With only two and a half hours to go, less than 3 pounds separates the top four anglers on BassTrakk. Hunter Shryock is out front. He finally caught his limit fish, which was more a confidence boost than a much-added cushion, only weighing a pound. A 5-pounder right now would all but ice this thing on a normal fishery, culling him up to 24 pounds on the day. But Murray is no normal fishery.
Patrick Walters sits in second currently, less than 2 pounds back with plenty of room to cull. Drew Benton is hot on his heels, charging up from 10th today with 20 pounds. He’ll need a couple more over 4 to cull up and overtake the current lead, and likely a true giant to really make a run at this thing later in the day.
Kyoya Fujita though is still the one to watch. He started today in the lead, sits only 2 pounds and 7 ounces off the lead, and has three 2-pounders in his livewell. All of this combined with the reality that he’s way ahead of schedule could spell heartbreak for Shryock and the others given another late-day Fujita charge.
It’s been a refreshing event in so many ways. Watching finesse fishing aficionado and Classic Champ Jeff Gustafson duke it out with shallow water hammer Scott Canterbury a few weeks ago was a nice shot in the arm for those looking for a little variety in the new tech-heavy era. Well, that was just an appetizer apparently. We’ve had a feast of different fishing present on Lake Murray, with anglers sight fishing, shallow cranking, skipping wacky rigs, burning topwaters, and yes, some still relying heavily on their forward-facing sonar. Been a fun one to watch.
*While writing this, Kyoya Fujita boated one over 4, culling up to a virtual tie with Hunter Shryock. Things are tightening up indeed.
