The bite this week has been reportedly tough throughout practice. Looking at the top of the leaderboard, it’s easy to call the Elite Series field a bunch of sand bagging fibbers. But, look down the list just a bit and you’ll start to see the whole story a little more clearly.
Sure, Brandon Palaniuk, Bernie Schultz and Bryan New all sit atop the leaderboard with 15 pounds or more. But those bags are anchored by a 5-pounder apiece, a rare find on Lay this time of year. The next few anglers have a few 3s and 4s collectively, giving them a strong start to build on. But a mere 10 pounds has David Mullins sitting in 16th place. Darold Gleason sits a few spots ahead of Mullins in 10th, with just over 11 pounds.
When 94 of the best in the business have less than 11 pounds halfway through the day, that’s pretty tough fishing. Maybe it’s been a little better than we expected for the few near the top, but it’s about as bad of a grind as one can bear for the vast majority. Those that are doing well have one or two big ones in the bag. Those that aren’t, have not.
