Macomb County, Mich. — Four anglers competing over the next four days in the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair have won B.A.S.S. events here. After the first two days of practice this week, Chad Pipkens felt he had a good shot to win at Lake St. Clair again.
“If they’re still there, I can crush them and have a chance to win,” said Pipkens, who won a Bassmaster Northern Open here in 2014. “If I have four days like I had in practice, I’d be excited.”
Based on what he saw then, the Michigan native predicted it will take 90 pounds to win. That would top Jason Christie’s 2017 winning weight of 88-8. However, the heavy thunderstorm that blew through this area Wednesday has Pipkens nervous about what he’s going to find Thursday when the tournament begins. He didn’t practice in St. Clair. Pipkens is making the 65-mile-plus run south to Lake Erie.
“The damage may have already been done,” he said, fearing that the shallow water where he had success may have turned muddy. “I’ve seen it before, muddy out to 25 feet.”
Pipkens won’t be the only angler venturing out of Lake St. Clair to the available water in Lake Huron to the north or Erie. However, the weather forecast earlier called for the storm to hit Thursday, which may have kept some anglers foregoing any ideas about a long boat ride in inclement weather.
Jason Christie has won twice on St. Clair. In addition to the Elite Series win in 2017, he won a Northern Open here in 2012.
“This is the lake that got me qualified for the Elite Series and got me to my first (Bassmaster) Classic,” said the Oklahoma native. “I’ve had more good tournaments here than bad, and I don’t know why. I’m pretty comfortable here.”
However, Christie isn’t comfortable about the quality of fish he’s caught in practice this week.
“The big difference is the smallmouth are the same length they’ve always been here, but they’re extremely skinny. They’re from three-quarters to a pound lighter across the board. I don’t mean they’re poor-looking. Maybe they’re just off the (spawning) bed.”
That was a common lament. Seth Feider is another previous winner at St. Clair. He won the three-day AOY Championship in 2018 with a total weight of 77-15.
“They’re all real skinny,” Feider said. “They look like 4, 4 ½-pounders when you’re fighting them in the water, then they weigh 3 ¼.”
Feider still thinks it will take an average of 21 pounds a day to win.
Brandon Palaniuk has noticed the same the same thing, saying, “They’ve got huge frames, but they’re thin.”
And, like Feider, he thinks there will still be big bags weighed in every day.
“It will take 22 to 23 pounds a day to win, the (Day 2/top 50) check range will be about 18 pounds a day, and it will take 20 to 20 ½ a day to make the (Day 4) top 10.”
Kyle Welcher enters this 7th of 9 Elite Series events leading the Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings by 12 points over second-place Brandon Cobb. John Cox is third, 28 points behind Welcher.
“I’m not feeling any pressure, not at all,” said the 30-year-old, Opelika, Ala., angler. “It’s just an opportunity.”
Welcher has stayed in St. Clair during practice, but he’s interested to see how the anglers who make the run to either Erie or Huron fare this week.
“I think the biggest bag of the tournament will come out of Erie or Huron,” he said. “But having to make that long run four days in a row, that’s just too tough.”
