Besides the pain and agony that the wind and waves have created for all the competitors, Chris Johnston and Paul Mueller are exchanging body shots at a regular pace.
This event looked like it was a two-horse race at the end of yesterday. But the wildcard was if the leaders could actually get to their spots in the lake.
Expectations were that those in the river had a chance to make up ground with a real chance the lake anglers wouldn’t make it back.
The lake remains violent and it’s getting worse. At present, it appears as if the lake is winning the day. Of the 14 catches at this point in the day, five of those are between Mueller and Johnston.
The remaining nine keepers are scattered around the seven anglers in the river.
At this point, the lake seems to be winning. But in events like this, especially in conditions like this anything can happen.
You can almost expect something to happen. I can remember several years ago when Aaron Martens won his last AOY title on Lake Erie, competing out of Detroit. He locked up that title on Saturday. Sunday he has the event won but was unable to get back to the weigh-in. A motor mount connecting his engine to his transom broke while battling the brutal conditions.
He scored a zero on that day after having to release 20 pounds plus into the lake.
It bears reminding, every fish caught doesn’t count until they get to the scales.