CHARLES COUNTY, Md. (Major League Fishing) — While they got there in very different ways, the result was the same for Nick Hatfield and John Hunter of Team O’Reilly Auto Parts and Bradley Roy and Greg Vinson of Team Seaguar BRAWLR. Both teams finished above the elimination line in the first Knockout Match of the Bass Pro Shops Patriot Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches, punching their tickets to Friday’s Championship Round.
The Knockout Round brought a completely different look to the same fishery, as the playing field shifted from the lower Potomac River to the northern third of the fishery. Anglers launched from Marshall Hall Landing, and the new boundaries put competitors in a less favorable tidal cycle than teams had experienced during the first three days of competition.
Hatfield and Hunter were the first to figure out the new playing field. Together, they caught 12 scorable bass weighing 24 pounds, 2 ounces to top SCORETRACKER®. Meanwhile, Roy and Vinson mustered just one scorable bass during the first two periods, but they mounted a late rally to finish second with 21-13 on 13 scorable bass.
Mark Davis and Marshall Hughes of Team B&W Trailer Hitches were never able to get the ball rolling, ending the day in third with four bass weighing 8-9.
Hunkering down pays off for Hatfield and Hunter
Wednesday’s boundary shift effectively put the anglers on the “wrong side of the tide,” with water rising through the opening periods rather than falling toward the low-tide conditions that had produced the strongest bite earlier in the week. With the competition zone preventing teams from running the tide, the six anglers were forced to adapt to the conditions in front of them.
That challenge was evident early. Roy and Vinson went scoreless for the entirety of Period 1, while Hunter and Hatfield endured a slow start of their own before settling into a productive stretch of grass near the mouth of Belmont Bay during the final minutes of the opening period.
Hatfield ignited the rally with three scorable bass, and Hunter added another before lines out, giving Team O’Reilly Auto Parts the lead entering Period 2.
“Today was super, super tough,” Hunter said. “We ran a few places that didn’t work out, then pulled into an area where we both had some history and started getting bites. Once we realized what we had, we just hunkered down, stayed there and milked it for everything it was worth.”
Rather than chase a better tide or search for new water, Hunter and Hatfield committed to Belmont Bay. The decision proved critical. Fishing lightly-weighted and weightless stickworms around the grass, the pair caught four scorable bass in each of the three periods, never producing a massive flurry but steadily adding weight throughout the day.
“All of our damage came from that one area,” Hatfield said. “On a day like today, it was about keeping it simple and making the right decisions. We knew we weren’t getting bit winding baits, so we slowed down, started dragging those stickworms around and got bites almost immediately. From there, we pretty much stayed put and caught them all day.”
Each of Hatfield and Hunter contributed six scorable bass. Hunter led all anglers with 13-4 and also earned Berkley Big Bass honors with a 3-6 largemouth. Winning the round gave the duo both a Championship Round berth and additional confidence entering Friday’s Patriot Cup finale.
“We feel like we know enough now to make a run at it,” Hatfield said. “We’ve got a handful of places, and if we can hit them in the right order, at the right time, we could catch 50 or 60 pounds – maybe more. That’s what it takes to win a tournament. You have to make the right decisions and make the right moves.”
Hunter echoed his teammate’s optimism after grinding through one of the toughest days of the event.
“We’re just blessed to be moving on,” Hunter said. “It was a tough day, but we found something we believed in, stayed with it and had an awesome day. Now we have a chance to go fish for the championship.”
While Hatfield and Hunter controlled the match from late Period 1 onward, the battle for the second Championship Round berth turned dramatic in the final period.
In the last 90 minutes, Roy and Vinson finally found the bite they had been searching for near Belle Haven. The tandem erupted for 12 scorable bass in Period 3 – including eight from Vinson – and piled up 20 pounds during the final frame. Their late surge vaulted them comfortably past Davis and Hughes and into the Championship Round by 13-4.
The comeback unfolded just as the tide finally began to turn. After high, slack water made Period 2 especially difficult, the outgoing tide in the final period created the best conditions of the day and opened the door for Team Seaguar BRAWLR’s furious rally.
Two more Championship Round spots remain
Three teams will battle for the remaining two spots in the Championship Round during Thursday’s Knockout Match. Fresh off dominating their Elimination Match, Jeff Sprague and Bryan Thrift of Team YETI will duke it out against Justin Cooper and Colby Miller of Team Star brite and Jake Lawrence and Jacob Walker of Team Lucas Oil.
Watch all the action on RFD+ from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET each day. The final hour of competition will also air live on RFD-TV.
