Julie Roumbanis has tried to keep up with her husband, Fred, via BASSTrakk over the years. The sharp-witted Ms. Roumbanis once said, “BASSTrakk is like a cheatin’ boyfriend. Nothing but lies, lies, lies.”
There is some truth, and a lot of humor, in what she says. But the inexactness of BASSTrakk is also part of its beauty. It takes all the drama out of the weigh-in every year when the Elite Series holds a tournament where the bass are officially weighed and released immediately after they’re caught. What you see on BASSTrakk then is exactly what you get at the weigh-in.
A week ago in La Crosse, Wis., there was the ultimate “Cheatin’ Boyfriend” weigh-in. Jacob Powroznik appeared to be in the driver’s seat on the final day, when the top six anglers began less than 1 3/4 pounds apart. After the anglers checked in, BASSTrakk showed Powroznik with 17 pounds, 5 ounces, and Ish Monroe with 12-8.
As you may remember, Powroznik’s estimate was slightly high, by 9 ounces, and Monroe’s was extremely low, by 3 pounds, 10 ounces. Monroe surprisingly won the tournament, by a mere 11 ounces over Powroznik.
Could we have another “BASSTrakk/Cheatin’ Boyfriend” weigh-in today? It’s possible, as long as Mark Daniels Jr. stays stuck on the 11 1/2 pounds he’s been on for hours. The person most likely to upset him is Clifford Pirch, who has an estimated 18 1/2 pounds – “estimated” being the key word. Their totals have Daniels with a 3-pound, 15-ounce lead.
Remember, many variables go into BASSTrakk numbers, which are only intended to be estimates. It’s a general snapshot of the day, not the exact picture, which only comes into focus at the weigh-in, when the cheatin’ boyfriend is put to a lie-detector test, so to speak.