Major League Fishing concludes filming of second select event
Category: press release
Jun 23rd, 2014 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jun 23rd, 2014 at 12:00 AM
Major League Fishing has completed the filming of its second GEICO Select event, a six-day tournament that features lakes in three distinct sections of Arkansas.
The Bass Pro Shops Major League Fishing Challenge Select was based in Benton, Ark., but anglers branched across the state to tackle water in the eastern delta region, as well as two substantially different lakes in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. Six days of Challenge Select competition, with an additional day of post-event filming, concluded on Sunday, June 22.
“We have finished filming a truly fascinating event that challenged every MLF Select angler. We had all types of water and conditions, and it took a lot of creativity for our anglers to figure these waters out,” said Major League Fishing Commissioner Don Rucks.
“With a rare exception here and there, none of these anglers had ever seen the places they fished. That made for some level competition. And there were some amazing performances from our anglers.”
The Challenge Select will be offered early in 2015 as a two-hours-plus, web-based production. It will be shown in the second quarter 2015 as a series on Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader In Outdoor TV.
“We had plenty of drama and a lot of tight finishes, which is becoming a staple of these Select events,” Rucks said.
The Challenge Select features anglers: Scott Ashmore, Brent Chapman, Jason Christie, Keith Combs, Ott DeFoe, Kurt Dove, Paul Elias, Todd Faircloth, Randy Howell, Andy Montgomery, Cliff Pace, Brandon Palaniuk, Keith Poche, Marty Robinson, Mark Rose, Casey Scanlon, Morizo Shimizu, Kevin Short, Fletcher Shryock, Michael Simonton, Scott Suggs, Gerald Swindle, James Watson and Jacob Wheeler.
Six anglers from the Challenge Select earned a spot in the companion Major League Fishing Challenge Cup, which will feature the original 24 MLF anglers. The Challenge Cup, with the addition of the six Select anglers, will increase in size to 30 competing anglers.
As in all Major League Fishing events, competing anglers are not allowed to practice or research venues. The anglers are chauffeured by boat officials to their fishing sites and are not told the actual location until they reach a staging area.
Select events utilize the innovative Major League Fishing format, in which anglers are allowed to weigh all the “scorable” bass they catch. The bass are immediately weighed after they are caught, then are released back into the water. In Major League Fishing competition, anglers know where they rank in the standings at all times via SCORETRACKER© devices in their boats. Anglers are not allowed to practice before events and were notified of the Summit Select location two days before the start.