Harris Chain of Lakes Set to Host MLF Toyota Series Southern Division Finale
Category: article
May 10th, 2022 by Keith Worrall
Modified May 10th, 2022 at 2:56 PM
LEESBURG, Fla. (May 10, 2022) – Major League Fishing (MLF), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, is set to return to Leesburg and Central Florida for a tournament next week, May 19-21, with the Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. at the Harris Chain of Lakes. The three-day bass fishing tournament, hosted by Visit Lake County, is the third and final event of the regular season for the Toyota Series Southern Division.
The tournament will showcase a field of the region’s best bass-fishing pros and Strike King co-anglers casting for a top prize package of up to $75,000 in the pro division and a new Phoenix 518 pro boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard motor, in the co-angler division.
“This is going to be an interesting tournament, because it could be won on any of the lakes, fishing any different style,” said Inverness, Florida, pro Robbie Crosnoe, who has nine top-10 finishes on the Harris Chain of Lakes in MLF competition. “Lake Griffin is full of grass. On Harris, there is none. The marshes could produce some good bags. Shell bar fishing in Dora is going to be good. A shad spawn in the morning can get you right in a hurry. It’s anyone’s guess how this tournament is going to be won.”
Crosnoe said that he expects the eventual tournament winner to average a five-bass limit right around 20 pounds a day.
“I think 20 a day will have you right there at the end,” the Florida pro continued. “It might be a little less, but you can catch giant bags if you find the right shell bar.
‘Carolina rigs, 10-inch worms, crankbaits – if a guy found some active bluegill spawning beds they could wreck them on a crankbait,” Crosnoe went on to say. “With so many lakes and tactics in play, this is a really tough one to predict. It is Florida, though, so I do feel comfortable saying that we can definitely expect to see some big ones.”
With just one event remaining in the Toyota Series Southern Division regular season, Lee Stalvey of Palatka, Florida, leads the Southern Division Pro Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 506 points, while Andy Niles of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, leads the Southern Division Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 501 points. The AOY in the Pro Division will receive $5,000 and the winning Strike King Co-angler will receive $2,000.
Anglers will take off each day at 6:30 a.m. ET from the Venetian Gardens Ski Beach, located at 201 E. Lake Harris Drive in Leesburg. Weigh-ins will also be held at the Venetian Gardens, beginning at 2:30 p.m. each day. Fans are welcome to attend and encouraged to follow the event online through the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
In Toyota Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event, scaling up for every 20 boats over 160 and scaling down for every boat below 160. With a 160-boat field, pros fish for a top prize of $40,000, plus an extra $35,000 if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Strike King co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard (valued at $33,500). With a 260-boat field, pros fish for a top award of $65,000, plus an extra $35,000 if Phoenix MLF Bonus qualified. Strike King co-anglers cast for the top prize of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard (valued at $33,500) plus $5,000 cash.
The 2022 Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. consists of six divisions – Central, Northern, Plains Presented by Outlaw Ordnance, Southern, Southwestern Presented by Outlaw Ordnance and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the six divisions and finish in the top 25 – or the top 12 from the Wild Card division – will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 cash. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard. The 2022 Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. Championship will be held Nov. 3-5 on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, and is hosted by Marshall County Tourism and Sports.
Proud sponsors of the 2022 MLF Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. include: 4WP, 13 Fishing, Abu Garcia, AFTCO, A.R.E. Truck Caps, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, Black Rifle Coffee, E3, Epic Baits, Favorite Fishing, Gary Yamamoto Baits, General Tire, Lew’s, Lowrance, Lucas Oil, Mercury, Mossy Oak, Onyx, Outlaw Ordnance, Phoenix, Polaris, Power-Pole, Strike King, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, Wiley X and YETI.
For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF Toyota Series 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 Tulsa, Oklahoma, with offices 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. In 2019, MLF expanded its portfolio of catch, weigh, and immediately release events to include the sport’s strongest five-biggest-fish format tournament circuits. 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.
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