Lintner goes to finals; MLF moves to Caney

There aren’t many anglers around that would pass up a day fishing for giant largemouths on Caney Lake this time of the year. But Jared Lintner is one of those. It was the Jared Lintner show again Tuesday in the final round of fishing on Lake D’Arbonne. Lintner scored 18 bass weighing 47 pounds, five ounces of bass to win the Group B competition of the Major League Fishing Stage One event on D’Arbonne. As the other top 19 finishers from his group move to Caney at Chatham for the knockout round tomorrow, Lintner, of Covington, GA, now gets to skip Caney and go directly to Thursday’s $100,000 final at Bussey Brake in Bastrop. If he wins that, he can come back and fish Caney any time he’d like!

Jared Lintner will join Group A winner Mark Daniels Jr. in the Championship Round as the Tackle Warehouse pro held onto his lead for the entire day. Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., had six bass weighing 18-11 as the only Louisiana angler to make the cut.

“It was a slow, slow day, but I was able to piece some stuff together thanks to Martens’ Madness 6-inch Fat Roboworm,” Lintner revealed. “Just working that bait on a drop-shot around whatever I could find and it worked out. When the fishing is tough like this, put on a bait you’re confident in, and for me, it was this Aaron Martens-designed Roboworm.”

It was a grueling four days of qualifying on D’Arbonne, mostly due to weather conditions which scattered bass and made them sluggish, plus knocked the pros out of their usual practice time. But those fish are caught, weighed and released and it’s on to Caney for what could be a big bass explosion! The top 30 anglers survived the cut to go to Caney and after tomorrow, only ten will remain to go to Bussey.

There are huge bass in the grass and on the underwater brush at the 6,000 acre Caney Lake. It’s polar opposite of D’Arbonne — wide open spaces, tons of grass, deep and clear water. These pros love this kind of lake and the weights could be astronomical. You can watch all the action life on:

Quote of the day:

Randall Tharp was the last man inside the Top 20 and moving on, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. In reality, it was Anthony Gagliardi who was able to sneak in thanks to a 1-10 in the final 10 minutes of the day. Tharp knew that he was close to being on the outside looking in, but 12 ounces was the difference he needed to pull ahead of Todd Faircloth for the final spot. After a difficult day, Tharp was elated that he somehow did enough to move on.

“It was brutal and I feel like I’m going to throw up,” Tharp said after his round ended. “It was such a tough day and to only catch two fish all day, for them to be 5-pounders and enough makes me relieved.”

Two to watch:

All week, there were whispers, “If Jacob Wheeler (Harrison, Tenn.) can make it to Caney, watch out. That lake is made for him. He could bring in a mega-bag.”

And then, there is Kevin VanDam (Kalamazoo, Mich)…”Most folks think he’s the GOAT (greatest of all time) and you never count out the GOAT.” He didn’t have a bass going into the afternoon on the first day, but worked his way up to 5th in Group B Tuesday. Wheeler is tenth in the same group. Groups don’t matter tomorrow. All that matters is fish — and only the top 10 move on to Bussey and it’s unknown bass fishery. Caney is full of big bass. Bussey has them, but since it’s only been reopened for less than two years, there’s a lot of the lake that is still not full of fish. Either lake could provide a 50-60 pound stringer for the angler that gets in the right spot at the right time.

Here’s who’s moving forward:

The top 20 pros in Qualifying Group A that now advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round on Caney Creek Reservoir are:

1:           Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., 16 bass, 33-5 – ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
2:          Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., nine bass, 24-13
3:          Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 11 bass, 23-15
4:           Shinichi Fukae, Osaka, Japan, eight bass, 22-6
5:           Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., six bass, 21-2
6:           Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., six bass, 21-1
7:           Greg Vinson, Wetumpka, Ala., 10 bass, 19-3
8:           Dean Rojas, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., seven bass, 18-9
9:           Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas, seven bass, 18-5
10:        Cody Meyer, Star, Idaho, six bass, 18-5
11:        Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, eight bass, 16-15
12:        Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., six bass, 16-9
13:        Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., six bass, 15-9
14:        Roy Hawk, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., five bass, 15-9
15:        Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., seven bass, 14-14
16:        Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 14-11
17:        Jesse Wiggins, Addison, Ala., five bass, 12-14
18:        Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., six bass, 12-12
19:        Timmy Horton, Muscle Shoals, Ala., four bass, 12-11
20:        Chris Lane, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 12-5

The top 20 pros in Qualifying Group B that advance to Wednesday’s Knockout Round on Caney Creek are:

1. Jared Lintner, Covington, Ga., 18 bass, 47-5 (ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND)
2. Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., 11 bass, 30-5
3. David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 11 bass, 29-10
4. Jeff Sprague, Wills Point, Texas, 10 bass, 26-13
5. Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., nine bass, 25-0
6. Jonathon VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich., 13 bass, 24-15
7. Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., 10 bass, 23-7
8. Josh Bertrand, Queen Creek, Ariz., eight bass, 22-2
9. Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., seven bass, 21-4
10. Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., nine bass, 20-5
11. Fletcher Shryock, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 20-4
12. Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Ark., eight bass, 19-8
13. Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., six bass, 18-11
14. Jordan Lee, Cullman, Ala., eight bass, 18-10
15. Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., eight bass, 18-4
16. Britt Myers, Lake Wylie, S.C., nine bass, 18-2
17. Randy Howell, Guntersville, Ala., seven bass, 16-12
18. James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., five bass, 15-4
19. Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., seven bass, 14-2
20. Randall Tharp, Port Saint Joe, Fla., three bass, 13-15