Texas Pro Weighs in Largest Limit of Tournament Sunday to Earn Top Prize of $80,000
EUFAULA, Okla. (April 16, 2023) – Pro Kelly Jordon of Flint, Texas, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Sunday weighing 22 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest limit weighed in the three-day event – to vault to the top of the leaderboard and win the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational Epic Baits Stop 3 at Lake Eufaula Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches and the top prize of $83,500. Jordon’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 57-3 earned him the victory by a 2-pound, 14-ounce margin over second-place finisher Drew Gill of Mount Carmel, Illinois, who caught 15 bass weighing 54-5, good for $50,000.
Link to Photo of Epic Baits Stop 3 on Lake Eufaula Winner Kelly Jordon
Link to Photo Gallery of Championship Day Weigh-In
Link to Video of Championship Day Weigh-In from Epic Baits Stop 3 at Lake Eufaula
Link to Video of Fish Catch Highlights from Championship Day of Epic Baits Stop 3 at Lake Eufaula
Jordon did a lot of internet work pre-tournament, which paid off with his winning spot at the bottom end of the lake and most of his good places elsewhere.
“I found a lot of stuff (on the web),” Jordon said. “I could run all over this lake and catch fish, I like to fish how this lake is fishing right now.”
As for his key areas, Jordon concentrated on a couple of subtle areas in 3 to 6 feet of water – places that quality fish could stage slightly off the beaten track.
“It’s a secondary point that has rock on it, that’s outside of sand,” he said of his best spot. “You wouldn’t know there’s a rock point, I looked for it, a lot of Google Earth – I found several deals like that.”
As for catching the fish this week, Jordon kept it pretty simple. A Lucky Craft Fat CB BDS 2 did damage, as well as a ½-ounce vibrating jig with a Lake Fork Live Magic Shad.
Jordon started the day Sunday in fourth place, but he knew that he wasn’t out of contention. With the caliber of fish biting, he knew that a comeback was definitely possible.
“I had a pretty good practice, I had a lot of stuff everywhere,” Jordon said. “The first day, I used it to see what I had. I ran all my stuff, I like to do that, I like to mark my trees.
“I thought I could catch them pretty good in Longtown Creek, and I ended up catching a 7-pound limit. I ran some other stuff; finally caught a 3-pounder, and tried to expand. But, my end goal was to fish my special stuff, and I waited until other people left, and caught five fish there, and they culled all my other fish.”
As soon as he caught five for 16-11 off his juice, Jordon got the heck out of Dodge so others wouldn’t see him on it.
“(Leaving early) was not real smart, going into today, I had a 6-pound deficit,” he said. “I made a really bad mental mistake.”
It ended up not costing him, and he rode his pattern to victory.
“Today, I just started there,” Jordon said. “I knew there were big fish there, that I could catch 20 pounds. The wind was ripping, and there were giant waves rolling in. I’m almost surprised I caught what I did. I only caught five down there, and I only caught three on my juice.”
Though he may have had the event sealed before the final fish, Jordon made a last-minute stop on two more little rock patches and caught one more upgrade to put the exclamation mark on the day.
“I had an opportunity to get in this tournament, I figured it would be fabulous fishing, and dadgum it was. Today was so good, it just rolled my way all day, to win this event, I don’t even know what to say, it was just a blessed day.”
The top 50 pros at the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Epic Baits Stop 3 at Lake Eufaula finished:
1st: Kelly Jordon, Flint, Texas, 15 bass, 57-3, $83,500
2nd: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 15 bass, 54-5, $50,000
3rd: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 52-4, $20,000
4th: Scotty Villines, Ponca, Ark., 15 bass, 50-5, $18,200
5th: Cody Spetz, Hollister, Mo., 15 bass, 49-3, $17,000
6th: Braxton Setzer, Wetumpka, Ala., 15 bass, 48-6, $16,300
7th: Tai Au, Glendale, Ariz., 15 bass, 47-0, $15,000
8th: Jeff Reynolds, Calera, Okla., 15 bass, 45-10, $14,000
9th: Shonn Goodwin, Moore, Okla., 15 bass, 45-6, $13,000
10th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 44-0, $12,000
11th: Jaden Parrish, Liberty, Texas, 14 bass, 43-6, $10,000
12th: Phillip Dutra, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 43-5, $10,000
13th: Grae Buck, Green Lane, Penn., 15 bass, 43-4, $10,000
14th: Clayton Batts, Butler, Ga, 15 bass, 42-14, $10,000
15th: Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., 15 bass, 42-14, $10,000
16th: Hunter Mills, Mayfield, Ky., 15 bass, 42-11, $10,000
17th: Travis Harriman, Huntsville, Ark., 15 bass, 41-14, $10,000
18th: Terry Olinger, Louisa, Va., 14 bass, 41-13, $10,000
19th: Chris Jones, Bokoshe, Okla., 15 bass, 41-9, $10,000
20th: Chad Mrazek, Montgomery, Texas, 15 bass, 41-7, $10,000
21st: Matthew Stefan, Junction City, Wis., 15 bass, 41-3, $10,000
22nd: Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 15 bass, 40-12, $10,000
23rd: Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., 14 bass, 40-12, $10,000
24th: Blake Hall, Rogersville, Ala., 13 bass, 40-9, $10,000
25th: Brandon Mosley, Harrah, Okla., 15 bass, 40-6, $10,000
26th: Lance Crawford, Broken Bow, Okla., 15 bass, 39-12, $10,000
27th: Robby Frashier, Carrollton, Ga., 15 bass, 39-10, $10,000
28th: Colby Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., 15 bass, 39-9, $10,000
29th: Randy Despino, Colfax, La., 14 bass, 39-5, $10,000
30th: Connor Cunningham, Springfield, Mo., 13 bass, 39-5, $10,000
31st: Andrew Behnke, Fond du Lac, Wis., 11 bass, 39-4, $8,000
32nd: Blake Martin, Dardanelle, Ark., 14 bass, 39-4, $9,000
33rd: Keith Carson, DeBary, Fla., 13 bass, 37-14, $8,000
34th: Kyle Schutta, Forest Lake, Minn., 13 bass, 37-6, $8,000
35th: Kyle Cortiana, Broken Arrow, Okla., 15 bass, 37-2, $8,000
36th: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 12 bass, 36-11, $8,000
37th: Wyatt Frankens, Corrigan, Texas, 13 bass, 36-7, $8,000
38th: Mark Fisher, Wauconda, Ill, 13 bass, 36-6, $8,000
39th: Laker Howell, Guntersville, Ala., 14 bass, 36-5, $8,000
40th: Hunter Eubanks, Inman, S.C., 12 bass, 36-4, $8,000
41st: Blake Felix, Warsaw, Mo., 12 bass, 35-5, $8,000
42nd: Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., 13 bass, 35-0, $8,000
43rd: Jimmy Reese, Witter Springs, Calif., 14 bass, 34-5, $8,000
44th: Jordan Hirt, Glenwood, Ind., 11 bass, 34-1, $8,000
45th: Danny Shanz, Summerton, S.C., 12 bass, 33-12, $8,000
46th: Cody Pike, Powhatan, Va., 11 bass, 33-7, $8,000
47th: Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-0, $8,000
48th: Jim Moynagh, Shakopee, Minn., 12 bass, 30-15, $8,000
49th: Kyle Palmer, Winchester, Tenn., 11 bass, 30-3, $8,000
50th: J.D. Chandler, Liberty, Texas, 12 bass, 29-15, $8,000
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 196 bass weighing 495 pounds, 7 ounces caught by 49 pros Sunday. The catch included 27 five-bass limits.
The three-day tournament, hosted by the Eufaula Area Chamber of Commerce, featured a roster of 150 anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000 and an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2024. The next Tackle Warehouse Invitational event will take place May 4-6 at the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Phoenix Stop 4 on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri.
In MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational competition, the full field of 150 anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a traditional five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 50 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advanced to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they competed for the grand prize of up to $115,000, including the lucrative $35,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus for qualified anglers. The winner of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational Epic Baits Stop 3 at Lake Eufaula Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches was determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight and will receive an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2024.
The season-long Invitational Bally Bet Angler of the Year (AOY) will also earn a berth into REDCREST and the Top 8 anglers in the season-long Invitational AOY point standings will qualify for the 2024 Bass Pro Tour. After three events down in the six-event Qualifying Circuit, pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, leads the AOY race with 581 points. Junction City, Wisconsin, pro Matthew Stefan sits in second place with 544 points, while pros Colby Schrumpf of Highland, Illinois, and Martin Villa of Charlottesville, Virginia are tied for third with 541 points. Pro Michael Harlin of Sunrise Beach, Missouri, rounds out the top 5 with 540 points.
The MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational Epic Baits Stop 3 at Lake Eufaula Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches will feature a two-hour television broadcast that will premiere on the CBS Sports Network on Saturday, Oct. 14th.
Proud sponsors of the 2023 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Fox Rent a Car, General Tire, Grundéns, Lew’s, Lowrance, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Wiley X and YETI.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals on the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, 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 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. 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.
Major League Fishing – WE ARE Bass Fishing™
