Chad Pipkens put on quite a show in landing his second smallmouth bass of the day. Let his marshal, Rick Moore, explain both this photo and how Pipkens ended up with a bass in his hand and a bait in the bill of his cap:
“This is so wrong in so many ways…and so right at the same time! Chad flipped his second fish, and she was bigger than he thought. She hit the gunnel, bounced up, landed in the boat. At the same time the topwater bait snapped loose, hit him in the sunglasses and lodged in his hat. All was good in the end!”
Pipkens started the day in 34th place. He would seem to be a longshot to make Sunday’s top 10 final, until you examine how tight the weights are here. Pipkens’ two-day total was 35-14, but that was only 2-10 out of 10th place. Anyone in today’s top 45 semifinalists could make Sunday’s top 10. The standings are that tight after two days at Lake Champlain.