Inflation is real on the Bassmaster Elite Series, my friends.
It’s not just the price of boats, glide baits and gas. It’s all about the weights that constitute the new normal.
From the stage, North Carolina pro Matt Arey (61st, 18-1) fondly recalled the days not that long ago when it took 17 pounds a day to make the top 20 on Lake Champlain. Today, a 17 pound bag would place you 20 spots out of last place. Perhaps some of that difference can be explained by the rise of forward-facing sonar, but that technology was in full effect last season, and the weights have gone up since then. Granted, anything can change from week to week or year to year, but the stats tell a scary story.
Indeed, 18 pounds even was last year’s Day One cut weight. Today it’s a half pound higher. “It feels like 18 on Champlain is what 15 is anywhere else,” Dave Mercer remarked with equal amounts wonderment and concern. Last year the field produced 17 Day One bags over 20 pounds. Today there were 21.
The good news is that the spread isn’t that big. There’s only a 2 pound difference between 39th and 83rd. The bad news, at the same time, is that the spread isn’t that big. It’s just hard to make up weight when everyone’s catching them and there are so many quality fish.
Of course, Mother Nature always seems to have the last laugh.
Debby Downer may bring Black Friday – We always seem to get a day of delay, or at least the threat of such, when the Elites head to expansive northern waterways. It’s part of the planning process for the tournament staff and the anglers alike. So what does that mean for anglers on the outside looking in? It may open up more chances to ascend the ladder. Last year, seven of the top ten on Day One were still in the top ten at tournament’s end. While it’s hard to predict, if the field goes tomorrow we could very easily see some leaders get their water blown out. Alternatively, they might not be able to get to their fish – or get back.
Top Ten Again – Of last year’s Day One top ten, only two of them – Patrick Walters (8th last year, 4th today) and Greg DiPalma (7th last year, 2nd today) — find themselves in that rare air once again. Walters and Jacob Foutz are the only two from last year’s final day top ten who are inside the Top 10 today. Walters was 7th and is now 4th. Foutz was 8th and is now 6th.
AOY Race Tightens – All of the Top 10 anglers in the AOY race are inside the 50 cut and nine of the 10 are inside the top 30. Jacob Foutz, who entered in 5th, did himself a solid by landing in 6th place today at Champlain. Likewise, Wesley Gore, previously 10th, sits in 7th place. The problem is that all of the anglers ahead of them did quite well also. There simply wasn’t an opportunity to pick up a massive amount of points.
The Streak – Jay Przekurat (15th, 20-9), who entered the tournament in 7th in the AOY race, keeps the pressure on the leaders. He has a Classic berth sewn up no matter what thanks to winning the St. Clair open, but he’s also finished 3rd, 6th and 5th in the last three Elites. If he fails to win AOY, he’ll likely have Florida to blame, as he was 63rd this year at the St. Johns and 61st at the Harris Chain. The last time he missed a check anywhere but Florida was at Seminole last February, when he finished 72nd.. That tournament launched from Georgia, but since that lake straddles into the Sunshine State, if you want to be a purist about it, the last time he missed a cut outside of Florida was Pickwick in June of 2022.
Canadians are Schooling – The four Canadian pros in the field are bunched up, all between 21st and 28th in the standings after Day 1.
Subway Series – While no one in the field is from in or near New York City proper, we have a solid bridge and tunnel rivalry emerging here, with Jersey’s DiPalma (22-11) and Cooperstown’s Kyle Patrick (also 22-11) just a pound behind leader Seth Feider (23-11).
Never too late – Last year, Joey Cifuentes and Matt Robertson seemingly could not be stopped, and ended up 5th and 11th in the AOY standings. This year, however, has been a different story and they entered this event in 102nd and 98th in the standings. Robertson missed the money in the first six tournaments, including two triple-digit finishes, before coming in 20th at Smith Lake. Cifuentes fared worse, with three finishes of 96th or worse, and no money finishes through seven derbies. Today both find themselves back in the good graces of the fish gods. They’re tied for lucky 13th with 20-13 apiece.
First Years – Eight of the field’s ten rookies are inside the cut, including three – Kyle Patrick Robert Gee and Wesley Gore – in the Top 10. Ben Milliken and Tim Dube are just a few ounces outside of the cut.
Kyoya and Taku – Fairly or not, Taku Ito and Kyoya Fujita are often lumped together because of their shared country of origin, their preference for finesse tactics, their electronics excellence and the fact that they’ve both won Elites in the north. One other factor is that they entered this event in 39th and 40th, respectively, in the AOY race, just inside the Classic cutline. Ito is in 39th after today’s competition, while Fujita is in 64th, but those positions are deceiving as they’re 8 ounces above and below the cutline, respectively. Ounces are going to mean lots of points in terms of holding serve or moving up in the standings.
Cut Weight Math – Hunter Shryock occupies 50th place with 18-8. Doubling that would be 37 pounds, and the old 2X+1 formula would be a remarkable 38 pounds to get to fish a third day. Last year the 50th place angler on Day One had 18 pounds even. The cut weight on Day Two was 35-15, almost exactly twice that amount. Could we once again see it go below the 2X mark if weather seriously harms many anglers’ best intentions?
Baby Come Back – After finishing 68th and 88th in Texas, Bob Downey skipped the Harris Chain event to be present for the birth of his son – which garnered him a 103rd place finish in absentia. That either lit a fire under the mellow Minnesotan or helped him to push the reset button, because since then he’s earned four straight checks and is on pace to make it five if he maintains his 26th place Day One position on Champlain. He entered this tournament in 48th in the AOY race and could very well make the Classic with a goose egg on his tally for the year. He was 50th at Champlain last year, and previously 80th and 53rd.
Well-Worn Headwear – Feider’s retro Daiwa hat with it’s not-quite-evenly-bent bill looks like it got stuck in his backpack somewhere between a Trapper Keeper and a couple of juice boxes.
Speaking of Old-School – There was a time when Ike’s (41st, 18-13) excited screaming was perceived by many to be an affront to the sport’s integrity. Watching and listening to him today, as he had one of the best performances since his return to the Elite Series, seemed like another quaint and welcome piece of nostalgia.
Mercer wants more sand at the beach – “I wish the anglers would lie more,” he said. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. In this era of BASS Live and BassTrakk, there are very few secrets or mysteries by the time weigh-in arrives.
Drew Cook (32nd, 19-10) was all-in on brown fish – “All upside-down reels. I don’t have one baitcaster.”
Luke Palmer (64th, 18-0) – “I wore the wrong hat. It’s a largemouth hat and I caught brown fish.”
Matt Arey (61st, 18-1) – “Apparently I was fishing for the wrong color bass today.”
Brandon Lester (5th, 21-8) — “It took me like 10 minutes to get a limit this morning.”
Bryant Smith (72nd, 17-12) — “I found some scraps. I found some stragglers.”
Kyle Patrick on his 6-2 big bass of the day — “Believe it or not, that was on a spinning rod.”
Bryan Schmitt (30th, 19-11) — “If that’s our lightest bag, that’ll be good.”
Joey Cifuentes (30th, 20-13) — “I caught so many smallmouth that I blew out my britches.”
Cory Johnston (28th, 19-12) — “Twenty pounds sounds ok but it’s really not on this lake.”
Purple Rain – As Vikings fan Seth Feider took the lead, his good friend Matt Robertson noted that he’d somehow tinted his hair purple in an unexpected shampoo malfunction. We’re a long way from the days of buzz cuts and patch vests.
