Rocky Top is once again playing loudly in Gator country as Tennessee threatens to take over the Sunshine State.
Rookie Elite pro John Garrett of Union City leads the whole shooting match with 24 pounds 2 ounces, nearly 2 pounds ahead of his closest follower.
Brandon Lester of Fayetteville, who led here on Day One in 2022 with 23 pounds before ultimately finishing 5th, is in 4th with 21-13.
Lester was the last Tennessee resident to win an Elite Series tournament when he claimed victory closer to home at Pickwick two years ago. Earlier that season he won an Open on Florida’s Kissimmee Chain, quite close to this week’s venue.
Another Tennessean, Buddy Gross of Chattanooga, won here last time.
None of this could make the Floridians happy, as they hope to keep the trophy in-state. They should be glad to have John Cox (2nd, 22-5) in their corner, because none of the other seven of their cohort cracked the top 40. While I don’t maintain a rooting interest in any of this, I will say that a Cox victory would produce an epic party and more than a few memorable quotes.
Here’s what I saw, heard, thought and dreamed on a delayed first day from the Harris Chain:
Different Strokes – Today reminded me of last year’s Lake Murray tournament, not in terms of scenery or fishing style, but rather insofar as so many different patterns and lures were in play. We saw topwaters and frogs and squarebills and glide baits, among others. That makes for a fun spectator learning experience. What did we see little of, or not at all? Traditional Florida staples like a Devil’s Horse, a big punching weight, a Gambler EZ, a Speed Worm or a dead-sticked Senko.
Mixed Bag for Rookies – While Garrett is at the top, we didn’t see the utter rookie domination that hogged headlines in the first two Elite events of 2024. JT Thompkins (8th) is the only other one in the top ten, with three more – Tim Dube, Trey McKinney and Tyler Williams, in 11th, 12th and 17th, respectively. Three are outside of the money. Most significant among those may be Ben Milliken (96th, 5-11), who miscounted and repeatedly released what would have been keeper number five. He had been tied with Trey McKinney for both the AOY and ROY lead – and while it’s a long season, and he wouldn’t have been in contention even with a fifth fish – the loss of those valuable points may come back to haunt him.
McKinney’s Veteran Moves – McKinney, the youngest angler in the field and the youngest ever to win an Elite Series tournament, showed that he knows how to play the game with poise and class. This morning he allowed all of the other boats to slip out of the lock before him, and then lagged behind to hoover up the fish they’d driven over as they left. He mixed up baits, and shared the area peaceably for a period of time with Tyler Rivet, continuing to mop up after Rivet left. Later McKinney put a glide bait – something he said he’s not skilled with – to good use, and then caught a quality fish that missed the glide by switching to something else. The most stress McKinney felt was when his scale crapped out around 1:30pm and he had to cull the old-fashioned way. If that’s the biggest problem he experiences in his season or his career, an overused digital scale, then the rest of the field should be worried.
What Changed – Occasionally BASS provides the field with a day off between practice and the start of the tournament, but due to Thursday’s postponement, the field had a second day away from the water – and a day to ponder what yesterday’s storms would do to their best areas. While some expected muddied waters, that wasn’t the case everywhere. “The first thing I’m noticing today that this water has cleaned up,” Bryan Schmitt (51st, 11-15) said on Live Mix early this morning. Others had different outcomes. For example, reigning Classic champ Justin Hamner (40th, 12-14) told Dave Mercer that “I didn’t know what that weather was going to do and it completely changed what I was doing.” In some respects, that means today was a practice day for some of the field, and with the weights tightly packed in the middle, we could see a substantial shakeup tomorrow.
Stuck in the Middle – It took 19 pounds to make the top ten today, and while those anglers may hold on, as noted above I expect some movement in the middle of the field. Remember, in 2011 Grant Goldbeck weighed one bass for 1-1 here on the first day of competition and sat in 97th out of 99. Then he bounced back with 27-1 on Day Two, before eventually finishing second to Shaw Grigsby. Looking at today’s results, the difference between 40th (Justin Hamner, 12-14) and 80th (John Soukup, 8-15) is less than 4 pounds. That’s one bite, and everyone knows it. There’s a 30- or even 40-pound bag out there, so no one is out of cashing a check or even winning.
What Didn’t Change — BASS did all fishing fans a favor by putting Rick Clunn (36th, 13-1) – fishing his 499th Bassmaster event – on camera today. As I watched him crank a squarebill around cypress knees in the mouths of canals and ditches, it was an eerily similar scene to watching him crank cypress knees at the mouths of creeks in the 1990 Classic on the James River. Thirty four years later and 700-plus miles away, some things remain the same (in a good way).
The Folkestad Legacy – In 1992, Mike Folkestad set a dubious BASS record with a three-day winning weight of 14-10 here at the Harris Chain. That held until 2005, when Kevin VanDam won the Pittsburgh Classic with 12-15. Today, 37 anglers had more than Folkestad weighed cumulatively over three days to win.
Cut Weight Math – The 50th place angler after Day One is Matt Arey with 12-2. If you subscribe to the traditional (2X+1) formula, that puts tomorrow’s cut weight at 25-4.
Dube Comes Alive – No angler in the field has less experience in professional BASS events than New Hampshire’s Tim Dube. Including the recently-concluded Bassmaster Classic, this is his fourth overall and despite earning a check at Toledo Bend he’s been mostly lost in the maelstrom of this year’s exceptional first years. Today he brought 18-2 to the scales, which has him in 11th place overall, 14 ounces out of the top 10, just ahead of McKinney.
Whatley On Track – Brad Whatley (3rd, 22 pounds) hasn’t made an Elite Top 10 since 2020, when he made two of them – 5th at Lake Fork and 9th at the St. Lawrence River.
Biggie Smalls – 22 pounds is 22 pounds, no matter how you slice it. In other words, when the scales stop spinning a quintet of 4- to 5-pounders can count the same as two giants and three swimmers. The latter is what comprised Whatley’s bag – a 7-14, a 7-12 and three fish that averaged just over 2 pounds apiece. In some respects, that’s the most “Florida bag” possible. If it had just been one giant, it could have been luck, but two portends the possibility that he’s onto something special. The two megas were the first and last fish in his bag today.
Tough Day for the International Contingent – Three of the Canadians are inside the 50 cut, although uncharacteristically none ranks higher than 24th. Carl Jocumsen is in 66th. Meanwhile, the accomplished Japanese trio struggled mightily, with an average placement of 86th, and none of them better than 70th.
Matt Robertson (97th, 4-15) – “I always hear a good humbling is good for you, but doggone, how low can you go?”
Brandon Cobb (52nd, 11-14)) — “Catching fish doesn’t seem to be a problem, but catching fish over 2 pounds is very, very difficult.”
Bryan Schmitt (51st, 11-15) channels Joe Namath – “I’m gonna do what I do and make a comeback.”
Patrick Walters (25th, 14-8) — “Looking at the weights, they caught ‘em a lot better than I thought.”
Niche Product Which Got a Huge Advertising Boost Today – Clutch Swimbaits Boss.
Best Supporting Actor in a Backstage Role – Ronnie’s dad.
