Jack Link’s Major League Fishing completes Shreveport filming
Category: press release
Oct 23rd, 2014 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Oct 23rd, 2014 at 12:00 AM
Jack Link’s Major League Fishing has completed the filming its ninth television event: the Shell Rotella Challenge Cup. The event took place on lakes in the Shreveport, La. region.
Major League Fishing concluded its filming on Monday. Six days of competition concluded on Sunday. Production work on a Major League Lessons program – a special production that highlights tips and techniques utilized by top-performing anglers – continued into the following day.
“We headed into an area of the country that our anglers know. Shreveport, as a city and a region, is one of the key players in the bass fishing industry. And we couldn’t have asked for better hosts than the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Commission and the people of Shreveport,” said Major League Fishing Commissioner Don Rucks.
“From a competitive standpoint, however, most of our anglers are familiar with the Red River. Knowing Major League Fishing as they do, it was not a surprise to our anglers that we didn’t go on the Red River. We spend our time on Caddo and Cross lakes, so the experience was new to almost all of us.”
The Shell Rotella Challenge Cup will be broadcast on Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader in Outdoor TV, beginning in April 2015.
Rucks said that fishing conditions were challenging throughout the week. A weather front that brought rain, high winds and lightning, forced the cancellation of Day 1 competition. The aftermath of the front made anglers adjust their strategies throughout the week.
“Anytime you have a strong front coming through like the one we had, you’re going to have some unpredictable patterns. And our anglers certainly faced tough conditions,” Rucks said.
“What continues to amaze me about this group of anglers, though, is watching them adjust and figure out how to catch fish. These anglers are amazing. When this show airs, you’re going to see some incredible performances. And, as usual, there is drama every day.”
Major League Fishing is a partnership involving the world’s top anglers and Outdoor Channel. The league’s innovative, made-for-television events utilize a format that allows anglers to weigh all the “scorable” bass that they catch. Bass are immediately weighed after they are caught, then are released back into the water. Anglers know where they rank in the standings at all times via real-time leader boards in their boats. The competitors are not allowed to practice before events.
The 30 competing anglers include the following 24 anglers from Major League Fishing’s Cup Series: Tommy Biffle, Mark Davis, Boyd Duckett, Brent Ehrler, Edwin Evers, Shaw Grigsby, Greg Hackney, Timmy Horton, Randy Howell, Mike Iaconelli, Alton Jones, Kelly Jordon, Gary Klein, Bobby Lane, Jeff Kriet, Aaron Martens, Mike McClelland, Ish Monroe, Takahiro Omori, Jason Quinn, Dean Rojas, Skeet Reese, Kevin VanDam and Byron Velvick. Six additional anglers earned spots in the Challenge Cup by winning a day of competition during the league’s recent GEICO Series event: the Bass Pro Shops Major League Fishing Challenge Select.