Elite

Early aerials with Kelley

Take a look at Jonathan Kelley's morning both on and above the lake on Day 2 of the 2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole!

Posted on
Photography by
Andy Crawford
Photography by
Craig Lamb
The second day of the 2023 Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole began with thick fog on the main lake.
The fog was thickest on the main lake: Once anglers got into creeks it cleared up rapidly.
We caught up with Pennsylvania pro Jonathan Kelley up a creek moving across a hydrilla-covered spawning flat.
He obviously was seeing beds. Were there bass on those beds?
Kelley went to the tackle compartment several times to replace baits.
Kelley kept his head down, scanning the flat even as he made casts.
The only other competitor nearby was Alabama’s Clent Davis, but he was about a quarter mile away — and he didn’t hang around long.
That left Kelley with plenty of working room.
Kelley hooked up early on a blind cast …
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…
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… but it wasn’t the size he wanted. That said, the keeper buck bass broke the ice and went into the angler’s livewell.
Kelley was quickly back at work.
The flat Kelley was working was shallow, with thick mats of hydrilla with scattered emergent vegetation.
Kelley paid meticulous attention to his bait, re-rigging several times, even though he hadn’t had another bite.
Another hookup!
Again, this was a small buck that made the minimum length but Kelley hoped to cull.
Kelley continued seeing beds, but said he needed the sun to come out.
“Fish everywhere but not setting up on beds.,” he said. “This would be the best live footage ever if they were.”
Kelley anticipated things changing rapidly as the fog and low clouds burn off.
“I need the sun to shine or the wind to blow so I can fish them,” he said.
Kelley often was fishing very shallow.
Another bed was spotted.
A few minutes later, hookset No. 3.
It was another buck bass.
Beds seemed to be everywhere.
Time for another lure option.
Fish No. 4 came off a blind cast to a flooded tree.
Unfortunately, it was another buck bass that went in the livewell to hopefully be culled later.

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