Day 4 with Faircloth

Todd Faircloth’s day on Championship Sunday of the Plano Bassmaster Elite Series event started on the right track early in the day.

It was just minutes after he had arrived at his area before he had hooked up.

And put his first 4-pound class smallmouth into the boat. The early start and cloudy conditions made it almost too dark to shoot photos, but the fish didn’t mind.

As a matter of fact, Faircloth started a trend early of catching a lot of fish.

This one almost jumped into the boat.

It forced Faircoth to laugh and remark, “that one set a record for the highest jump of the week.”

It went into the livewell as the second keeper.

And on the next cast, he was hooked up again.

This pose of Faircloth guiding the fish around the trolling motor was normally a give away that he was fighting with a keeper.

Some he would pull straight into the boat.

Others he would fight more gingerly.

Getting them to the side of the side of the boat.

Where he would do his best to control them.

But as most fishermen know.

Smallmouth refused to be controlled.

This one gave Faircloth a few moments of heart ache

Practically jumping into and out of Faircloth’s hands.

But staying close enough to the boat.

That he would eventually wrangle the fish.

And bring in his third keeper of the morning.

The fish was worthy of bear hugging.

And showing off for a few moments.

And he would quickly be back to hooking up.

And wrangling keepers.

Every once in a while he would mix in a short fish.

And sometimes he would mix in a drum.

But for the most part he was battling with smallmouth.

And it didn’t take him long to boat a limit.

By 7:30 a.m., Faircloth had a limit and was culling.

With the limit, he would dig into his rod locker.

And we would see him make long casts with a bait caster.

Mostly with a swimbait.

But for the most part, he stayed with the spinning gear.

And he kept catching fish.

He focused on small pieces of structure with a drop shot.

And hooked up regularly with decent smallmouth.

His choice bait was a Strike King Dream Shot.

And it continually produced keeper,

After keeper.

Some of them needing more than one opportunity to grab.

But for the most part,

Faircloth had little trouble getting bites

And getting fish to the side of the boat.

And eventually getting a handle on them.

Fish like this quickly built his stringer to over 15 pounds.

And he had no trouble getting bites.

We always knew it was a good one, when Faircloth would push his rod down in the water and get it past the trolling motor.

That move always ended with Faircloth taking a seat

And working the fish to the side.

Then pulling it over into the boat.

As the day wore on, he would continually cull.

Then he would hook up again.

Get the fish to the side of the boat.

And gently lift it in.

If it had a chance at culling, he might hold it up.

Then he would start the process over again.

Fish to the side of the boat.

A grab to get a handle on it.

Pinning it to the side of the boat.

And sliding it over the gunwale.

Some of them he bear hugged.

And this one he actually gave a big yell of gratitude.

Then showed the fish off. At this point his stringer was growing with every big catch.

The only on the left is the cull. The one on the right was the latest catch.

And it wouldn’t be long before he would be hooked up again.

And he would be on his knees again.

Reaching for another keeper.

Some of which fought every inch of the way.

But for the most part, Faircloth won every inch of the battle.

Culling consistently all day.

The only fishermen around him were muskie anglers, trolling by with their Planer boards cutting a path nearby.

All the while, Faircloth would be catching smallmouth.

Bringing the better ones on board.

And by mid-day smiling enough to show he knew he was having a special day.

All during the day fish were being caught.

Almost constantly, fish were getting the hook set on them.

And when Faircloth would dig around the trolling motor, we knew it would be one that would add to his total.

Those fish got special treatment at the side of the boat.

And in the case of this fish would be the one that gave him more than 20 pounds.

And gave Faircloth the idea that maybe he would win the day.

But he wouldn’t be through.

He would make more trips to the side of the boat.

Make more grabs at the side of the boat.

Bring more fish into the boat.

And continue building his weight.

By 2 p.m., Faircloth had amassed well over 21 pounds.

And for the final 45 minutes of fishing he would keep catching them.

And catching them.

His last catch at 2:30 provided him the margin he wound up with.

A fish that like the others of the day

Would be cradled into the boat.

Bear hugged and then added to the rest.

With the last one, he had enough. A quick thumbs up and a leisurely ride back with Faircloth thinking he just might have pulled it off.