A handful of the Elite anglers are fishing for their livelihoods right now, as subpar performances over the last couple of years have them at the bottom of the pack. At the end of this season, those anglers will be shuffled out in order to make room for the Opens anglers that will be entering the Elite Series field as rookies in 2023.
Just looking at the weights we’re seeing this week, you can see why it’s hard for an angler to stay on par with these guys. They can all catch them and most usually do. It’s easy to get into a rut quick and that’s where Justin Atkins found himself at the end of last season and the start of this one. With the most recent Elite on his home waters of Lake Pickwick, Atkins knew he had to turn things around in a big way and keep the ship righted through the remainder of the year to have a chance to save his career.
He did his job and did it very well at Pickwick, finishing the 6th stop of the Elite Series in 8th place. He’s also doing a great job of grinding his way through this current slugfest on the St. Lawrence, sitting in 14th unofficially according to BassTrakk. Atkins is in good position to fish tomorrow, and more importantly knocking on the door of another top 10 if he keeps it up.
