Day 1 of the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at the St. Johns River brings many new things for rookie Jay Przekurat: New tournament format, new field of competitors and a new opportunity to expand his skills.
Not new? Cold weather.
Hailing from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Pzekurat’s no stranger to frosty mornings, like the nippy 32-degrees greeting today’s competitors.
In fact, when asked about Florida “cold,” he chuckled and dismissed the notion like an authentic New York pizzeria owner sneering at chain pizza.
“This is pretty normal for me; in fact, this is pretty warm by Wisconsin standards,” Pzekurat said. “Almost every other tournament we have mornings in the 20s and 30s. You just can’t let it get to your head.
“I do know that this weather kinda plays with these fish a little bit. But we are on a little bit of a warming trend and the sun’s out for the second day now. In practice, we never even saw the sun. I know Florida bass like the sun, so we’ll see what happens.”
Pzekurat said he plans to start near takeoff and flip shallow cover with a Strike King Rage Bug. The key, he said, will be paying attention to how the week’s weather shapes up and how fish respond.
“I think a guy’s gotta stay on track with what the fish are going to be doing over the course of today and tomorrow and then the next two days after that are going to be a lot different,” Pzekurat said. “My plan is to stay close and get some keepers in the boat. Once I get settled down and get comfortable and let the sun get up, I might make a run this afternoon.”