There is definitely a battle of the wits taking place on the Harris Chain this morning.
Coming in we wondered if this event would be defined by the spawning fish on the bank or by the stagers coming from and going to the bank.
This morning on Bassmaster LIVE we watched some of the anglers poke around on the bank looking for bedded fish, while an almost equal number were off-shore.
We even listened to a couple of the off shore anglers lay out their plans for catching a limit, then hitting the bank later in the day to look for a spawner as well. But according to Drew Benton, one of the top sight fishermen on the Elite Series, the sight-fishing thing “ain’t happening.”
He’s spent his morning doing it. As of this writing he’s in 13th place with 13 pounds and change. The largest of those a 3-10, the rest between there and 2 pounds. Those aren’t the numbers one expects from Florida.
Benton is currently headed possibly off shore, more than likely to flip vegetation at either unseen beds or staging/feeding bass. Either way, he will likely cross paths with counterparts, full of hopes and dreams, coming in, while he’s moving out.
This is just an example of the guessing game that is always being played out in these events.