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Joneses pull off late-day heroics
Photo by PMoore It was a mad race to the second Knockout spot. The Team B&W Trailer Hitches duo of Nick Hatfield and Justin Lucas held the No. 2 spot for most of the third period, but a key decision by Team Builders FirstSource late in the day turned out to be the difference-maker.
As the final minutes ticked down in the third period, the Builders FirstSource duo threw a Hail Mary, running three miles to fish a lone boat dock that they had boated a couple of scorable bass on earlier in the day. With just 2 minutes remaining in competition, behind by 9 ounces, Alton Jones connected with a 1-pound, 2-ounce bass to overtake the Hatfield/Lucas duo and seize the final qualifying spot from Match 1.
“Man, we had to make a decision right there in the last little bit, and we decided to fish this one dock,” Jones said. “And there was nothing else back here for us to fish. It was either going to work or it wasn’t. And it paid off. I almost missed that fish. I saw him spit it, then right back in he ate it again. It was a pretty lucky catch.”
Like most of the field, the Jones/Jones father-son duo caught all of its fish throwing soft plastics around grass and boat docks.
“We had to play from behind all day, so we just kept our head down and kept working,” Jones Jr. said. “We didn’t catch a lot of fish, but we ended up scrapping up enough.”
“I’m just glad we get to do this again for another day,” Jones Sr. responded. “I hope I performed well enough to make it where you might actually want to draw me again.”
“Maybe so,” Jones Jr. joked. “We’ll see how it goes in the Knockout Round on Thursday.”
The top two teams from Elimination Round Match 1 at the Knighten Industries Heritage Cup Presented by Berkley that now advance to the Knockout Round are:
1st: Team WIX Filters, 17 bass, 38-14
David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 20-12
Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., eight bass, 18-2
2nd: Team Builders FirstSource, 16 bass, 28-7
Alton Jones, Jr., Waco, Texas, four bass, 5-15
Alton Jones, Sr., Lorena, Texas, 12 bass, 22-8
Local Volunteers Join MLF Pros and Fisheries Management Division to Deploy Artificial Fish Habitat into Center Hill Reservoir
MLF Bass Pro Tour anglers Alton Jones, Alton Jones Jr, Brent Chapman, Cliff Crochet, Kelly Jordon, Mark Rose and Nick LeBrun joined the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency (TWRA), Dekalb County High School Bass Fishing Team, Tyler Anderson of TylersReelFishing and MLF Fishing Management Director Steven Bardin at Tennessee’s Center Hill Reservoir this week during PowerStop Brakes Stage Three at Dale Hollow Lake Presented by Mercury to complete a Minn Kota Habitat Restoration Project supported by Humminbird.
This team of volunteers built 20 40-inch MossBack Fish Habitat Conservation Cubes, which were deployed in pairs in locations in Indian and Holmes creeks. The GPS locations were recorded on the TWRA habitat barge’s Humminbird Helix 10 and will be available in the coming weeks on the TWRA website. Each cube was weighted down using cinder block anchors supplied by the Dayton Lowes Home Improvement Store No. 2866.
The next Minn Kota Habitat Restoration Project supported by Humminbird will take place in Eufaula Oklahoma in conjunction with Bass Pro Tour Stage Four.
Team Star brite triumphs at Builders FirstSource Qualifier Elimination Match 1
Photo by P Moore
LONGVIEW, Texas – Team Star brite won Elimination Match 1 of the Builders FirstSource Qualifier Presented by Berkley by a margin of 6 pounds, 14 ounces over Team Ferguson.
Alton Jones, Dave Lefebre and Brent Chapman of Team Star brite combined to catch 51 bass for a total weight of 77 pounds, 4 ounces. Hot on their heels was Stephen Browning, Anthony Gagliardi and Keith Poche of Team Ferguson, who posted 43 bass for a combined weight of 70-7. Meanwhile, Alton Jones Jr., Britt Myers, and Nick LeBrun of Team Kubota missed the elimination line with 34 bass weighing 55-14.
Check out some of the day’s highlights in this video, and watch the General Tire Team Series Builders FirstSource Qualifier Presented by Berkley action unfold on Outdoor Channel as six two-hour original episodes each Saturday from 2-4 p.m. EDT. The full television schedule can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com/tv-schedule.
Jones Gets Motivation From Son's Success
Having your boat and truck totaled in a rollover highway accident would put a damper on any angler's season. Other than that mishap, Alton Jones' 2023 MLF Bass Pro Tour campaign went extremely well.
The 60-year-old veteran from Texas performed solidly across the schedule and qualified for this year's REDCREST Championship with a 33rd-place finish in the Angler of the Year (AOY) points race. What was perhaps even more satisfying was watching son Alton Jr. take another step on his journey to becoming one of the premier competitors in the game.
"Every tournament I always want to finish ahead of him and it's the same with the end-of-the-year standings – we've got our own family competition," Jones said. "But at the same time, I'm his biggest fan and for me as a dad, it's been really fun watching him excel.
"I go into every event feeling like I have two chances to win."
The 31-year-old "Little Alton" was in contention for the AOY crown throughout the season and ended up 4th, just five points behind winner Matt Becker in an extremely tight four-angler battle. He also dominated Heavy Hitters (a non-points derby) on three venues in Louisiana to claim his second tour-level victory.
The son's success adds to the father's motivation to remain competitive against a bevy of standout anglers that are approximately half his age.
Bass tournament success is a family affair for the Joneses
DECEMBER 12, 2023 • JOE BALOG • BASS PRO TOUR The father/son relationship between 60-year-old Wendell Alton Jones and 31-year-old Wendell Alton Jones Jr. is multi-sided. It’s grounded in strong family values – respect for a parent, love for a child, etc. – but it also represents a high-level working rapport where each is both partner and competitor.
Alton and Alton Jr. have been competing with and against each other at the highest levels of tournament bass fishing since early February 2017, when “Junior” (as he’s commonly called by friends and family) fished his first Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Cherokee Lake in Tennessee. Alton Sr. finished 19th at that event; Junior finished 25th, just 2 pounds behind his dad.
In the 50-plus tour-level events they’ve fished together since, each of the Joneses has learned from the other, elevating their game to a higher level. Within the Jones family blood runs a deep understanding of the intricacies of successful tournament fishing, an understanding made even more profound by the give-and-take between a veteran teacher and a gifted student.
