Second-year Elite Series pro Brock Mosley has a unique perspective for this tournament on his “home lake.” He lives in nearby Collinsville, Miss., about an hour’s drive, and has spent considerable time here over the last eight or nine years.
Mosley knows the finicky nature of “The Rez” better than anyone in this field. He said before the tournament that he would be interested to see how this event unfolded. There are plenty of one- and two-day tournaments on Ross Barnett throughout the year, but these four-day major events are infrequent. It’s that combination of a finicky lake and a four-day tournament that piqued Mosley’s interest.
So what has grabbed his attention after two days?
“I’m kind of surprised how well some of these guys caught ’em again (Friday),” Mosley said. “I’m still waiting for these guys to run out of fish. I believe it’s going to happen sooner or later.”
For Mosley to make the Top 12 cut for Sunday, it needs to happen sooner, as in today. He doesn’t need many other anglers to falter. Mosley has put together days of 14-10 and 12-3 for a 21st-place total of 26-13. That’s put him less than 3 pounds out of 12th place entering today.
“I still think if you average 13 or 14 pounds a day, you’re going to make it to the final day,” Mosley said. “And I still think 15 pounds a day will be close to winning this thing.”
Mosley got a full season of exposure to the quality of Elite Series anglers last year. But this week has given him a new angle, because of how well he knows Ross Barnett and its up-and-down nature.
“Just the consistency of them still catching fish is surprising to me,” Mosley said. “But these guys are the best in the world for a reason.”