It’s been hard to not go ahead and hand the trophy to Joey Cifuentes today. His day got off to a fantastic start and has steadily improved along the way, adding a near-5-pound smallmouth to his bag every hour or so. He’s one bite away from 25 pounds now, a feat that has only been done once this week.
But the guy behind him on BassTrakk is the one who did just that. Taku Ito had 25-8 on Day 2, and sits just 2 pounds, 5 ounces back of Cifuentes, with 21-6 in the well. If Ito puts together a bag comparable to his biggest of the week, he’ll move more than a pound ahead of Cifuentes.
It’s looking like the biggest bag caught today by either Cifuentes or Ito may very well decide this one, with the two separated by only an ounce to start the day. Cifuentes has a distinct advantage though at present, and it’s not his 2-pound, 5-ounce lead on Ito. It’s the fact that Ito has four averaging 4 pounds and only one 5-pounder. Cifuentes on the other hand has four averaging 5 pounds in his bag. To chase him down, Ito will need to catch a monster 6-plus smallmouth, or cull multiple times, or both.
Luke Palmer seems like an afterthought at this point, somehow. He’s far from out of it though. Having started the day with a small lead, and having two bass in his bag under 4 pounds, he’s really poised better in 3rd than Ito is in 2nd to chase down The Cowboy. Two big bites and his 2-pound, 12-ounce deficit disappears.
Bryan Schmitt, who started the day in 4th and sits in 7th at the moment, is not out of it either. But he’s in need of a massive late-day flurry to pull off a comeback. He’ll need to cull four of the five in his bag to reach the required 25-plus and climb the ranks.
After Schmitt, Cooper Gallant, Brandon Lester, and the rest will all need a bigger bag than we’ve seen all week to take home $100,000 today. It’s not impossible, but it’s also not likely. All that being said, the sun is out and 15 minutes around one little wad of 5-pounders could change everything.
