ERIE, Pa. (Aug. 30, 2024) – Championship Friday started off with a bang as teams wrapped up the first event of the 2024 General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, with all four teams posting bass to SCORETRACKER® within the first 15 minutes.
The final four teams at the 2024 B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota headed back to Erie’s Presque Isle Bay on Friday to finish out the season-opening event. While the teams had some experience on the fishery earlier in the week, conditions changed, forcing the teams to hunt for new fish throughout the day.
Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches – made up of Luke Clausen of Spokane, Washington, and John Hunter of Shelbyville, Kentucky – put together a strong opening flurry early during Friday’s Championship Round, stacking 22 bass totaling 35-3 onto SCORETRACKER® within the first period alone.
But that wasn’t enough to hold off Team U.S. Air Force – Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, South Carolina – who took over the top spot at the beginning of Period 2. They held the lead for 28 mins before being overtaken by Team B&W Trailer Hitches – Matt Becker of Ten Mile, Tennessee, and Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Arkansas – who grabbed the top spot and never looked back.
Link to HD Video Clip of Championship Round Highlights in Erie, Pennsylvania
Link to Photo Gallery of Championship Round On-The-Water Highlights in Erie, Pennsylvania
Team B&W Trailer Hitches finished the day with 64 bass totaling 113 pounds, 5 ounces, a solid 34-10 ahead of Team U.S. Air Force. They started the morning in an area they’d fished during the Qualifying Round but found it a bit lacking.
“When we found out we were going back to Presque Isle Bay today it was pretty exciting because we’d had a really good Qualifying Round there and felt like we could have done even more so we were excited to get back out there,” said Shuffield. “I’d caught a lot of our fish in the Qualifying Round on a ChatterBait, but it just wasn’t really working for us this morning. They just weren’t really committing to it.”
The duo decided to switch to their secondary plan and flip grass out deeper.
“Once we made that move, Matt ended up catching several scorable bass quickly,” Shuffield said. “We knew that we would be able to keep pace with the other teams doing that but weren’t sure if we’d be able to put up much weight.”
“Really the second period is when we found the area where we ended up winning,” said Becker. “We made a move, and it’s so crazy to think about the little details that happened – one fish busted the surface of the water on baitfish, and that readjusted our game plan.
“Spencer threw over there and got a bite and that one fish changed our minds on what was happening there and what we needed to do the rest of the day,” Becker continued. “If we hadn’t noticed that fish, it may be a different story here today.”
The B&W Trailer Hitches team spent the second period running new water and locating a few new schools of bass before cycling through some of their prior sweet spots. The duo fished in roughly five different areas throughout the bay, all basically presenting the same characteristics – offshore milfoil grass beds in 7 to 8 feet of water with plenty of baitfish.
“We didn’t get off to the fastest of starts this morning,” said Becker. “It was just slow and steady, and I knew we just needed to survive that morning bite. Just keep the pace. The key for us today was fishing fresh water and hitting places we didn’t fish the first day we were on Presque Isle Bay.
“We found a fresh school of fish that looked like it hadn’t been touched by anyone this week and put some weight up in a hurry,” Becker continued. “We got that flurry and that really is what set us up for the day.”
Becker credits a two-pronged approach to his success at the Challenge Cup – flipping a tube and throwing a 3/8-ounce ChatterBait – but said the difference-maker was a small trailer attached to the back of the ChatterBait.
“The bass were feeding on real small baitfish, so putting that little 3-inch trailer on the back really allowed the bait to dance and dart very well and made it a little smaller profile for the fish to eat,” said Becker. “I threw that on 17-pound Seaguar InvizX Fluorocarbon Line on a 7-foot, 5-inch medium-heavy rod.”
While Becker’s experience on the fishery gave the B&W Trailer Hitches team a distinct advantage, the duo agreed that the team as a whole made the right decisions at the right times throughout the day to get the job done.
“The right things ended up happening for us to win and it feels great,” said Shuffield. “To win the first buddy team tournament of the year – and the first two-man team ever – that’s something no one will ever be able to take away from us and something we’ll cherish forever.”
The duo will reunite to fish another General Tire Team Series event later this fall at the Summit Cup, November 17-22.
The top four teams at the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota Knockout Round finished:
1st: Team B&W Trailer Hitches, 64 bass, 113-5
Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 35 bass, 60-12
Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 29 bass, 52-9
2nd: Team U.S. Air Force, 47 bass, 78-11
Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., 22 bass, 32-11
Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, N.C., 25 bass, 46-0
3rd: Team Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff & Pouches, 41 bass, 66-0
Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 21 bass, 32-14
John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., 20 bass, 33-2
4th: Team Star Tron, 27 bass, 42-11
Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 11 bass, 15-14
Jacob Wall, New Hope, Ala., 16 bass, 26-13
Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 179 bass weighing 300 pounds, 11 ounces caught by the four teams during the Championship Round on Presque Isle Bay. Team U.S. Air Force pro Anthony Gagliardi caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a largemouth weighing 4 pounds, 3 ounces.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota was hosted by VisitErie and took place over six days in Erie, Pennsylvania. The competition water for each day was top secret and was only revealed to the anglers after they arrived at the host hotel each morning.
The Challenge Cup featured 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they entered the one-day Elimination Rounds. Each of the three Elimination Rounds featured four new teams, with the top two teams from each of the Elimination Rounds advancing to the Knockout Rounds on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams competed each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Friday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams competed in a one-day shootout to determine which team was the winner of the 2024 B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota.
The 2024 General Tire Team Series is comprised of four events – Challenge Cup, Heritage Cup, Patriot Cup and Summit Cup – featuring two-man teams of MLF Bass Pro Tour pros competing from the same boat. Each event features a roster of 24 anglers, teamed up and working together to claim part of a season purse of more than $720,000. Teams were formed through a selection process, where 48 team captains – based on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings throughout the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season – selected a teammate. Teams will compete throughout the fall of 2024.
The B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota featured the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format, in which anglers caught as much weight as they could each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. With no practice and anglers only getting a few hours to break down brand-new water, the tournament featured anglers competing with a 1-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable.
The next General Tire Team Series event will take place Sept. 15-20 in Wisconsin – the Knighten Industries Heritage Cup Presented by Berkley – and is hosted by the Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Television coverage of the B&W Trailer Hitches Challenge Cup Presented by Toyota will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour episodes starting in January 2025. New MLF General Tire Team Series episodes will premiere each Saturday morning on Outdoor Channel and posted to MOTV.
Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coign, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Nitro Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala Baits, REDCON1, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, Toyota, USAA, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
About Major League Fishing
Major League Fishing (MLF) is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, producing more than 250 events annually at some of the most prestigious fisheries in the world, while broadcasting to America’s living rooms on CBS, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network and on demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV).
Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, the MLF roster of bass anglers includes the world’s top pros and more than 30,000 competitors in all 50 states and 13 countries. Since its founding in 2011, MLF has advanced the sport of competitive fishing through its premier television broadcasts and livestreams and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for bass through research, education, fisheries enhancement and fish care.
Major League Fishing – WE ARE Bass Fishing™
See more bass tournament news here
Discover the ultimate resource for bass fishing enthusiasts with Bass Angler Magazine! Packed with expert tips, cutting-edge gear reviews, and in-depth articles, our magazine is your go-to guide for mastering the art of bass fishing. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just getting started, Bass Angler Magazine delivers the insights and inspiration you need to reel in the big ones. Subscribe today and elevate your angling game!
