But this fishery definitely has a higher ceiling than 17-8. Consider the following:
1) Carl Jocumsen caught the biggest bass he's caught all year, a 7-pounder, during Wednesday's practice. "It was a proper giant," Jocumsen said. He had only four bass in his 12th-place bag of 14-7 yesterday and broke off a big one. "It was almost a very big day for me," he said.
2) Martens came here after BASSFest to practice before the cut-off and caught an estimated 22-pound bag one day. "I caught 25 keepers that day," he said. "I smashed 'em. I had three over 5 pounds."
Martens noted that 22 pounds is doable now, but not likely.
"The water was right, the tides were good, and there was nobody fishing," Martens said of that practice day in June. "Twenty-two pounds is a big bag here. It would be phenomenal to do that now."