KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Five observations after the first day of the Bassmaster Elite at Cherokee Lake
1. “The Big Mo” Makes an Appearance
“Big Momentum” – behavioral momentum on a large scale – is practically an impossibility in the sport of bass fishing because of its individual nature. But “The Big Mo” showed up Thursday at Cherokee Lake. The three anglers at the top of the Day 1 leaderboard have one startling fact in common: Each has won his previous B.A.S.S. tournament.
Leader Cliff Crochet (19-7) won the Bass Pro Shops Central Open at Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin on Oct. 29. Second-place Jesse Wiggins (19-1) won the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open at Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes on Jan. 21. Third-place Seth Feider (18-10) won Angler of the Year Championship at Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake on Sept. 18.
This is a “once in a blue moon” coincidence. Obviously, it can’t happen again in 2017. It’s an indicator of that elusive confidence factor anglers often cite.
“I quit fishing scared,” said Feider, referring to the end of the 2016 season when he finished second on the Potomac River before winning at Mille Lacs. “That was probably the biggest thing. I have a lot more confidence than I did a few months ago.”
Crochet qualified for the 2017 Bassmaster Classic in the last event possible when he won Central Open No. 3 in late October.
“Yeah, I’d say there was some momentum,” he noted. “The thing I learned in that tournament is you can’t force it. I think I’ve forced things in the past and hurt myself. I learned to calm down a little bit.”
2. Largemouth Bass Will Be Big
Cherokee is arguably the best smallmouth bass lake in Tennessee right now. And it’s expected that smallies will eventually dominate the winning four-day bag.
“This is a smallmouth fishery,” said Mark Davis, who finished 11th on Day 1 with 16-14. “It will end up being won on smallmouth.”
But if Crochet wins it, it will be almost exclusively on largemouth bass.
“I don’t see why not,” Crochet said. “I think you could win it on all largemouth. The deal is going to be managing it and changing with the weather.”
Today, with a forecast of no wind and sunny skies, will be the key.
Feider, who weighed all smallies on Day 1, thinks the largemouth bite will get better over the weekend when a warming trend kicks in.
“I noticed when it started to get warm in practice this week, the [smallmouth] bite wasn’t very good out deep,” he said. “I might just have to run up the river and fish for largemouth, if I make it to the weekend. I think it’s going to hurt [the smallmouth bite] a little bit. But I think the largemouth bite will get dramatically better with the warm-up.”
Mark Daniels took big bass honors on Day 1 with a 5-pound largemouth.
3. The ’17 Rookie Class Is a Force
Four first-year Elite Series anglers dotted the top eight places in the Day 1 standings, led by Cullman, Alabama’s Wiggins, who is second. Jamie Hartman of Newport, N.Y., is tied for fifth (17-10) with Jacob Wheeler of Indianapolis, Ind., who won’t qualify for Rookie of the Year because of his previous tournament winnings, but it is his first year on the Elite Series. Skylar Hamilton, the 22-year-old Dandridge, Tenn., angler, is eighth with 17-7.
Undoubtedly, some of these guys will fall back to earth today, as will several Elite Series veterans on the notoriously fickle Cherokee Lake. But you can expect several 2017 rookies to be in contention throughout the season. Another rookie, Dustin Connell of Clanton, Ala., is 21st with 15-8.
4. Big Money Will Be Decided By an Ounce, Or Two
Every time the Elite Series comes to a smallmouth bass-dominated fishery, the standings get tight. There are 110 anglers on the Elite Series this year, so the two-day cut will be made after 51st place on Day 2. There were nine anglers separated by 1 ounce between 34th and 39th place after Day 1 – all with a five-bass bag of either 14-10 or 14-9. In 51st place was Bill Lowen with 13-1. There were 13 anglers right behind him with 12 pounds or better.
That cut-mark decides who goes home with at least a $10,000 check and who goes home with no check. An ounce or two will undoubtedly make all the difference at the end of the day.
5. Cherokee Lake Will Humble Some Today
David Mullins, who calls Cherokee his home lake, knows it better than any other Elite Series angler. Mullins won an Open last year on Douglas Lake, which is considered a “sister lake” to Cherokee and another notorious “soul-crusher.”
“If you know it well, coming here scares you to death,” said Mullins about Cherokee before the tournament began. “It’s hard to be consistent at Douglas, but it’s not near as bad as Cherokee. You might catch 20 pounds one day, then go back the next and not catch a limit.”
Mullins enters Day 2 in 12th place with 16-12. Another Tennessee angler, Ott Defoe from Knoxville, is tied for 31st with 15-2. He too knows all about Cherokee’s finicky ways.
“If you’ve fished it enough, you know how humbling this lake is,” Defoe said Thursday. “We’ll see who gets humbled [Friday]. Cherokee will kill you in a second.”
In other words, expect some wild fluctuations in the standings today. The clear, calm weather forecast, in sharp contrast to Day 1, will only add to the unpredictability of Cherokee Lake.