Bryan Schmitt (13th) and Brandon Card (3rd) have both made the comment today that they’re just “milling around”. Joey Cifuentes (likely in the lead) and Cooper Gallant (9th) are doing the same, drifting around somewhat aimlessly until they run into a wad of bigger fish. This is typical of St. Clair, which amounts to a big featureless bowl. But it’s hard to “drift aimlessly” when you put 22 pounds of smallmouth in the boat the previous day off a particular spot.
Still, this is how this tournament will be won. There’s no magic boulder or rock vein. There are just massive loners, or at most 2- or 3- fish schools of big bass, roaming around. And the anglers that are running into them the most are those that are willing to roam around as well.
Cifuentes just culled up with three back-to-back-to-back 4- and 1/2- pound smallmouth. He then showed his graph to the camera, saying he drifted all over and fished this and fished that, and then caught those three on almost consecutive casts.
The Arkansas native, Elite Series rookie and Elite Series Champion is on his way back to US waters, leaving Canada in the rearview for now and already fighting the urge no doubt to hunker down right where those three big bites came today. He’ll need to refrain though, if he wants to stay on the fish, cause they seem to be on the move here more than anything.
