, Wagoner, Okla.
• Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla.
• Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark.
• Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan.
• Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash.
• Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala.
• Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn.
• Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part, La.
• Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala.
• Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark.
• Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn.
• Boyd Duckett, Guntersville, Ala.
• David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va.
• Dakota Ebare, Brookeland, Texas
• Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif.
• James Elam, Tulsa, Okla.
• Paul Elias, Laurel, Miss.
• Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla.
• Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas
• Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio
• Shinichi Fukae, Osaka, Japan
• Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C.
• Shaw Grigsby, Gainesville, Fla.
• Roy Hawk, Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
• Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark.
• Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz.
• Timmy Horton, Muscle Shoals, Ala.
• Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala.
• Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga.
• Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas
• Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas
• Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas
• Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas
• Jeff Kriet, Ardmore, Okla.
• Jason Lambert, Michie, Tenn.
• Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla.
• Chris Lane, Guntersville, Fla.
• Russ Lane, Prattville, Ala.
• Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo.
• Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala.
• Matt Lee, Cullman, Ala.
• Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa.
• Jared Lintner, Arroyo Grande, Calif.
• Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala.
• Mike McClelland, Blue Eye, Mo.
• Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho
• Ish Monroe, Oakdale, Calif.
• Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C.
• Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn.
• John Murray, Spring City, Tenn.
• Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C.
• Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn.
• Takahiro Omori, Tokyo, Japan
• Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss.
• Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala.
• Skeet Reese, Auburn, Calif.
• Marty Robinson, Lyman, S.C.
• Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
• Mark Rose, Wynne, Ark.
• Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark.
• Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky.
• Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala.
• Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla.
• Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala.
• Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La.
• Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas
• Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn.
• Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark.
• Randall Tharp, Port St. Joe, Fla.
• Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C.
• Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich.
• Jonathan VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich.
• Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala.
• David Walker, Sevierville, Tenn.
• James Watson, Lampe, Mo.
• Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn.
• Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala.