The most important number today will be the weight needed to make it in the final three teams.
Yesterday that number was 12 pounds, 9 ounces. Conventional wisdom typically dictates that you simply double the weight and add or take away a pound or two. On the Elite Series you can almost always add two pounds on the cutline.
If you were to double the weight, then you would think it would take 25 pounds to get into fish off. This is DeGray, though.
As bad as I hate to say it, it would be mildly surprising if any of the teams ended this event with 25 pounds or more of fish. Having covered and fished year-end events on this lake for many years, it wouldn't surprise me if the number drops from 25 to 18, as in 18 pounds to make the fish off (third place). That's a net loss of 7 pounds, which seems huge now that I type it.
A lot of things could throw off that assessment: Obviously we have some of the best semi-pro anglers in the country on the water today and they are capable of surprising; the weather has changed and it could improve the fishing for the whole field; and I could just be carrying my grudge with this lake overboard.
The overall point is most everyone on the water has a shot at getting into the top three positions today. And for some of them, they will be surprised at how close they were to another shot at the Classic.
