Patrick Walters has a 5-2 he caught at 7:57. Chris Johnston has a 5-0 as well. Scott Martin with the Phoenix Boats Big Bass with a 5-5. Other than these three fish and a couple of heavy 4s, it’s been a little slow for the Top 10. Well, for 9 of them, it’s been slow. One angler’s morning has completely stalled out.
Kyle Welcher clinched the 2023 Progressive Angler of the Year title yesterday. This morning, mechanical issues on his initial run sent him back to the service yard. After spotting the field an hour and a half, the hard-working pit crew had Welcher headed back out onto the water. Unfortunately, a mile into that run, issues again arose and Welcher is again headed to the service crew.
This is not the Championship Sunday Welcher wanted to say the least. But what a blessing for the AOY champ that it happened today and not yesterday. Had this happened yesterday, Brandon Cobb would have likely overtaken Welcher in the race and been crowned AOY instead. As much as Cobb would have no doubt loved the $100,000 payday that would have come along with it, he wouldn’t have wanted the title that way. It’s good that the race was decided on the water.
Welcher though is in contention for another hundred thousand this week, starting today a pound and an ounce back of Patrick Walters. In all reality, Walters really only has one fish on Welcher at the moment, his 5-2. The other two 3-pounders and 2-pounders he’s caught will need to be culled to win. So this isn’t nearly as big of a setback as it could be, but Welcher doesn’t know that. He’s no doubt spinning his wheels right now wanting to get back out there.
