EDENTON — It took Zack Birge of Blanchard, Oklahoma, 45 events and 12 Top-10 finishes before he notched his first Bass Pro Tour victory at Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma last month. Now that he’s broken through, he just might make lifting trophies a habit.
Birge used a blistering start Saturday morning to claim the top spot, then maintained it for the rest of the knockout round at the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour U.S. Air Force Stage Five presented by WIX Filters on the Chowan River.
After stacking up 14 scorable bass for 29-9 during the first period — more than enough to qualify for the championship round — Birge cruised to a total of 20 bass for 42-14. Looking to win back-to-back BPT regular-season events, he was the first to blast off Sunday morning, having topped Michael Neal of Dayton, Tennessee, by 4 pounds, 5 ounces.
Birge admitted that he didn’t expect a start like that. He’d fished that same stretch a couple times already during competition, once during his first afternoon on the water and once Friday. The first time, he “caught them good;” the second, he only got about five bites, he said.
The third time proved to be the charm in terms of finding feeding fish. The rate at which he got bit and his style of fishing — sliding a swim jig around shallow wood and bank grass, watching bass engulf the bait and cracking them on straight braid — made for a fun flurry.
“It was a blast,” he said. “I really didn’t expect to get that many bites, but if they’ll bite it, I’ll catch them.”
Overall, the Chowan River continued to kick out impressive quality, with 11 bass over 5 pounds hitting the scales during the knockout round. Birge didn’t connect with one of those lunkers; his biggest bass of the day weighed 3-15. But he made up for it with quantity. Birge boated all 14 of his scorable bass in Period 1 during a span of less than two hours — about a bass every 8 minutes.
He doesn’t necessarily think that has to be the formula to earn his second BPT trophy, though. Birge caught fish over 4 pounds during each day of Qualifying Rounds, and he saw some bigger ones cruising the shallows Saturday. Getting them to bite, he said, will be critical to his chances of winning.
“I saw some big fish swim by, so I know there’s some bigger ones in there,” Birge said. “I just need to get them to bite. … I know they’re swimming around, so I know I’ve got an opportunity to catch them.”
Midway through the second period, Birge eased off the throttle, searching for new water he could exploit during the championship round. Not finding anything to his liking, he’s “all in” on his knockout round starting spot.
True to his understated nature, he has a straightforward outlook on whether it can produce enough. If the shallow bite remains as hot as it was Saturday, Birge thinks he left enough fish in the area that he can contend for the win, or at least get off to another good start and go from there. He predicted it will take 40 to 50 pounds to top the final-day field.
“If they’re biting somewhat decent and I milk it for all it’s worth, I feel like there’s another 30 to 40 pounds in there,” he said.
Anglers Dustin Connell, Jacob Wheeler, Matt Becker, Alton Jones Jr. and Drew Gill all turned strong knockout round performances.
As usual, the brawl to finish above the cut line came down to the final seconds of the knockout round. And, as has been the case a few times during his first two seasons on the Bass Pro Tour, it was Becker who came through in the clutch.
Becker, who led Group B through qualifying, went more than 2 hours, 40 minutes without boating a scorable bass Saturday afternoon. That caused him to tumble out of the Top 10 and stay there most of the third period. Finally, with less than 15 minutes remaining, he ended the drought with a 3-15 largemouth.
He would need every ounce of it. Both Mark Daniels Jr. and Stephen Browning also added to their totals in the closing minutes, with Browning catching a 3-7 with about 2 minutes left before lines out. That bass left him 1 ounce shy of Becker’s 25-10 total. It marked the second time this season Becker has jumped from the wrong side of the cut line into the Top 10 in the final minutes of the knockout round, the first coming during Stage Two on Santee Cooper.
“That was a nail-biter, but we pulled it our right at the end,” Becker said. “We’re moving on to the Championship Round. That’s all that matters. It didn’t matter if you were first or 10th today; you’ve just got to make the Championship Round, and weights are zeroed and it’s a one-day shootout.”
The top 10 pros from Saturday’s knockout round that now advance to Sunday’s Championship Round on Chowan River are:
1st: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 20 bass, 42-14
2nd: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 18 bass, 38-9
3rd: Drew Gill, Mount Carmel, Ill., 15 bass, 36-6
4th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 11 bass, 36-5
5th: Alton Jones Jr., Waco, Texas,12 bass, 36-2
6th: Jacob Wheeler, Harrison, Tenn., 14 bass, 33-0
7th: Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., 14 bass, 32-5
8th: Fred Roumbanis, Russellville, Ark., 11 bass, 31-14
9th: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 15 bass, 29-13
10th: Matt Becker, Ten Mile, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-10
Finishing in 11th through 20th place are:
11th: Stephen Browning, Hot Springs, Ark., 12 bass, 25-9
12th: Mark Daniels Jr., Tuskegee, Ala., seven bass, 23-2
13th: Adrian Avena, Vineland, N.J., four bass, 14-11
14th: Keith Poche, Pike Road, Ala., five bass, 11-14
15th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 11-7
16th: Gary Klein, Mingus, Texas, four bass, 10-15
17th: Dylan Hays, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 9-14
18th: John Hunter, Shelbyville, Ky., four bass, 9-12
19th: Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., four bass, 6-14
20th: Alton Jones, Lorena, Texas, two bass, 4-8
A complete list of results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Overall, there were 192 scorable bass weighing 471 pounds, 8 ounces, caught by 20 pros Saturday, which included seven 6-pounders, four 5-pounders, eight 4-pounders and 16 3-pounders.
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