MANCHESTER, Tenn. (Major League Fishing) — The second day of competition at the Toyota Heritage Cup Presented by OFF! ® Deep Woods® Repellents delivered a dominant performance from a familiar pair of brothers and a dramatic, last-minute shakeup on the Lucas Oil Cut Line.
Team Star brite’s Bobby Lane and Chris Lane relied on their instincts and power-fishing strengths to win Elimination Match 2 on Tennessee’s Tims Ford Lake. The Lane brothers set the tone early, with Chris boating a 3 1/2-pound bass just five minutes into the opening period. The brothers remained among the top two teams throughout the day before pulling away from the field with a productive topwater bite during the second half of competition, ending the day with a total of 17 bass for 33 pounds, 13 ounces.
The race for the remaining Knockout Round berth, meanwhile, came down to the wire, with Team Ferguson’s Brent Ehrler and Justin Lucas claiming the second qualifying position with a clutch catch in the final minutes of competition. Team O’Reilly Auto Parts’ Banks Shaw and Dustin Smith appeared poised to advance until Ehrler landed a bass weighing 1-14 with approximately 3 minutes remaining, vaulting him and Lucas into second place with 16 bass for 30 pounds even.
Despite Shaw’s individual total of 21-3 – the most of any angler on Day 2 – he and Smith are headed home after weighing 28-6 on 13 scorable bass. Team YETI’s Casey Ashley and Ron Nelson had a productive run midway through the second period but struggled to maintain momentum throughout the day. They finished in fourth with 12 bass for 23-8.
Lanes Lean on Topwater-Jig Combo
Their fast start might not show it, but neither of the Lane brothers had ever competed on Tims Ford before Monday. After being dropped off at the unfamiliar fishery, the duo headed up a creek in search of shallow cover, focusing on laydowns, shaded banks, and areas where baitfish might be concentrated. Their initial approach centered on flipping jigs around wood cover, but as the day progressed, they discovered an increasingly productive topwater bite that allowed them to cover water quickly and capitalize on aggressive fish.
“We ran way up a creek and just found some stuff that looked good,” Bobby said. “We didn’t know anything about this place, but we saw stuff that we agreed on – laydowns, bridges, places that looked like they should hold bait this time of year. We tried a bunch of different tactics first thing this morning, and none of that really worked, but we just kept grinding and fishing what looked good.”
Chris provided the early momentum, catching two key bass in the 3 1/2-pound range while pitching a Bass Pro Shops XPS jig around shallow cover. The brothers continued experimenting with their presentations until they picked up topwater baits midway through the second period, with Chris throwing a River2Sea Whopper Plopper and Bobby working a bone-colored Berkley Choppo.
The duo said their approach was less about finding a particular depth and more about identifying the shade where bass were holding. Whether that shade came from trees lining the bank or wood lying beneath the surface, the brothers found opportunities to trigger reaction strikes with topwater baits, then followed up with a jig worked slowly through the cover.
“It was slick calm when we started out this morning, and I started pitching the XPS jig,” Chris said. “It was such an easy bite. It wasn’t a big thump – they’d just pick it up, and I’d set the hook. Getting those couple of key bites early was big for us, and then we started putting things together. Once we figured out what they wanted, Bobby really put the hammer down in that last period.”
Bobby’s topwater presentation produced the Berkley Big Bass of the day, a largemouth weighing 3-14 that also stands as the largest bass caught through the first two days of Heritage Cup competition. The fish exploded on the Choppo in a shaded pocket, highlighting the aggressive, shallow-water bite that carried Team Star brite to victory.
“We literally threw topwater and flipped a jig all day, and that’s the way we love to fish,” Bobby said. “We stayed with that power-fishing approach more than I think we have in a long time. We’d cut across a creek, fish what looked good and just keep moving. In the last 30 minutes, we probably had 10 or 15 pounds’ worth of bass that came up on our baits and didn’t get hooked. But we’re moving on, and that was our goal.”
What’s Next at the Heritage Cup
The Heritage Cup will continue Tuesday, when the final four tandems take the water fighting for the last two spots in the Knockout Round. Catch the final hour of each day of competition broadcast live from 4-5 p.m. ET only on RFD-TV. Watch all the action through Friday’s Championship Round on RFD-TV+ from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
