Brian Snowden isn’t fishing the Harris Chain this week, but his story hovers over the remaining 10 anglers as a cautionary tale.
The Missouri pro left Elite Series competition after the 2021 season. That means that five of the 10 remaining anglers at this week’s Harris Chain event never competed against Snowden at the tour level. They may never have heard the story of the 2008 Elite Series tournament where Snowden led by 9-14 heading into Day Four, before ultimately blanking and finishing as the runner-up to Mike McClelland by over 5 pounds.
It might not matter if the young guns had heard about it, because part of the job of being a professional angler is to have a short memory. Young anglers like current tournament leader John Garrett (1st, 63-2), JT Thompkins (2nd, 56-9), Tyler Williams (4th, 51-9), and Trey McKinney (6th, 50-2) don’t have any reason yet to think that they’ll ever experience anything other than unbridled success. Nothing at the Harris Chain has told them otherwise.
In fact, none of the anglers in this week’s top ten fished that 2008 event. Jason Christie (5th, 50-12), who joined the Elites earliest, didn’t come over until 2013.
The 2024 Elite Series repeatedly features a lot of new stories, but one thing that never changes is that no lead is safe in Florida – whether you fumble it away or just get beaten.
“The good thing about Florida is that it’s not over until it’s over,” said Christie, the 2022 Bassmaster Classic champion.
“In Florida, two bites’ll change everything,” agreed Brad Whatley (7th, 50-1).
Yes, Garrett’s lead over his closest competitor is over 6 ½ pounds. His lead over 6th place is 13 pounds. That’s arguably lot of weight, but not a lot of safety. Not in Florida. He’s shown a veteran’s poise so far, but strange things happen on Day Four, and there’s a lot of fishing left to go.
Here are my thoughts after we watched 50 of the best in the world mix it up on Day Three:
Mr. First Out – Jacob Powroznik brought a tournament-best 10 pound 8 ounce largemouth to the scales today, but ultimately missed the cut to Championship Monday by one spot and a single pound, damned in large part by his 11-8 catch on Day One. While it would have been a steep hill to climb to win if he had made it, those ahead of him should breathe a sigh of relief that he didn’t – as he reported seeing 9- and 10-pounders late in the day, but ran out of time to catch them.
Ups and Downs – Three anglers in the top ten saw their weights decrease every day: John Garrett (1st), Trey McKinney (6th) and Brad Whatley (7th). That’s a bit illusory as Garrett’s “low weight” today (19-3) was still Sunday’s third largest bag. In fact, three bags that size would still have him in the lead. McKinney, meanwhile, brought in 15-2 today, and as a result dropped one spot in the standings. He’s only 10 ounces out of 5th and 1-7 out of 4th. Powroznik (11th), was the top-ranking angler whose weights increased everyday, from 11-8 to 14-1 to 21-5.
Garrett’s Hairy Moment – We’ve seen tons of variety in lure choices this week – everything from flipping rigs to topwaters to Carolina Rigs to deep diving crankbaits – but one that I did not expect to see was Garrett’s hair jig. Also known as a “Preacher Jig,” they’re Tennessee River staples but not something that typically makes the cut into the boat in Florida. He caught a 5-pounder on it on his first cast, culling out an estimated 1-10.
Garrett’s Veteran Moment – Shortly after culling with that 5-pounder, Garrett fired out his hair jig again and hooked up again. The fish jumped and came unbuttoned. The rookie showed remarkable poise. Rather than getting spun out, he collected himself, fired out another cast, and hooked up again. This one made it into the boat. Those are the types of moments that go unnoticed on the score card but make a big difference in a victory, a season and a career. Indeed, we’ve seen Garrett lose quite a few fish this week, which could still prove to be costly, but his calm in the face of those failures might prove to be his winning ingredient.
Big Bags – Powroznik’s 21-5 was the big bag of the day and the biggest since Friday. There were also 19-plus-pound limits turned in by Garrett, JT Thompkins (2nd, 56-9) and Greg Hackney (13th, 45-8). KJ Queen (3rd, 53-6) missed the 19-pound club by an ounce with 18-15.
Rookies – Out of 12 total Elite tournament entries, Garrett, Thompkins, Williams and McKinney have earned 11 checks and qualified for five Day Fours.
First-timer – This week marks the first Day Four Elite Series appearance for Alabama pro Joseph Webster (10th, 47-14), who joined the tour in 2022. His prior best efforts were twin 16th place finishes at Smith Lake in 2021 and Santee Cooper in 2022.
Cliques – While four rookies made the top ten, they are joined there by two past Classic winners (with a total of three Classic trophies between them), zero past AOYs and zero international anglers.
Consistency Counter – Total number of anglers who weighed in over 17 pounds every day: 2. Total number of anglers who weighed in over 15 pounds every day: 5. Anglers who weighed in less than 10 pounds on any given day and still made the top 10: One, Jordan Lee, who had 9-4 yesterday.
Clunn’s Moment – Rick Clunn’s 20th place finish marks his best Elite result since he finished 17th at Lake Fork in 2020 – and beats his 21st place Harris Chain finish from 2022 by a single spot.
This Week’s Sign of the Apocalypse – Tyler Williams flinging a jerkbait around.
Old School Tech – Ed Loughran’s culling abacus. Loughran is nearly 35 years older than Trey McKinney, and his Accu Cull system is likely older than the rookie, too.
Old Man Moment – Two-time Classic winner Jordan Lee achieved his third top 15 finish since returning to the Elite Series this season – adding a top ten this week to a 9th at Toledo Bend and 15th at Lake Fork. He reported catching his fish today on an “old school Carolina Rig.” Lee is not yet 33 years old but seems at least a generation removed from most of this year’s rookies. “I had one of the most fun days of bass fishing I’ve ever had,” he said after weighing in 17-10 today.
Young’uns – Average age of the top four anglers: just under 25.
Fashion Trend – KJ Queen’s black socks. Like an old Florida snowbird mowing his grass.
Lester Family Values – “His daughter Shiloh does not like me one bit,” Dave Mercer said of Brandon Lester’s younger daughter, who repeatedly refuses to “give knuckles” onstage. Familial friendliness wouldn’t have helped his cause, but Lester fell from 10th to 12th and will head to Palatka instead of fishing Day Four.
Moore Family Resemblance – John Garrett: “I just caught a catfish that looked like Ronnie Moore.”
Tyler Williams — “It’s like I’m fishing a big club tournament.”
