GROVE, Okla. — Major League Fishing is back in Oklahoma. The Plains Division Opener of the Toyota Series kicks off Thursday morning at Grand Lake in Grove.
It may be a cold, windy Thursday with rain chances, but anglers are ready for the three-day competition. They took off for day one at Wolf Creek Park at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.
“With the condition today, I’m going to move around a lot and probably throw some moving baits for a little bit of a sallower bite. A lot of the fish are still out deep. The waters little bit cooler. But with the wind today I’m gunna try to go sallow so that’s my plan of action to start with,” said Derek Fulps and angler in the competition.
This series is said to have the lowest entry fees and the biggest payouts of any national tournament trail. The Toyota Series provides anglers the chance to fish close to home for awards and advancements to the nationally-televised Toyota Series Championship.
Derek Fulps is from Broken Arrow and it’s not his first time in this series. He said the Toyota Series gives him an opportunity to compete with high level anglers and the prize money is high. Plus, it's close to home.
“Well it kind of brings on some pressure on because you’re expected to do good. There will be a lot of people that are from here so the competition level around here is always really high,” he said.
On the roster for the tournament are the region’s best bass fishing pros and strike king co-anglers competing for the top prize of up to $100,000 in the pro division and a new boat in the co-angler division. According to that roster, there are 219 boats with a pair of two people that will be out on the water fighting for that first-place title, many of the competitors from Oklahoma.
“The lake is fishing really tough right now. It's really stingy. So I’m looking forward to getting out there and hopefully grinding a 5 fish limit. Those that have a 5 fish limit at the end of the day are going to do well.”
Day one and day two will have a full playing field of all 219 boats. Then on “championship” Saturday the playing field will be cut to the top 25 bass fishing pros and top 25 co-anglers.
“Like Oklahoma, like most of the south, if you don’t like the weather, hang around a few minutes, it’s going to change," said tournament director Mark McWha. "So tomorrow (Friday) the winds are going to turn around and blow straight out of the north. It's going to be a whole lot colder. So I expect a decent bite today (Thursday), a pretty good catch, but tomorrow (Friday) it's probably going to drop off.”
Bass pro James Elam from Tulsa said he expects this event will be a pre-spawn tournament as the fish are still in a winter pattern. He plans to key in on the staging fish. Elam also said he sees this tournament being a similar event to what he saw in Redcrest at Grand Lake this time last year.
While the Toyota Series provides a good opportunity for anglers to compete close to home, it also gives the City of Grove a nice boost.
“A huge impact to the economy. A lot of anglers you know with the restaurants and hotels spending their hard earned money here in Grove, Oklahoma," McWha said. "So we are really excited to be here.”
The Toyota Series consists of six divisions: central, northern, southern, southwestern, western, and the plains division.
The top 25 anglers out of all divisions will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for their chance at winning up to $235,000.
Weigh-in's will begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, and then anglers get ready to do it all over again on Friday and Saturday.
If you're a fishing fan, you can watch the tournament in person or online through the “MLF live” weigh-in broadcasts. Also, stay with 2 News Oklahoma as we cover the tournament.
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