Defoe catches two late to win in Texas

JASPER, Texas — Ott DeFoe, of Blaine, Tennessee, boated two key fish late in the day to spark a crazy ending of the Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir Friday.

DeFoe trailed Luke Clausen, of Spokane, Washington, by 2 pounds, 12 ounces going into the final half-hour of the tournament when he boated back-to-back bass of 2-12 and 2-13 up the Angelina River on the northern end of the reservoir. With cellular coverage spotty, the bass did not register until very near the end of the competition.

DeFoe finished with 13 bass for 30 pounds, 2 ounces for his second Bass Pro Tour victory, both of which came in Texas.

“I just love fishing this time of year,” said DeFoe, who earned his second career Bass Pro Tour victory – both in Texas. “The end of the day was a bit of disaster due to the area that I was in… the service was bad, but the fishing was really good.”

Clausen lost an estimated 5or 6-pounder in Period 1 that ended up being the difference maker for him.

“I’ll be thinking about the one that I lost for a long time,” Clausen said. “I knew today when it happened, that fish, if I didn’t win it was going to hurt me pretty dang bad. And it did.”

Mount Ida’s Mark Davis finished sixth in the tournament with six bass for a total weight of 19-1 and a $26,000 payday. Davis led his qualifying group Monday and was the only Arkansas fisherman to reach the top 10.

There were 63 bass weighing 174 pounds, 7 ounces caught Friday.

Clausen won Friday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award with a

5-pound, 3-ounce largemouth that bit his wacky-rigged worm just

20 minutes into Period 3. Dustin Connell, of Clanton, Alabama, won the $3,000 Berkley Big Bass award for the largest bass of the event with his 9-pound, 5-ounce bass that he weighed in on the first day of the competition.

Television coverage of the Bass Pro Tour Toro Stage One at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Power-Pole will be showcased across two two-hour episodes, premiering at 6 a.m. on Aug. 28 on the Discovery Channel.

Final standings

1st: Ott DeFoe, Blaine, Tenn., 13 bass,

30-2, $100,000

2nd: Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., nine bass, 27-5, $45,000

3rd: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., nine bass, 26-8, $38,000

4th: Tommy Biffle, Wagoner, Okla., nine bass, 20-3, $32,000

5th: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., six bass, 20-0, $30,000

6th: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, six bass,

19-1, $26,000

7th: Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part, La., five bass, 14-1, $23,000

8th: Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, three bass, 8-3, $21,000

9th: Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss., two bass,

4-14, $19,000

10th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., one bass, 4-2, $16,000

Full results for the entire field can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.