It was the most unusual total weight you’ll ever see on a Bassmaster Elite Series leaderboard. Zeroes are common, especially at certain sites. But Skylar Hamilton’s minus 1 pound after Day 1 at Ross Barnett had some people, including me, scratching their heads.
“I’ve had more people ask me about that than anything about the tournament leaders,” said B.A.S.S. tournament director Trip Weldon.
The only bass Hamilton caught measured just short of the 14-inch minimum length limit. The penalty is 1 pound, and weight of the short fish doesn’t count, hence minus 1.
“It measured (14 inches) on my board twice,” said the 22-year-old Elite Series rookie from Dandridge, Tenn. “I knew it was going to be close. You don’t ever want to bring in a short fish, but I just wanted to start out with something.”
Hamilton has had a decent rookie season so far, with ups and downs typical of a newcomer on the Elite Series. He earned a $10,000 check in his first two tournaments, finishing 22nd at Lake Cherokee and 48th at Lake Okeechobee. Hamilton finished 41st in his first Bassmaster Classic. But he was 101st at Toledo Bend and last (109th) here. However, he did catch three bass totaling 6-4 on Day 2.
Hamilton is fishing from an aluminum Xpress Boat, which allowed him into some backwaters off the Pearl River headwaters of Ross Barnett where others couldn’t go. It could have been a good plan.
“I was bed fishing in those places,” he said. “I could get in there by crossing some sandbars and stumps and trees. I saw 20 pounds of fish. I spent two hours on a 6-pounder and didn’t catch her. Then I lost a 3-pounder. I left to go to another backwater area and the river had dropped where I couldn’t get in there. I had nowhere to go at that point. This is a bad place to have no place to go.”
Hamilton didn’t get his outboard above idle speed Friday. He idled out of the takeoff area, then put the trolling motor down to fish the riprap around the dam.
“I knew it was going to be windy, and there wasn’t any need for me to go up the river and get in everybody’s way,” he said.