Unlike his fellow Kentucky resident Will Levis, Matt Robertson didn’t have to wait long to get rewarded this week, and unlike last week at Lake Murray, he managed to maintain an Elite Series lead through a second day.
Despite a reputation as a night owl and a hard partier, Robertson nevertheless seems to be an early starter. Yesterday he had all of his 28 pound 1 ounce weight by 11 o’clock, and while he didn’t match that amount today, he still did enough damage by about 9:30 to hold onto his lead, and later culled up just a bit.
The lead grew from 3 pounds to just under 4, which on this system isn’t really much, but with total bites fairly stingy making up any gap will require flawless execution. Just ask Paul Mueller (4th place), who finds himself 8 pounds 5 ounces back, but lost two big bass on camera that likely would’ve added a minimum of 8 pounds to his weight.
Robertson may hold on. He may grab a Century Club belt – and who, really, would make better use of it than the wrestler wannabe? – but we could also see a huge number of shakeups before this is all over.
Here’s what I saw, heard and thought both before and after I got tired of the unnecessary and excessive use of the word “grind”:
Robertson reassessed — On BASS Live, Mark Zona compared Robertson to a latter-day version of Mike Iaconelli, recalling that early in his career “You either really loved Mike Iaconelli or you really did not.” Notably, Ike is going into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame this year. Where am I going with this? Well, it’s an admission of sorts that I didn’t take Matt Robertson seriously because of how he looked, how he spoke, and occasionally how he acted. Every time I talked about the remarkably good crop of up-and-coming stars I mentioned the clean cut guys like Drew Cook and Patrick Walter, anglers who looked serious – but watching Robertson over the past few weeks and past few years, it’s evident that he’s serious about catching them and just shows it differently. Iaconelli didn’t look or act the part, either, at least according to historical standards, but no one cares more about fishing or puts more effort into success than Ike.
Twenties – Yesterday there were two bags over 26 pounds and 15 over 20. Despite the grumbling about a tougher day, there were still some stout limits today, including 12 over 20. Brandon Cobb’s 24-15 was the biggest of the bunch. A total of three anglers caught 20-plus each day. Bob Downey was the only angler to weigh in a 20-plus bag this week who missed the cut.
One to watch – Luke Palmer (3rd, 44-12) is about five pounds behind Robertson and just over a pound behind Cobb, but he seems to have something figured out at Santee. Last year he weighed in 16-7 on Day 1 and 26-7 on Day 2 before dropping an amazing 33-5 bag on the scales on Saturday. So far this week he’s been more consistent with 21-3 and 23-9, but if he can keep his upward trend going, he could easily be in position to challenge for his first Elite win.
Cut weight math – Based on the Day One 50th place weight of 14-7, I expected today’s cut off point to be 29-14. The field underperformed the formula and it took “only” 27-14 to make it to Saturday. That’s a pound less than twice yesterday’s cut weight, as opposed to the usual pound more.
What goes up, must come down – Yesterday Brandon Palaniuk only weighed in four bass, but they totaled 21-14. Today he filled out a limit but his daily weight dropped by 7 pounds 9 ounces. Similarly, Taku Ito had four for 18-1 yesterday. His limit today weighed 3-6 less. Despite catching limits, Palaniuk fell from 7th to 13th and Ito fell from 24th to 26th. Bryant Smith (10th, 36-9) is the only angler in the top 12 who did not weigh in a limit each day.
Filling the hole – “On Thursdays I’m a professional hole digger,” two-time Bassmaster Classic champion Hank Cherry told Dave Mercer onstage today. Indeed with 4 fish for 9-6 yesterday, he was mired in 83rd place, poised to miss the cut for the third time in five events. Today he brought in 22-5, including a 7-3, to vault up into 32nd. In yesterday’s column I mentioned that both Cherry and 2022 Classic champ Jason Christie needed big days to get their seasons back on track. I’m not taking credit for it, but Christie likewise bounced back with 22-07 of his own, to jump from 73rd into 22nd. “The is the first day I’ve come to the stage not trying to hide my bag,” he said.
Famous Marions – Marion Ross (Fonzie’s landlord), Marion Barry (mayor for life), Marionberry (pie filling), Marion Motley (Pro Football Hall of Famer).
Not much home cooking – Brandon Cobb, in second, is the only South Carolina pro who will be competing tomorrow. Todd Auten (73rd), Patrick Walters (75th), Bryan New (76th) and Jason Williamson (82nd) all missed the cut. All but Auten weighed in less over two days than Cobb weighed in either day. Auten caught a total of 6 ounces more than Cobb’s Day One limit.
Rookies in the news – While season-opener winner Joey Cifuentes and dice roller Kyoya Fujita have gotten much of the media love, other rookies have quietly put in fantastic and continually-improving work throughout this young Elite season. David Gaston started off 44th at Okeechobee, finished 34th at Seminole, improved to 31st at Murray and through two days at Santee finds himself in 11th. Meanwhile, Bryant Smith (who has the same weight as Gaston after two days) finished 58th, then 43rd and 12th. Neither has yet to make a top ten cut, but they should expect to fight it out for the Rookie of the Year award, and perhaps even AOY.
First OT Fears reference – 9:39 am. Does anyone other than me know what “OT” stands for?
Patrick Walters (75th): “I beat that dead horse pretty good this week.”
Matty Wong (90th) – “I wasn’t in the front seat of the suck bus. I was riding in the third or fourth row.”
Joey Cifuentes (58th): “I just want everyone to know that I fished my liver out.”
Gerald Swindle (81st): “Spanish moss has blocked more shots than Shaquille O’Neal has in his career.”
Canadian pronunciations – Gussy’s “Shi-man-o” gets me every time.
