PALM BAY, Fla. (Dec. 13, 2021) – Major League Fishing (MLF) and 24 of the world’s best pro anglers wrapped up production of the MLF Wiley X Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches event Saturday in Palm Bay, Florida. The event, shot over six days this week and hosted by Florida’s Space Coast Office of Tourism, was filmed entirely for television broadcast and featured anglers competing for the prestigious Summit Cup championship.
The Space Coast is a familiar destination for MLF, as the East Coast of South Florida played host to the now-defunct 2018 Major League Fishing World Championship, which showcased the top 12 anglers from that season’s MLF Cup events. That event was won by Louisiana’s Greg Hackney. As anglers battled a strong north wind on the final day of competition, Hackney ducked behind a levee on Kenansville Lake’s north end and went to work flipping mats to catch 32 pounds, 6 ounces of largemouth bass and earn the victory. Pro Skeet Reese of Auburn, California, finished fourth in that 2018 event, and was among the 24 competitors that competed again this past week.
The Wiley X Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches event marks the second time that MLF has visited Florida’s Space Coast with an event that showcases the catch, weigh, immediate-release tournament format.
“The Space Coast is a fishing paradise with the availability of freshwater, saltwater, surf, and deep-sea fishing opportunities. We are excited to have Major League Fishing here showing some of our top fishing spots to their viewers including new Headwaters Lake, the local trophy largemouth bass fishery. It’s unlike any other freshwater lake in the U.S.,” said Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Peter Cranis.
The six-episode, two-hour series will feature professional anglers visiting the Space Coast area to compete over six days of competition on either Kenansville Lake (Jurassic Park), Lake Garcia, Stick Marsh, and for the first time ever, Fellsemere Reservoir (Headwaters Lake). The anglers do not learn where they are competing until they arrive to the launch ramp each morning, creating a reality-based television episode that showcases how the top anglers in the world break down new and unfamiliar waters.
“We had such a successful event when we were last here in 2018 that it really made returning for our Summit Cup championship a no-brainer,” said Michael Mulone, Senior Director of Events and Partnerships for MLF. “From the amazing fishing to the beautiful settings and scenery, to the community and people that we work closely with at the Space Coast Office of Tourism – all of them play a huge role in creating a fantastic television program for our national audience. It’s been a great week in Florida and we’re already looking forward to when we return.”
The 24 anglers competing in the 2021 Wiley X Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches are: Stephen Browning, Luke Clausen, Dustin Connell, Brandon Coulter, David Dudley, Paul Elias, Anthony Gagliardi, Alton Jones Jr., Gary Klein, Jason Lambert, Bobby Lane, Russ Lane, Matt Lee, Michael Neal, Skeet Reese, Mark Rose, Fred Roumbanis, Bradley Roy, Fletcher Shryock, Jeff Sprague, Wesley Strader, Bryan Thrift, Jacob Wheeler and Jesse Wiggins.
The MLF Wiley X Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches, hosted by Florida’s Space Coast Office of Tourism, will air on the Outdoor Channel as six, two-hour original episodes each Saturday afternoon starting April 2, 2022, airing from 2 to 4 p.m. EDT. The full television schedule can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com/tv-schedule.
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.To learn more about Florida’s Space Coast, contact the Space Coast Office of Tourism at (877) 572-3224 or VisitSpaceCoast.com. Visit the Florida Space Coast us on social media at Facebook.com/visitspacecoast, Twitter.com/flaspacecoast, Instagram.com/floridaspacecoast, and YouTube.com/c/visitspacecoast.
About Florida’s Space Coast
Florida’s Space Coast was named one of National Geographic’s Best of the World top 25 destinations on the rise for 2021. Florida’s Space Coast is home to Orlando’s closest beaches, 35 miles to the east, stretching 72 miles along the coastline, and is the East Coast Surfing Capital. Guests can discover the beauty of nature in more than 250 square miles of wildlife refuge and the Indian River Lagoon. Launches are visible across the county from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the only location in America where astronauts launch into space. Brevard Zoo was voted one of the top 5 zoos in North America by USA Today’s 10Best readers in 2020, and Orlando Melbourne International Airport was ranked North America’s Most Scenic Airport and ranked in the top 5 worldwide for 2020 by PrivateFly.com.
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, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network and the World Fishing Network and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices 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. In 2019 MLF expanded its portfolio of catch, weigh and immediately release events to include the sport’s strongest five-biggest-fish format tournament circuits. 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.
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