We’re coming up on the midway point of the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole. As Day 2 draws to a close, let’s try to get a picture of what we’ve seen so far. Mike Iaconelli and Joey Cifuentes have put on a show at the top of the leaderboard, both targeting staging fish in drastically different ways.
Pat Schlapper has had an excellent day with 21 pounds, paling in comparison to only that of Cifuentes and Ike. His big Day 2 bag has jumped him up from 75th into the projected Top 10 according to BassTrakk. David Fritts has made an equally impressive jump from 98th to 28th with 21- pounds as well.
The weights are stacked up near the top of the leaderboard, as the haves and the have nots of Day 2 have become congested. Austin Felix and Tyler Rivet with strong 18-to-19-pound bags have rallied, while Carl Jocumsen and others have survived the day with sub-teen weights. The Top 10 is shaping up to be a star-studded affair of veterans and young guns.
But what matters most today is the Day 3 cut. Who will finish inside the Top 50 to compete on Saturday? BassTrakk has Brock Mosley sitting on the bubble with 25 pounds, 1 ounce. If the 50- cut weight were simply doubled from Day 1, it would look more like 27 and ½ pounds is needed to get to Day 3. Local stick Drew Cook predicted it would take as much as 16 pounds per day just prior to the start of this event.
Cook has had a disappointing event no doubt, with high but realistic hopes of winning this one on his home pond. Cook currently sits north of the bubble in 40th place, with less than 10 pounds in the boat on Day 2. He could make a couple late day culls still, and will need to in order to keep himself within striking distance. If anyone could catch a 30- pound bag to rally here, it would be Cook. But that kind of a bag seems very unlikely this week without a freakish double-digit bass in the mix.
Fellow local hopeful Drew Benton has fared slightly better this week, sitting pretty in 5th after Day 1 but falling to around 20th at the moment. Benton has a better chance of running down the leaders, but he’s still some 11 pounds back. And again, that’s going to be hard to overcome without the fish of a lifetime or two massive days.
The weigh-in will start shortly, and all the guessing, figuring, running and gunning will be over with for today. The scales will settle in a bit and 54 anglers will be left to second guessing alone, while the remaining 50 try to put the puzzle pieces together one more day, at least. This has been a wild one so far.
Will Cifuentes or Ike be able to remain consistent? Will someone bust a big bag of bedders? Your guess is as good as mine, but if I were a betting man, Cifuentes looks pretty good. It all remains to be seen though. Don’t go anywhere.
