With just under 3-pounds separating our final-day 10, and basically 1 pound between the top five, this is one of, if not the closest final-days in Elite Series history.
We often sit around and talk about the potential of a tie. It’s an exercise more than anything, but for the first time, it appears as if it could be a real possibility even before the day gets going.
It will be close. That makes it exciting. Worth watching every second, knowing that every ounce is critical.
It should go down to the last minute. Lake Champlain will certainly serve up a show. All of these finalists will catch them. The winner, though, will likely be the man who catches the big bass of the day. He will still have to back it up with four solid keepers. But a 5- to 6-pounder will change the complexion of everything.
The big bass part of the day makes it a wild card. And that could hit any of these anglers at any time. Remember Aaron Martens in 2017. I think he was in 19th going into the final day.
The 10 here are likely happy there aren’t more fishing today. The only thing any of them can be certain of is they have a one in 10 chance of winning.
Like last week, the other thing to watch is the impact of the weather. It’s blowing harder today than any other. Some of the places these guys have leaned so hard on will likely get trashed and become unfishable. Others will benefit from the wind. There’s no design in that. You might plan for it but no guarantees. Getting around could be difficult enough.
In one sense it would be hard to script a better ending than this one.