Perhaps no fishery in the country has garnered more recent public attention than Texas’ O.H. Ivie Lake. And with good cause – the reservoir has tallied dozens of largemouth bass weighing in at 13 pounds or more over the past three years as a part of the Toyota ShareLunker program managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Inland Fisheries Division.

Thursday demonstrated to the world that even though giants lurk beneath the waters, sometimes they can still be pretty difficult to catch.

The third General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops event of the 2024 season launched from O.H. Ivie and Early, Texas, Thursday, and the four teams competing at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq faced a challenging playing field. Recent water level fluctuations made the fishing extremely tough for the eight pros competing on the fishery, and the big ones never came out to play.

Link to Hi-Res Photo of Patriot Cup Elimination Round Match 1 Winner Team Knighten Industries (Strader/Chapman)

Link to HD Video Clip of Patriot Cup Elimination Round Match 1 Highlights

Link to Photo Gallery of Patriot Cup Elimination Round Match 1 Highlights

The Team Knighten Industries duo of Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tennessee, and Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kansas, paced the field and caught 10 bass totaling 16 pounds, 15 ounces to win the first match of the Elimination Round by a 1-pound, 3-ounce margin. Also advancing to the Knockout Round in second place is the 7 Brew Coffee team of Guntersville, Alabama’s Justin Lucas and Brent Ehrler of Redlands, California, who caught 12 scorable largemouth bass weighing 15-13.

“It feels awesome to get the win today,” Chapman said in his post-game interview. “It was tough, but what a blast. Today was a good reminder. Here we are on a phenomenal fishery for big fish, but you have to take what the day has to offer you. We could have went out and tried to ‘Scope and maybe found something, but we stuck with our strengths, and it paid off.”

The Strader-Chapman duo caught the majority of their fish way back in some shallow, grassy cover. They were on their way to fish another location when they took a shortcut that ended up being a wrong turn. They ended up fishing in the thick cover and added five scorable bass in the final hour and 15 minutes – including a 1-15 with just two minutes remaining – to overtake Lucas and Ehrler.

“Wow, what a freaking move, dude,” Strader said. “Who said getting lost can’t turn into good things? We were catching them so shallow – like 6 inches deep. It was stupid. But today was a grinder. The most challenging part was being able to get (through the grass) to where you could get to the bank.”

Strader caught two scorable bass in the first period – one on a buzzbait and one on a spinnerbait. He added three more on a buzzbait in Period 2. In the final period, Strader caught one on a buzzbait and two on a frog, while Chapman tallied his two scorables with a frog as well.

“There is nothing that beats a buzzbait in the fall,” Strader said. “I like a big one that clacks the head, and I used a black toad (trailer). I threw it on a 7-foot, 5-inch crankbait rod, but it’s a heavy cranking rod – so it has a little bit of tip so you can get that bait in their mouth when they pull away from it – and a Lews Custom Tournament Light reel.”

Team Knighten Industries will now move on to the first match of the Knockout Round on Sunday, while Team 7 Brew Coffee will compete Monday in Knockout Round Match 2.

“I’m excited to get back out here with Wesley and laugh a little more and do this all over again,” Chapman said.

The top two teams from Elimination Round Match 1 at the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq that advance to the Knockout Round are:

1st: Team Knighten Industries, 10 bass, 16-15

Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., eight bass, 13-13

Brent Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., two bass, 3-2

2nd: Team 7 Brew Coffee, 12 bass, 15-13

Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 12-15

Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., two bass, 2-14

Eliminated from competition are:

3rd: Team REDCON1, four bass, 6-8

Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., three bass, 5-5

Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., one bass, 1-3

4th: Team U.S. Air Force, two bass, 2-9

Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., two bass, 2-9

James Elam, Tulsa, Okla., zero bass, 0-0

Complete results from throughout the week can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

Overall, there were 28 bass weighing 41 pounds, 13 ounces caught by the four teams on the first day of the Elimination Round on O.H. Ivie Lake. Team Knighten Industries pro Wesley Strader caught the Berkley Big Bass of the day – a largemouth weighing 2 pounds, 14 ounces.

The Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq is hosted by Visit Early and takes place over six days in west-central Texas. The competition water for each day is top-secret and is only revealed to the anglers when they arrive at the boat ramp each morning. Anglers are driven directly to the day’s competition area launch ramp by their officials. Competition begins on the water at 8:45 a.m.

The MLFNOW!® broadcast team of Chad McKee and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action live every day of competition from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CT. MLFNOW!® is live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app and Rumble.

The Patriot Cup features 12 two-man teams divided into three groups as they enter the one-day Elimination Round matches. Each of the three Elimination Round matches will feature four new teams, with the top two teams from each match of the Elimination Round advancing to the Knockout Round on Days 4 & 5. In the Knockout Rounds, three teams compete each day, with the top two teams from each Knockout Round match moving on to the Championship Round on Day 6. In Tuesday’s Day 6 Championship Round, the final four teams will compete in a one-day shootout to determine which team will win the 2024 Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq.

The 2024 General Tire Team Series is comprised of four events – Challenge Cup, Heritage Cup, Patriot Cup and Summit Cup – featuring two-man teams of MLF Bass Pro Tour pros competing from the same boat. Each event features a roster of 24 anglers, teamed up and working together to claim part of a season purse of more than $720,000. Teams were formed through a selection process, where 48 team captains – based on Fishing Clash Angler of the Year (AOY) standings throughout the 2024 Bass Pro Tour season – selected a teammate. Teams will compete throughout the fall of 2024.

Television coverage of the Folds of Honor Patriot Cup Presented by recteq will premiere on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour episodes in March 2025. New MLF General Tire Team Series episodes will premiere each Saturday morning on Outdoor Channel and posted to MOTV.

Proud sponsors of the MLF General Tire Team Series include: 7 Brew Coffee, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Barbasol, Bass Boat Technologies, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, BUBBA, Builders FirstSource, C-MAP, Coign, Epic Baits, Ferguson, Fishing Clash, General Tire, Knighten Industries, Kubota, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Nitro Boats, Onyx, Plano, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Rapala Baits, REDCON1, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, Star brite, Toyota, USAA, WIX Filters and YETI.

For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the General Tire Team Series Presented by Bass Pro Shops, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow MLF’s social media outlets at Facebook, X, 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 17 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.