PALATKA, Fla. — Cliff Prince found fish in practice on the St. Johns River. But the weather on the first day of the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite was totally different than the three-day practice period – clear skies, light winds and temperatures that warmed into the mid 60s. Apparently, that changed everything for Prince on this body of water that he knows better than every other angler in the 94-man field. He finished in 61st place on Day 1 with a five-bass limit weighing 8 pounds, 15 ounces.
“I was so mad by 9 o’clock,” Prince said. “I didn’t let it get the best of me, but they just weren’t where I thought they were going to be. I checked several places three times. I’ve got to let the tide get right in certain spots, and they just never showed up.”
The 52-year-old Palatka resident has been competing on the St. Johns River since he was 19. He’s come close to winning at an Elite Series event here, finishing 7th last year, 4th in 2020, 17th in 2019 and 6th in 2016. With the cold, rainy weather earlier this week seemingly bringing a halt to a massive spawning wave, it was commonly thought that this would be advantage Prince. He would know where to catch fish under less-than-ideal conditions.
“Practice was cloudy, windy, nasty,” he said. “In the places where I caught ‘em, I was worried about this weather (Thursday) – clear skies and the sun shining. Where I thought they were going to show up, they never showed up.
“These fish are already fed up for the spawn. They’re done with that. They’re just waiting for the right weather to go to the bank. They’re not worried about eating right now. They eat when they want to eat. You’ve just got to be there when they’re wanting to eat, and they didn’t eat for me (Thursday) – at all.”
Prince planned to regroup and do something totally different Friday. He just wasn’t sure what that was going to be after Thursday’s weigh-in.
“I’m not out of it,” Prince said. “I can go catch a 25-pound bag (Friday).”
He laughed and added, “No pressure now.”