Granted he’s got a big mountain to climb, starting the day in 10th place, almost 11 pounds out of the lead. But Keith Combs climbed a big mountain yesterday, jumping 32 places in the standings with his 17-pound, 6-ounce bag.
And there was no one more confident of what he could do today than Combs. These cloudy skies are exactly what he needed to succeed in a big way.
“I’m cranking real deep, throwing big stuff,” Combs said. “I had a really good practice, but when it gets calm and sunny I don’t get any quality bites. (Saturday) I fished the same water and jacked ’em. I think the clouds helped more than the wind. We had that the first two days of practice and I did really good.”
Combs is a noted deep-cranking specialist. That’s how he won his first Elite Series tournament on Falcon Lake in 2013. And when Combs is on that bite, there’s no lead he can’t overcome, especially on a lake like Travis, which has already yielded 8-, 9- and 10-pounders this week.
“If I catch 24 or 25 pounds, I’d have a legitimate chance to win,” Combs said yesterday. “That’s the way I’m fishing. And that’s pretty much what it took to win any team tournament on this lake this year, or even more – 28 pounds.
“You take a bag like I had today, and you add a 10-pounder in there and you’re there. You cull a 2-pounder with a 10-pounder, and you’ve got eight more pounds.”
By 7:40 a.m. today, Combs already had a bag almost equal to what he had yesterday. He’d caught 13 bass, and the best five weigh 14-13.