ORLANDO, Fla. (July 21, 2022) – Major League Fishing (MLF), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, announced today the results of the inaugural General Tire Team Series Draft at a live press event at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST).
The General Tire Team Series will succeed the current MLF Cup events – following 11 highly successful seasons on the Outdoor Channel – and will showcase the 80 anglers that compete on the Bass Pro Tour, joined by the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit TITLE champion, competing as three-man teams across four events for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash payouts.
The inaugural Team Series Draft took place on June 1, in Spring City, Tennessee, where the top 27 Bass Pro Tour anglers – based on 2021 Angler of the Year (AOY) point standings – selected two additional Bass Pro Tour anglers to create 27 three-man teams that will compete over the three qualifying events.
Team members will be in constant communication with their teammates during competition, via wireless earpieces, allowing them to work together to develop real-time strategies and adapt on the water to create an exciting new format never before seen on television.
Each qualifying event will feature nine teams, divided into three groups. Each group competition will feature three teams competing over two days to accumulate the highest total two-day weight. The group winners – three teams from each qualifying event – will advance to the General Tire Team Series Championship, which will showcase the nine winning teams competing for a top prize of $300,000.
“We’re incredibly excited to launch the General Tire Team Series following our extremely successful pilot episode that aired earlier this year, and reveal the team selections from the inaugural draft,” said Jim Wilburn, MLF President & CEO. “We’re confident that the unique partnerships throughout the field will result in some extraordinary matchups and create some exhilarating television for our anglers and fans alike.”
Following traditional MLF Cup event protocols, Team Series anglers will not be told the host destination until two weeks prior to each event and will only discover which fishery they are competing on after arriving at the boat ramp the morning of competition.
MLF announced filming dates for the 2022 Team Series in an earlier release, however the events will be shot in the dark, with the location of the fisheries kept private until the episodes premiere in January 2023 on the Outdoor Channel.
General Tire Team Series Draft Results:
CAPTAIN: Mark Rose, PICK 1: Jordan Lee, PICK 28: Luke Clausen
CAPTAIN: Alton Jones, Sr., PICK 2: Edwin Evers, PICK 29: John Murray
CAPTAIN: James Elam, PICK 3: Brent Chapman, PICK 30: Jonathon VanDam
CAPTAIN: Josh Bertrand, PICK 4: Andy Morgan, PICK 31: Brandon Coulter
CAPTAIN: Adrian Avena, PICK 5: Mark Daniels, Jr., PICK 32: Randy Howell
CAPTAIN: Dustin Connell, PICK 6: Cole Floyd, PICK 33: Fred Roumbanis
CAPTAIN: Andy Montgomery, PICK 7: Cody Meyer, PICK 34: James Watson
CAPTAIN: David Dudley, PICK 8: Zack Birge, PICK 35: Clabion Johns
CAPTAIN: Shin Fukae, PICK 9: Fletcher Shryock, PICK 36: Marty Robinson
CAPTAIN: Greg Vinson, PICK 10: Bradley Roy, PICK 37: Ryan Salzman
CAPTAIN: Kevin VanDam, PICK 11: Todd Faircloth, PICK 38: David Walker
CAPTAIN: Takahiro Omori, PICK 12: Casey Ashley, PICK 39: Dean Rojas
CAPTAIN: Bryan Thrift, PICK 13: Anthony Gagliardi, PICK 40: Terry Scroggins
CAPTAIN: Jesse Wiggins, PICK 14: Matt Lee, PICK 41: Dave Lefebre
CAPTAIN: Wesley Strader, PICK 15: Scott Suggs, PICK 42: Mike McClelland
CAPTAIN: Mark Davis, PICK 16: Gary Klein, PICK 43: Cliff Pace
CAPTAIN: Skeet Reese, PICK 17: Jeremy Lawyer, PICK 44: Shaw Grigsby
CAPTAIN: Bobby Lane, PICK 18: Chris Lane, PICK 45: Jimmy Washam
CAPTAIN: Jeff Sprague, PICK 19: Randall Tharp, PICK 46: Cliff Crochet
CAPTAIN: Gerald Spohrer, PICK 20: Dakota Ebare, PICK 47: Ish Monroe
CAPTAIN: Alton Jones, Jr., PICK 21: Britt Myers, PICK 48: Roy Hawk
CAPTAIN: Stephen Browning, PICK 22: Jeff Kriet, PICK 49: Timmy Horton
CAPTAIN: Justin Lucas, PICK 23: Jared Lintner, PICK 50: Boyd Duckett
CAPTAIN: Michael Neal, PICK 24: Russ Lane, PICK 51: Paul Elias
CAPTAIN: Brent Ehrler, PICK 25: Brett Hite, PICK 52: Tommy Biffle
CAPTAIN: Ott DeFoe, PICK 26: Keith Poche, PICK 53: Kelly Jordon
CAPTAIN: Jacob Wheeler, PICK 27: Dylan Hays, PICK 54: Jason Lambert
Link to General Tire Team Series Graphic
Link to FREE full episode – General Tire Team Invitational on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV)
Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: Abu Garcia, B&W Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Cat Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coasta, Crockett Creek Beef Jerky, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Ferguson, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Optima Batteries, Phoenix Boats, Plano, Power-Pole, Rapala Baits, Sqwincher, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Sonic, Star Brite, Strike King, T-H Marine, Toyota, USAA and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the MLF General Tire Team Series events, 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, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, 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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