When the Day 3 weigh-in fired up on Saturday at the Harris Chain, the star of the show was presumed to be Clifford Pirch. Visuals from the water revealed that he hooked and landed a possible double-digit bass. Bass over 10 pounds are incredible specimens and something that doesn’t happen frequently on the Bassmaster Elite Series. There are usually one or two of those per season, but in 2021 the biggest bass of the season was 9-13, just short of 10 pounds and also caught by Clifford Pirch.
The weigh-in was stolen by John Cox after his estimated 9-pounders broke double digits and hit 11 pounds even. That fish by John Cox made history. It not only was the biggest single bass that Cox has ever weighed in a professional event, but it also made the Top 20 biggest bass in Elite Series history. His 11-0 ranks 17th in Elite Series history. It’s the first bass to jump into the Top 20 since 2019 when both Brandon Cobb (11-1) and John Crews (11-2) added 11 pounders to the list.