Familiar to those in the bass fishing community for their accomplishments, Mark Davis and Stephen Browning are back on the Bass Pro Tour for the 2023 season of Major League Fishing.
The Bass Pro Tour is the top, elite level of MLF, and Mark Davis and Stephen Browning are Garland County veterans who are ready to show off their skills.
Last season, Davis finished 11th at REDCREST, the Bass Pro Tour's championship tournament held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at Grand Lake O' the Cherokees.
"I have been a part of MLF since its inception," Davis said. "I have been in Bass Pro Tour since the beginning. I will go to my third REDCREST event this February. It is always good to make those championship events. This is year 37, so I have been at it quite a while."
Davis won the Bassmaster's angler of the year in 1998 and 2001.
Browning finished in the 23rd spot for the championship.
"2023 will mark year 27 of pro fishing," Browning said. "This will be my fifth year actually fishing the Bass Pro Tour and you know it is a little different than where I came from. I fished Bassmaster for over 20 years and made the change in 2019. It is a different atmosphere. We know exactly what everybody has."
In 2018, Browning won the Bass Pro Shops Central Open at Ross Barnett Reservoir in Ridgeland, Mississippi, with 44 pounds. He took home $55,125 in prizes.
Browning highlighted his bait and techniques.
"Some of the techniques that I have had and what I am known for is throwing a chatter bait and that is a very popular bait especially in our area," he said. "It is one that guys have as a specialty. The JackHammer ChatterBait has really been my go-to bait when I am in a crunch and I need to get a bite."
The Bass Pro Tour features the top 80 anglers in MLF. Both Browning and Davis are seasoned vets.
The vice president of Major League Fishing is Michael Mulone.
"What is distinct about us and was a big factor when anglers joined us for the 2019 season is that our format is really allowing us to grow the sport and introduce the sport of bass fishing to new fans," Mulone said. "We do that with our live scoring we have on the boats."
With the introduction of live scoring, viewers on the livestream will know who is in the lead instead of awaiting the weigh-in at the end of the day.
"That's different from most tournament circuits," Browning said. "We have a live scoreboard and that kind of messes with your mind sometimes."
Each boat has score tracker software managed by an official who weighs the fish and immediately releases the fish.
"It's gamified fishing," Mulone said. "You do not have to do a tournament weigh-in at the end of the day. It is just like any other sport now. That has really helped educate and inform a lot of new fans that knew about fishing but could not get into it because of waiting until the end and figuring out what the score is."
The Bass Pro Tour tournaments are six-day tournaments.
The top 20 anglers will fish day five and day six. The top 10 will fish in the championship round.
Conservation is always key in preserving the sport. Immediately releasing the fish cuts down on stress and harvest of the bass by quickly getting them back to the water directly where they came from.
"The Fish and Wildlife around the country love our format," Mulone said. "If someone miss handles the fish or throws it back into the water there are penalties for that. We take care and concern of the fish."
Anglers from Arkansas have been successful in Major League Fishing.
"We have quite a contingent from Arkansas and the Ozarks that time and time again have done really well," Mulone said. "Davis making the REDCREST has done incredibly well fishing on the Bass Pro Tour. He is one of our veteran anglers. He is a hall of fame guy."
With the speed of live scoring, anglers must be on top of their game.
"Davis has shown time and time again why he is a hall of fame angler," Mulone said. "It has been great to watch him do so well over the past couple of years and obviously it has shown on the scoreboard."
On the Bass Pro Tour, officials score the top five fish anglers catch throughout the day. If an angler catches 15 fish, the heaviest five go into the overall day score.
"I really did well with catch all you could catch," Browning said. "I enjoyed that format. I do not know if I am going to change up my routine in the beginning of the five fish limit. I am just going to let it play out and see how it goes. I will make adjustments as the year goes along."
Davis also commented on the fish limit.
"I like it both ways," he said. "I always felt like a lot of guys do not know how we arrived at five fish. When it started in the late '60s it was actually 15 bass. Later it became 10 bass daily. It was 10 for a long time. That's what it was when I started. That was the state limit for most states. The states dropped their limits because the popularity of the sport grew. Then it went down to five."
The states had to consider the limits based on bass populations dropping from overfishing.
"Arkansas' Mark Davis, there is not a whole lot of take on that guy," Pro Circuit Director Daniel Fennel said. "He is one of the perennial professionals of our game. He has seen it on every level and he has always been an outstanding competitor."
The 2023 season will kick off at Lake Toho, known for its massive largemouth bass, in Kissimmee, Florida, on Feb. 13, 2023.
The Bass Pro Tour features seven tournaments with a bonus tournament called Heavy Hitters, featuring 30 anglers who qualify with their five biggest fish for the year.
The Heavy Hitters event is in Monroe, Louisiana, on Caney Creek Reservoir and Bussey Break Wildlife Management Area.
Technology is a major factor in fishing today.
"Technology and Stephen Browning are not even in the same vocabulary to be honest," Browning said. "I am learning how to be better with it. Now that the five fish limit is back in play I am hoping it will not play as big of a role as it has in events in the past."
Mulone highlighted the two Garland County veterans.
"We are fortunate to have guys like Browning and Davis," he said. "These guys are the best of the best not only on the water but off the water."
Browning has been t0 three REDCREST championships.
"Browning has been a huge supporter of us from the FLW days," Fennel said. "He is another guy who has a distinguished career already. He has no sights of turning back or letting anybody have anything that is his. He is going to go out there and make stuff happen all the time."
Browning said being an angler is a career he has wanted since he was 17 years old.
"I have known Browning for a long time," Mulone said. "He is not only one of our great anglers but a fantastic outdoorsman. He is just passionate about the game and just loves playing the game. Is another veteran that has been around the block a lot. He continues to do well time and time again. He is a competitor and he is not flashy. He just gets the job done."
The Bass Pro Tour started in 2019 and the first place payout is $100,000 with $806,640 total event payout.
"Davis has a bass fishing career that elapses three quarters of the field," Fennel said. "He is still out there giving it everything he has got."
Davis highlighted his baits of choice.
"Asking me my favorite lure is like asking me my favorite flavor of ice cream," he said. "I like them all. I am known as a deep-water fisherman. I like to crank deep, fish a jig and a Carolina rig. I am an offshore structure type fisherman. I have a lot of finesse. I am for whatever I can get a bite on. My least favorite would be fishing with a frog."
In 2005, Davis won the Elite 50 with 53 pounds, 11 ounces. He has six career first-place finishes.
Davis and Browning will kick-start their season in Florida, bringing experience and diverse expertise to this season of the Bass Pro Tour.
"I have a lot of fond memories at Lake Toho," Davis said. "My biggest five-bass limit weighed 42 pounds at Toho. That is over an eight-pound average. I am certainly looking forward to going there. Most of our events are in the eastern half of the United States."
Browning and Davis might be the veterans from Garland County, but two more Garland County anglers, Spencer Shuffield and Dylan Hays, also made the Bass Pro Tour for the 2023 season.