INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. (Nov. 17, 2024) – Florida’s 10,000-acre manmade Headwaters Lake was the playing field, Sunday, for Match 1 of the Elimination Round at the fourth and final Team Series tournament of the 2024 season. The four two-man teams competing at the Summit Cup were greeted by near-optimal conditions – light wind, slightly overcast skies, and temperatures in the upper 70s.
The beautiful day set the stage for an extremely competitive matchup – the closest Team Series event so far this season. At one point in the third period, with just under two hours remaining in the competition, less than 1 pound separated first place from last place. But, as time expired at 2:15 p.m. ET, it was Team Knighten Industries who sat alone atop the leaderboard.
The Knighten Industries duo of Brandon Coulter and John Hunter caught 22 scorable bass weighing 44 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the first Elimination Round match and become the first team to advance to the Knockout Round. Also advancing, in second place, was Team Kubota – Bradley Roy and partner Jason Vance – who boated 16 scorables weighing 37 pounds even.
The B&W Trailer Hitches team of Matt Becker and Spencer Shuffield and Team U.S. Air Force – Stephen Browning and Cliff Crochet – were eliminated from the competition.
“Man, that was a fun afternoon,” said Hunter, who caught seven bass for 20-12. “We got into an area in the second period that seemed really promising. We got some bites and then were able to slow down, and then in the third (period) we just expanded on it.”
“We talked about it for the whole first and second periods, and if you ever fish in Florida just remember it,” Coulter said. “You just gotta keep moving. When you find where they are, in Florida, you catch them. But there is a lot of water that you have to cover where the fish are not grouped up. You can go all day and only catch three fish. But when you get in an area that’s got fish moving in, or fish setting up, you can have a third period like we had today.”
The Knighten Industries duo started the final period in third place, but the bite turned on and got better in the third period – for all teams. Coulter boated 10 of his 15 scorable keepers in the third to lift Team Knighten to the top, and all told 36 of the 74 bass caught by the four teams came in the third period.
“Every bass that I caught today came on a little (Berkley) Slobberknocker – the vibrating jig did all the work for me,” Coulter said. “I had confidence that it would work today, and it did. It is a fish-catcher, simple as that. It was a great day, today, and we are excited we get to stick around in Florida for a little while.”
Team Knighten Industries’ dramatic final period was shared with Team Kubota, who also had a high octane finale. With just four minutes remaining in competition, Team U.S. Air Force was in second place and Team Kubota was in third, 2-9 below the elimination line.
Then things got exciting.
“It was like someone turned on a switch. Earlier they had just been swiping at the bait, but all of a sudden they just started eating,” Vance said. “We came down the same path we had been. We figured if we were going to get one at the end, it would be down that stretch. So, we turned around and hit it again, and they just started committing.”
Vance landed a chunky 3-pound, 11-ounce largemouth – their biggest bass of the day – to overtake Team U.S. Air Force and vault Team Kubota into second place and the final qualifying spot.
“No kidding, we should have had another 20 pounds, today,” Vance continued. “I’m grateful that big one bit at the end, though. You can’t script that.”
To add insult to injury for Team U.S. Air Force, Team B&W Trailer Hitches then added two scorable bass of their own in the final two minutes – both by Spencer Shuffield – to overtake Browning and Crochet for the third-place finish and push Team U.S. Air Force down to fourth place.
The top two teams from Elimination Round Match 1 at the Bass Pro Shops Summit Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches that now advance to the Knockout Round are:
1st: Team Knighten Industries, 22 bass, 44-11
Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 15 bass, 23-15
John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., seven bass, 20-12
2nd: Team Kubota, 16 bass, 37-0
Bradley Roy, Lancaster, Ky., eight bass, 19-7
Jason Vance, Battle Ground, Ind., eight bass, 17-9
Eliminated from competition are:
3rd: Team B&W Trailer Hitches, 16 bass, 36-8
Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., five bass, 14-10
Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., 11 bass, 21-14
4th: Team U.S. Air Force, 20 bass, 35-13
Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., 12 bass, 23-10
Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part, La., eight bass, 12-3
Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 74 bass weighing 154 pounds even caught by the four teams in Elimination Round Match 1 on Headwaters Lake. Team B&W Trailer Hitches pro Matt Becker caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a largemouth weighing 4 pounds, 9 ounces.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/mlf-summit-headwaters-111724.html
Major League Fishing (MLF)