BROOKELAND, Texas (Feb. 9, 2024) – They say everything is bigger in Texas, and the largemouth bass at Sam Rayburn Reservoir certainly fit the bill, Friday. After a 1½-hour fog delay this morning, the first Major League Fishing (MLF) Tackle Warehouse Invitational event of the season kicked off at Sam Rayburn and the fishery showcased why it is widely known as one of the best in the country. A total of 11 pros crossed the 20-pound barrier, and 13 pounds went all the way down to 53rd place.
Pro Brock Reinkemeyer of Warsaw, Missouri, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Friday weighing 24 pounds, 7 ounces, to take the early lead on Day 1 of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole MOVE at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Reinkemeyer now holds a 1-pound, 1-ounce lead over pro Nick Hatfield of Greeneville, Tennessee, who caught five bass weighing 23-6 to end the day in second. Invitationals newcomer Brody Campbell of Oxford, Ohio, sits just one ounce behind Hatfield in third with 23-5.
The full field of 150 anglers will conclude the two-day opening round on Saturday, with only the top 30 pros based on their two-day cumulative weight advancing to Championship Sunday. The three-day tournament, hosted by the Jasper County Development District, features a roster of 150 anglers competing for a top prize of up to $115,000 and an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025.
Long established as one to watch around the Ozarks, Reinkemeyer showed during his rookie season on the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals last year that he’s no slouch nationally, as well. Today, he relied on a few areas and a few key bites.
“I caught one big one during practice doing off-the-wall, kind of deep stuff, and it paid off twice today,” said Reinkemeyer. “I just kind of moseyed down a stretch and just plucked two big ones off.
“It was kind of like a little drop,” he said of his area. “I scanned the hell out of this flat, and they weren’t up on top of it. So, I just went down the edges, and I found one edge where there are some shad and got lucky with two big ones.”
Of course, you can’t catch 24 pounds and change without some skill, and it’s not like Reinkemeyer is oblivious out there. While much of the field had no problem catching keepers but struggled at times to find quality bites, Reinkemeyer seems to have a beat on some big ones.
“I’ve got three spots where I’m just kind of milking ‘em,” he said. “Stumps, hard bottom — I’m fishing anywhere from 12 to 24, just kind of zig-zagging on the edges.
“I don’t feel like there are a lot of fish, but if I get a bite, it’s a good one,” he added. “I probably caught like 10 keepers today, but I was also bypassing small ones that are suspended way up. I’ve been catching them all week, and they’re all small. The bigger ones are closer to the bottom.”
One key for Reinkemeyer was staying away from the grass, which Rayburn is loaded with these days.
“I caught one out there right at 7 in practice, and this sucker was like a football,” he recalled. “And I’m like, ‘they ain’t in that grass.’ I fished two days in the grass, and Brad [Jelinek] was catching them in the grass, but nothing big. I couldn’t even catch a keeper in the grass.”
Plenty of other pros caught fish in the grass today, while others targeted hard structure or suspending fish. So, Reinkemeyer isn’t on an island from a pattern perspective. Still, he does seem to be fishing away from the pressure.
“I had them all to myself,” he said. “At my starting spot there was one other guy there; he moseyed around for two seconds and left. I’m all alone while everybody else is fishing in a crowd in the grass. Hopefully it’s the same thing tomorrow.”
The top 20 pros after Day 1 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:
1st: Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., five bass, 24-7
2nd: Nick Hatfield, Greeneville, Tenn., five bass, 23-6
3rd: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 23-5
4th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., five bass, 22-12
5th: Clayton Batts, Butler, Ga., five bass, 22-1
6th: Cal Lane, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 21-7
7th: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., five bass, 21-5
8th: Mitchell Robinson, Landrum, S.C., five bass, 21-3
9th: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., five bass, 21-1
10th: Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., five bass, 20-9
11th: Terry Fisher, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 20-5
12th: Ramie Colson, Jr., Cadiz, Ky., five bass, 19-11
12th: Michael Harlin, Sunrise Beach, Mo., five bass, 19-11
14th: Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., five bass, 18-10
15th: Andrew Nordbye, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 18-9
16th: Jaden Parrish, Liberty, Texas, five bass, 18-8
17th: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., five bass, 18-6
18th: Ty Faber, Pagosa Springs, Colo., five bass, 17-14
19th: Brad Jelinek, Lincoln, Mo., five bass, 17-13
20th: Chris Groh, Spring Grove, Ill., five bass, 17-7
Complete results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Hatfield earned Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass award with a largemouth bass that weighed in at 9 pounds, 3 ounces.
Overall, there were 682 bass weighing 1,787 pounds, 7 ounces caught by 149 pros Friday. The catch included 120 five-bass limits.
In Tackle Warehouse Invitational competition, the full field of 150 anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Friday and Saturday in a five-fish, weigh-in format. Only the top 30 pros, based on their two-day cumulative weight, advance to the final round on Championship Sunday, where they will compete for the grand prize of up to $115,000. The winner of the Tackle Warehouse Invitational Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole MOVE at Sam Rayburn Reservoir will be determined by the heaviest three-day cumulative weight and will receive an invitation to compete at REDCREST 2025 on Lake Guntersville in Huntsville, Alabama.
Anglers will launch at 7 a.m. CT each day from the Umphrey Family Pavilion, located at 5438 Sam Rayburn Parkway in Brookeland. Weigh-ins will also be held at the pavilion and will begin at 3 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch and weigh-in events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLFNOW!® live stream and coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and Rob Newell will break down the extended action live each day of competition from 7:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!® will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
Television coverage of the MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals Stop 1 Presented by Power-Pole at Sam Rayburn Reservoir will air as a two-hour episode, premiering at 9 a.m. ET, on Saturday, Oct. 5 on CBS Sports Network.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Tackle Warehouse Invitationals include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Suzuki, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitational updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow 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, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports Network, 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.
