It’s a measure of how spoiled we are as fans that today’s midday looming failure of all of the Top 10 to hit 20 pounds seemed like a disappointment, but that’s the world we’re living in. After three lights-out competition days at Champlain, a 25 pound bag today would’ve been less surprising.
You’ve heard of a glass ceiling? Today, the field seemed to have met the bronze ceiling.
They all wanted the monster bag, or at least 20-plus – necessary to have their best chance of claiming a blue trophy, but for what seemed like endless hours no one could get there. Kyoya Fujita opened the door but others just couldn’t get all the way through. After two near misses this year, it was just his time.
To show you how close it was, look at this timeline: All ten anglers were in double digits by a little after 10am, and by 11:20 they were all over 15 pounds, but then the progress slowed. At 1:00 pm, we had an estimated 19-12 bag, along with 19-8, 19-7, two over 18, 1 over 17, and four over 16. Except for Fujita, who’d entered the day with a nearly 3-pound lead, it was going to be tough to get separation. The rest of them didn’t know it, and likely thought they’d stubbed their toes, but they were all just a couple of big bites away from winning.
Onstage, Jacob Foutz quickly saved us from our malaise. The first angler to weigh-in had either inadvertently underestimated his catch or else he’d sandbagged. He put 20-10 on the scales and all was right with the world once again.
Justin Atkins, the third to last angler to weigh in, likewise dropped 20-plus to very briefly claim the hot seat. Cody Huff followed him with 20-6, enviable to be sure, but not enough to unseat Atkins.
Equilibrium had been restored, expectations were met,
But it wasn’t enough to win. The rookie outlasted them all.
Zona on Fujita – “He’s flawless, an absolute machine.”
Culling matters – Fujita beat runner-up Justin Atkins by 22 ounces over their respective four-day, 20-fish limits. Even for my math-impaired brain that’s an average difference of just over an ounce per fish. Whoever makes that little spring scale he used to weigh every fish could make bank with a well-run advertising campaign.
Consistency – Justin Atkins and Cody Huff were the only anglers to top 20 pounds each day. In fact, the 20-7 bag Atkins brought to the scale today was his only limit under 21 pounds in this event. Huff’s 20-6 today was also his lightest daily weight.
Felix gets no kick from Champlain – Today we got to watch the “Sleepy Assassin” Austin Felix get uncharacteristically upset after losing a 4-pound-plus smallmouth at the boat amidst heavy wave action. It wasn’t the only disappointment, he reported onstage. “I’m pretty sure I went through all five stages of grief,” he told Dave Mercer about his many missed opportunities to top 20 pounds and move up in the standings today. He finished 9th.
Intramural rivalry – As I noted yesterday, Takahiro Omori is the only Japanese angler to have won more than one Bassmaster event. Fujita came within a couple of hairs of winning three in his rookie year. That’s no guarantee of future success, but I look for him to distinguish himself from the others. In order to earn wins, you have to consistently be in the running, and his rookie success can’t be an accident.
He needs a signature phrase – For my money, the two most memorable Japanese tournament successes in Bassmaster competition were those of Takahiro Omori and Morizo Shimizu. They each came with a catch phrase – “I knew it” and “Big mama,” respectively. Taku Ito gets an honorable mention in this category with “Smallmouth Disneyland.” I’m hoping Fujita comes up with something good to make future victories more historically memorable. Either that or bring 105 pounds of bronze to the scales next week and let his catch speak for itself.
Remitz Repeat – When Derek Remitz started off his Elite Series career in 2007 with a victory at Lake Amistad, followed by a runner-up finish at the California Delta, many of us were incredulous? How could a rookie 20-something, let alone one from the bass hinterlands of Minnesota, upend the established order that way? Today, while the two rookies and four sophomores in the field are something of a curiosity, their successes don’t cause any disbelief. The talent field has been leveled, as has the learning curve. Going forward it may be even less of a surprise as the increasingly difficult Opens path to the tour will weed out anyone who’s not consistently exceptional.
Patrick Walters speaks fishing fashion – “The shorts might stay.” His tropical resort wear led him to a 7th place finish, his third Top 10 of the year, along with a 4th place finish at Lake Murray and a 6th place finish at Lay Lake.
Red, Red Wine – By virtue of making his first Day Four appearance, sophomore Alex Redwine had no chance to enjoy the Champlain Valley Wine Trail, featuring native Vitis Riparia grapes. I’m sure that’s a tradeoff he’ll make every time.
The jig is up according to Redwine – “I think these smallmouths are pretty much trained to know what a Damiki Rig is now.”
New at the top – Ten years ago, few of us outside of Tennessee knew what a Damiki Rig consisted of. Now most of the top ten used some variation of it. Five years ago, few of us could pick any of this week’s Top 10 out of a lineup, save perhaps Justin Atkins. Now they’re all verging on being bass fishing household names. The sport changes quickly, and the rate of change has suddenly accelerated. Forward-facing sonar is part of that, but it’s not the whole story. There’s the rise of high school and college fishing, and the increased reliance on YouTube for that matter. Adapt or die.
