Ledoux has many folks rooting for him

If you polled the Elite Series anglers on who they'd like to see win among today's 12 finalists, Kevin Ledoux would win in a landslide. The 35-year-old Choctaw, Okla., resident is in his third year on the Elite Series. He qualified through the Central Opens in 2011, drew three Top 50 checks in 2012, none in 2013 and then sat out all of 2014 after having serious back surgery, plus post-surgery complications. It's generally acknowledged that he's way too good an angler to have so few accomplishments on the Elite Series.

 

As Skeet Reese said on Bassmaster Live yesterday, "He's a good guy. He can't get a break. And he needs it bad."

 

It's not a great omen that Ledoux is off to a slow start today. As he noted yesterday, "This morning was nuts. I had 16 1/2 pounds in the boat within the first 20 minutes probably. It was stupid. I caught a 3 1/2-pounder and there were three 5s to 6s with it. So I set the poles down, made another flip out there and caught a 4 1/2-pounder. It was just ridiculous."

 

It's also not a good sign that Ledoux is dealing with some heavy chop on the water. Besides the fact that it may be affecting his shallow fish, Ledoux is still dealing with back issues. He noted that he's been leaving early every day, going no faster than about 40 mph in returning to check-in.

 

But Ledoux has lots of smallmouth bass located in the area, and every day has been different for everyone on the St. Lawrence River this week, so he's got plenty of time to figure them out. A bunch of people are hoping he does.