Day 3 on the Bassmaster Elite Series is often referred to as moving day. The field is cut to the Top 50 anglers after two days and everyone left has guaranteed themselves at least a $10,000 payday. Sure, someone in the top 20 might try to play it a little safe to conserve AOY points and Classic berths. But this is the day anglers near the back of the pack typically go for broke to see if they can charge up the leaderboard to steal some points and possibly even make the Top 10.
Several have rallied big here on the Sabine. Matt Robertson has ridden one of the biggest bags of the day (11-6) up from 29th to 8th on BassTrakk. Clifford Pirch’s 11-pound, 14-ounce bag has moved him from 43rd into 12th, unofficially. Matt Herren is up from 24th to 13th. Drew Benton has come from 44th to 14th with his 11-pound bag. John Crews is up from 27th to 15th and Kyoya Fujita has gone from 37th to 16th.
For the haves to move up though, the have-nots have to fall. John Cox has gone from 12th to 39th for example. The DeBary, Florida native put the pressure on Brandon Cobb yesterday, after the former AOY leader’s rough outing on the Sabine caused him to slip behind Cox and new front-runner Kyle Welcher. But a tough Day 3 for Cox has allowed Cobb to ease back ahead of Cox without even making a cast.
Welcher looks like he may hold on to fish tomorrow, and he’ll leave the Sabine with the lead in the Progressive Angler of the Year race no matter what. Moving day is always exciting, and it has been again here today. Tune in to the weigh-in at 3 p.m. to see who moves the most.
