Jackson Parish is pleased to welcome Major League Fishing and their General Tire Heavy Hitters Tournament presented by Bass Pro Shops for FIVE days of great fishing on Caney Creek Reservoir, April 24-28!
The professional anglers are checking out Caney’s best spots as they take advantage of practice days before the Heavy Hitters tournament starts Monday morning, April 24th.
Spectators are invited to be at 400 Spillway Road, Chatham, La. for each day’s launch (7:30 am) and takeout (4 pm). There will be door prizes each day–register at the Visit Jackson Parish hospitality tent. On Friday (Knockout Round day) ALL entries will be put in the hopper for some terrific big prizes, including items donated by Major League Fishing.
Although the Spillway parking lot and launch will be closed for the safety of the MLF anglers and crew, there is ample parking on Spillway Road and behind Hooks Marina on Caney Lake and there will be volunteers in golf carts to drive folks up to the staging area. Handicap parking is available.
The General Tire Heavy Hitters all-star event will showcase the 30 pros that qualified from the 2022 Bass Pro Tour season competing in a no-entry-fee tournament for a purse of more than $500,000, with a top prize of $100,000 to the winner. Anglers will also be awarded Big Bass Bonuses during the competition that pay out $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 to the single biggest bass in the Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds.
To qualify for General Tire Heavy Hitters, the weight of an angler’s single-largest bass from each event of the seven 2022 Bass Pro Tour events was recorded. The 30 anglers with the heaviest total from those seven bass qualified to compete in this event.
The Bass Pro Tour visited Caney Creek and Bussey Brake to open the season last year, in a tournament in early February. In that event, pro Randy Howell of Guntersville, Alabama, set a new Bass Pro Tour record in the Knockout Round on Caney Creek for largest bass ever weighed – a 10-pound, 14-ounce brute.
“I was excited to see this event when the schedule was announced, and I pray that I can make it to the final day,” Howell said of a chance to beat his record. “We were there in February last year, and it was freezing. I can only imagine how good it will be with warmer weather, throwing topwaters around those bushes.”
“I’m so happy to be in this one – we think about this tournament every single day during the regular season,” said pro Josh Bertrand of Queen Creek, Arizona. “Our championship, REDCREST, is great, but this is an event that you don’t want to miss. It’s the most fun tournament we fish all year. One swing of the rod and you can cash a huge check and it’s such a blast to be a part of that.”
Different from the Bass Pro Tour regular-season events, this tournament will feature anglers competing using the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release format in which anglers catch as many scorable bass and as much weight as they can each day, while also feeling the pressure and intensity of the SCORETRACKER® leaderboard. A bass must meet the 2-pound minimum weight requirement for a bass to be deemed scorable in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds, but for the final day Championship Round a bass must weigh at least 3 pounds to be deemed scorable.
The 15 Anglers in Group A compete in their two-day qualifying round on Monday and Wednesday – the 15 anglers in Group B on Tuesday and Thursday. After each two-day qualifying round is complete, the top eight anglers from both groups advance to Thursday’s Knockout Round.
In the Knockout Round weights are zeroed, and the remaining 16 anglers compete to finish in the top 10 to advance to the Championship Round. In Saturday’s final day Championship Round, weights carry over from the Knockout Round and the highest two-day total wins.
In addition to the tournament, Big Bass Bonuses are awarded in each round of competition with payouts of $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000 awarded to the single biggest fish in the Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds.
The MLF NOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all six days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. MLF NOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the General Tire Heavy Hitters 2023 Presented by Bass Pro Shops will be showcased across six two-hour episodes, premiering at 7 a.m. ET, Aug. 5 and running each Saturday through Sept. 9 on Discovery. New MLF episodes premiere each Saturday morning on the Discovery Channel, with additional re-airings on the Outdoor Channel. Each two-hour long reality-based episode goes in-depth to break down each day of competition.
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