Andy Morgan (Dayton), Michael Neal (Dayton), Wesley Strader (Spring City) and Jacob Wheeler (Harrison) to compete in Bass Pro Tour Championship showcasing top 41 anglers competing on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees for $300,000 top prize
Major League Fishing’s Redcrest 2022 presented by Costa Sunglasses, the Bass Pro Tour championship, is set to visit Tulsa, Ok. and Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees next week, March 23-27, to crown professional bass fishing’s newest world champion.
The five-day tournament, shot for television broadcast on CBS, the Discovery Channel and the Outdoor Channel, will showcase the top 41 Bass Pro Tour anglers from the 2021 season competing for the prestigious Redcrest Championship and the top prize of $300,000.
Local professional anglers, Andy Morgan of Dayton, Michael Neal of Dayton, Wesley Strader of Spring City, and Jacob Wheeler of Harrison will be four of the 41 anglers competing in the event. All four will be making their third career Redcrest championship appearances. All told, the Lake Chickamauga foursome has combined more than $9 million in career earnings and 26 career victories.
Originally scheduled to be held at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees last year, MLF officials shifted Redcrest 2021 to another venue after the cancellation of the Redcrest Outdoor Sports Expo that had been scheduled to be held in conjunction with the event. It’s now all systems go for 2022 and the league, the professional anglers, and fishing fans from all over the country are excited for Tulsa-based Major League Fishing’s Homecoming event.
“We are proud to host the Major League Fishing’s Redcrest 2022 next week,” Tulsa Mayor G. T. Bynum said. “This will be a large, family-friendly event with world-class anglers, and we also get to watch a Tulsa-based company thrive and shine on a national stage.”
The General Tire Take Off Ceremony will begin each day at 6:45 a.m. at the Wolf Creek Park and Boating Facility, at 963 N. 16th St. in Grove, Oklahoma. Anglers will depart daily at 7:30 a.m. from the park and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend all launch events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! live stream.
The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney will break down the extended action on all five days of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MLF NOW! will be live streamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.
All 41 Anglers will compete on Days 1 (Wednesday) and 2 (Thursday) of the event. After two days of competition, the field is cut to just the top 20 based on two-day total cumulative weight. The remaining 20 anglers are split into two groups – 10 compete on Day 3 (Friday) and 10 compete on Day 4 (Saturday). The top five anglers from each group based on total single-day weight will advance to the fifth and final day of competition (Sunday), where weights are zeroed and the angler that catches the highest total weight on the final day will be crowned the Redcrest 2022 champion.
The 2021 Bass Pro Tour featured a field of 80 of the top professional anglers in the world competing across seven regular-season tournaments around the country. The top 41 anglers in the Angler of the Year standings after the seven events qualified to compete in Redcrest 2022 Presented by Costa.