“It doesn’t really matter that much yet.”
That was the response by Ott DeFoe to my question about losing ground to Jason Christie at Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefitting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
DeFoe, who led Toyota Angler of the Year early on this season, lost points at Sam Rayburn. Christie, coming off a seventh-place finish, gained ground.
Christie leads DeFoe by about 30 points going into Day 1 on Lake Dardanelle. It’s early in the tournament, but DeFoe is currently ranked third place according to BASSTrakk. Christie is 43rd.
At this point, everything should matter to DeFoe. The Elite Series makes a pivotal swing going down the home stretch with the final tournaments held in northern bass waters. Back-to-back events in New York and the regular season finale in Michigan mean an entirely different game.
DeFoe likely feels good about his chances coming up. He should. The Tennessean grew up fishing for smallmouth and there will be plenty of that to be had in the final swing.