At this point, it’s easy to assume that the story is already written about this week’s Elite Series tournament on the Pasquotank River. You might be disinclined to watch tomorrow’s coverage, knowing that Kyle Welcher’s going to take home the blue trophy.
He’s leading by 33 pounds 14 ounces, and no angler other than Welcher has had a 25 pound bag this week.
If disinterest or disengagement describes your current state of mind, I encourage you to reconsider. We’re watching one of the greatest performances in Elite Series history. As one fishing industry big hitter not prone to hyperbole texted me shortly after 1pm: “This is like watching a pitcher throw a perfect game. A bowler rolling a 300.”
Unlike the perfect game, however, you can’t jinx this one by talking about it. Not even by sliding a banana into Welcher’s rod locker.
So what’s the story?
To me, it’s where does this one fall in the pantheon of great performances over 20 years of Elite Series competition? How does it compare to other great professional sporting accomplishments?
It’ll probably take some time beyond tomorrow’s weigh-in for all of that to shake out, but in the interim, here’s what I saw, heard and thought on Day Three from the ‘Tank:
Kyle Welcher – “A week like this is only possible when you have a bad prefish.”
Start to Finish, Uno – When Patrick Walters won at Fork in 2020, he extended his Day Two lead of 11-03 to 25 pounds on Day Three and eventually to 29-10 at tournament’s end, but he did not lead after Day One. The pole position that day was captured by Rick Clunn, who led Walters by 3-06 thanks to a 29-4 bag that included an 8 ½ pounder. There is almost a zero percent chance that Welcher won’t lead this from start to finish.
Start to Finish, Dos – Welcher produced a 30 plus pound bag for the third straight day today. He’ll have to hit that mark one more day to match Trey McKinney’s “perfect game” at Fork from last year. McKinney had 33-11, 33-12, 30-0 and 33-10. By comparison, when Steve Kennedy won at Clear Lake he had 20 pounds the first day and 29-13 the second. When Paul Elias set the all-time record at Falcon in 2008, he had 28-5 on Day One and 27-7 on Day Three. Unlike Kennedy, Elias did not have a 40 pound bag in the mix, although the three anglers behind him (Terry Scroggins, Byron Velvick and Aaron Martens) all topped 40 one day.
Empty Hot Seat – Brandon Lester (2nd, 61-0) was the 13th angler to weigh in, and the first to pass Welcher’s two-day weight of 60-14, albeit by a mere 2 ounces. It turned out he was the only one to pass that mark. Tyler Williams (4th, 60-2) missed it by 12 ounces and Trey McKinney (3rd, 60-5) fell short by 9 ounces.
Five Years Apart, Two Different Eras – When Walters set the weight margin record at Fork, he masterfully utilized forward facing sonar to target big bass and convince them to bite. He was an early adopter of the technology and at that point he was among the comparative few who’d really figured it out. Today, any pro (other than John Cox) who hasn’t implemented it into his game plan is effectively guilty of professional misconduct. I’m certainly not taking anything away from Walters, but the playing field is more level today – everyone (except Cox) has and uses the same gear, it would be intellectually dishonest to say that it’s a differentiating factor.
Made to Be Broken – If Welcher does manage to eclipse the 29-10 margin of victory record set by Walters at Fork, it’ll mark the second straight tournament we’ve seen a major domino fall. When Easton Fothergill (5th, 54-3) won the Classic on Ray Roberts last month, he didn’t set the record for largest margin of victory, but he did set the all-time record for Classic weight with 76-15, beating not only KVD’s modern day record (2011, 69-11), but also Rick Clunn’s record from the seven-fish limit era (1984, 75-9).
Top Ten Elite Weights – If Welcher matches his average daily weight (31-10) tomorrow, he’ll total 126-8, which give him the seventh heaviest four-day total in Elite Series history, knocking Tyler Williams, who tallied 124-9 at Lake Fork last year, out of the top ten. It’ll be the first top ten weight from outside of Texas – previously six were from Falcon and four were from Fork. He needs 37-10 to tie the all-time weight record, an ounce more to beat it.
Northern Records – Most of the 10-pound-plus bass we’ve seen in Elite Series history have come from states far to the south like Florida, Texas and Alabama. I started to think that Welcher’s 10-8 giant from today might’ve been the northernmost double digit in Elite history, but both Clear Lake and the California Delta are further north than Elizabeth City. The Delta produced the all-time largest bass in Bassmaster competition, Mark Tyler’s 14-09 in 1999, and Clear Lake produced two fish over 12 pounds in the 2007 Elite event there.
Trey McKinney – “We fightin’ for that second place trophy today. We fightin’ for it.”
Triple Digits – Assuming Welcher closes it out, and adds at least 5-2 to his catch, this will be his first Bassmaster Century Belt. His prior best was 99-12, when he finished 5th at the St. Lawrence in 2023. His top weight on a largemouth fishery was 84-7, last year at Lake Fork.
Best Ball Format – Take the three largest bags from the 101 anglers other than Welcher, and they’d total 72-14, which would still be a remarkable 22 pounds behind Welcher’s 94-14. Take the four largest bags from that same group, and they’d total 96-7, just 1-9 ahead of Welcher’s three-day total.
Gerald Swindle (84th, 17-8) Giving Mercer Advice on How to Keep the Weigh-In Compelling – “I’m gonna say start reading some jokes tonight.”
Just for Fun – The five biggest single-day catches in Elite Series history include one from Florida (the record-holder, Dean Rojas, 45-2) and four from Texas, three of them from Falcon in 2008. The smallest of those five was Byron Velvick’s 41-11. Right now, only four anglers are within 40 pounds of Welcher. Justin Hamner (10th, 49-14) could match the Rojas record and he’d beat Welcher by 2 ounces – assuming that Welcher were to blank.
Twenties – Even with the field cut in half, it was the best day of the week for 20-plus-pound bags, with eight of them.
Bests and Worsts – Four anglers in the top ten have seen their weights increase every day: Brandon Lester, Tyler Williams, Seth Feider and Shane LeHew. None of the other six have seen their weight go down every day.
Home Cooking – Shane LeHew (7th, 51-0) is the only North Carolina pro in the top ten. Jake Whitaker (20th, 43-8) is the next in line.
Young Guns – While three sophomores (McKinney, Williams and Patrick) made the cut to Sunday, Classic champ Easton Fothergill (5th, 54-3) is the only rookie who will compete tomorrow.
Jay Przekurat on Practice Complications — “I think I put in at like 18 different ramps.”
Good Deed Karma – Shane LeHew found an approximately 3-pound bass that had broken someone’s line, but was still affixed to a shoreline tree. He cut it free and released it. “Shane LeHew is going the extra mile here, protecting the resource,” said Tommy Sanders. At the time, LeHew had only four fish, the biggest among them estimated at 2 pounds. Moments later, he landed an estimated 5-pounder that popped him into the top 10.
Justin Hamner – “It has been so much fun this week, other than breaking my back three times.”
David Mullins – “I hope my wife does not want children because I am pretty sure I am sterile by this point.”
Basil Bacon on the Difference Between Now and Then — “We didn’t have any TV sets to tell us where (the fish) was.”
Back tomorrow to see if we need to take some ink to the record book.
