Elite Analysis — Day 1 Lake Fork

Jay Przekurat caught a 9-pound, 14-ounce Lake Fork bass today, the biggest so far of the 2025 Tackle Warehouse Elite Series tournament on the storied Texas fishery.

But he’s hoping that’s, at best, the third most significant achievement on his to-do list this week. He’s currently in third place in the tournament, 2-9 behind leader Buddy Gross, and 1-3 behind last year’s winner Trey McKinney. If the young Wisconsinite can keep it up, he may very well win his second Elite Series trophy, and fourth professional B.A.S.S. title. That’s the immediate goal.

But now, in his fourth season on tour, he’s very much on track to find some bigger fish to fry. Specifically, he’d love to win the Progressive Angler of the Year award. He entered this tournament leading that race. The anglers immediately behind him lost ground, including the third through seventh place hammers, all of whom are currently outside of the Top 50 cut. The only angler previously inside the Top 10 who gained ground was McKinney. He was in eighth place in the race heading into Fork and currently sits one spot ahead of the Przekurat in the tournament.

There’s a lot of fishing left to go – indeed, at the conclusion of tomorrow’s weigh-in we’ll be at exactly the halfway point of the season – but the ball is firmly in Przekurat’s court. After the Sabine River, where he finished 40^th last year, and Tenkiller, which is something of an unknown, they’ll close out with two derbies up north. Home cooking is no guarantee of success – as evidenced by the fact that pre-Fork tournament favorite Lee Livesay is in 83^rd – but I wouldn’t bet against the soon-to-be 26-year-old Przekurat. It’ll take a combination of an exceptional effort by someone else, and a few stumbles by the leader, for something to happen – and the kid just doesn’t stumble much.

Here’s what I saw, heard and thought from one of the most remarkably consistent big bass factories in tournament history. Just like Przekurat, you can wait for Fork to stumble, but it rarely demonstrates anything less than excellence.

Big Bags – There were six limits over 30 pounds, and it took 25-5 to make the Top 20. Fiftieth place is held down by Matt Arey with 20-1. During last year’s February/March Elite event on Fork, there were 14 Day 1 bags over 30 pounds, and Arey amassed the last 25-pound bag and sat in 32^nd. Luke Palmer was in 50^th with 21-11. The Day 2 cut weight was 42-15, just 7 ounces less than two times the Day 1 mark. Figure that tomorrow it should be somewhere between 40 and 41 pounds.

Historical Comparison —Not to take anything away from those marks, but at the legendary Falcon event in 2008, on Day 1 there was a 42-pound bag, 17 more over 30 pounds, and it took 24-11 to stay in 50^th (Mark Menendez). The next day’s cut weight was 49-07, just an ounce over twice the first day weight.

Hunter Shryock (43^rd, 20-7) – “It was the most stressful day of catching 20 pounds I’ve ever had.”

Buddy’s Back – Leader Buddy Gross had a solid career at FLW, then showed flashes of greatness when he came to the Elites, winning a tournament on Eufaula in 2020 and another on the Harris Chain two years later. He also finished 11^th in AOY in that rookie season. However, it’s been a downhill slog since then. Over the subsequent years his AOY finishes got worse each season – from 11^th to 25^th to 30^th, to 87^th to 99^th last year. He entered the Fork tournament in what must have been a frustrating 87^th place. He’s struggled to even make cuts. He finished 50^th at Okeechobee earlier this year, entering Day 3 and that position and remaining there. Other than that, his last cut was when he finished 25^th here at Fork last year. Before that it was the Sabine in 2023, where he finished 48^th.

The Streak Continues – Trey McKinney (second, 32-5) has caught at least 30 pounds on every Elite Series tournament day he’s fished on Fork – a total of five in a row.

Keith Combs (69^th, 15-14) – “We’ll get back in that cut.”

Zaldain Splits the Middle – Chris Zaldain (23^rd, 23-11) has been very open about his performance struggles this year, even enlisting a sports therapist on his podcast recently to discuss strategies for rebounding. There couldn’t be a better place for that to happen than Fork, where he’s earned a check each of the five times the Elites have visited in recent years. However, like Keith Combs and Lee Livesay, he likely won’t be satisfied with anything less than a Top 10. In the 2019, 2020 and 2021 events, he finished 13^th, 13^th and 5^th. In the last two, however, he was 40^th and 36^th. He earned checks, but those tournaments probably left him with a pit in his stomach. Now he’s 23^rd. He’ll likely make it to at least Saturday, but the big question during a frustrating season has to be whether he’ll just make the cut line, or whether he’ll survive until Sunday.

Fruit Bats Doing Fruit Bat Things – Kyle Patrick (16^th, 25-15) once again took an unintended swim. “Bill Dance has a ‘T’ on his hat,” emcee Dave Mercer said. “You just fall in the water.”

Llama Drama – Like Zaldain, Minnesotan and past AOY Seth Feider (12^th, 27-10) has found Fork to be much to his liking, with five straight checks. Also like Zaldain, however, he was strongest in those first three (12^th, 11^th and 6^th) and then backslid a bit to 25^th and 41^st in subsequent Fork tournaments. Now he’s in 12^th, just over a pound out of the Top 10. If he can move up, it’ll be his second Elite Top 10 in three events (he was eighth at the Pasquotank). That’ll feel good after earning none last year, and one each of 2023 and 2022. Indeed, it will help him make a legit run at AOY for the first time since he won the title in 2021. Next up is the Sabine, where he hasn’t missed a check since 2015, and then the tour goes north where he should be very comfortable. Indeed, like Przekurat, he’s a past winner on St. Clair, although neither did it in a regular season Elite event.

Keep ‘em Coming – Last year, Fork produced 10 Century Belts. No one will be surprised if the same thing happens this time around. The 11^th place angler may be disappointed to be on pace for that achievement and not get an opportunity to pursue it. So might some others below him, for that matter.

Combs Needs to Climb – Tomorrow is likely a critical day for the 2025 hopes of Keith Combs, who circled this one on his calendar as soon as the schedule was announced and then entered the event in 46^th in AOY. He’s fished nine Classic, the last of them in 2023, and the last one he made through the Elites was in 2020. Obviously, he knows how to catch big bags in Texas, and while he’s in 69^th now with 15-14, that’s just over 5 pounds out of the cut. Anyplace else it might seem undoable, but on Fork someone (or several someones) is going to come from way back tomorrow to make the cut.

Not Taking Chances — There were high expectations for non-rookie-rookie Dakota Ebare, but through four Elite Series tournaments he’d yet to make a cut to Day 3. He hadn’t missed by much, finishing between 51^st and 61^st each time, but close does not pay any bills. Today, his best five weighed 30-1, and he’s in sixth, just a little over a pound out of third. Obviously, if he holds that position, it’ll be his best Elite finish. His best finishes in the 2024 Opens were third at Lake Martin and fourth at Santee Cooper.

Bryan Schmitt (54^th, 19-7) – “Played it safe today. Didn’t work.”

First and Second Year Battle – Two rookies, Paul Marks (5^th, 30-13) and Easton Fothergill (9th, 29-3), are in the Top 10. So are two sophomores, Trey McKinney (2^nd, 32-5) and John Garrett (10^th, 28-12). Six of eight rookies are inside the Top 50, as are seven of 10 sophs.

Sandbagger Lingo – “It ain’t easy” is the new functional equivalent of “It’s a grind.” Also similar: “It looks good on paper.”

Brandon Palaniuk (7^th, 29-6) – “I caught six bass today. My other one was about a pound and a quarter.” That one cull moved him up approximately six places.

All My Exes – Ebare leads the Texans in sixth, and if you include transplants Ben Milliken (40^th, 21-0) and Chris Zaldain (23^rd, 23-11), four of seven are inside the 50 cut. If you don’t include them, then only two of five are inside. The average position among the seven is 53^rd.

John Garrett – “I think all five of my weigh fish came fishing five different ways.”

The Name Game – Three of four Brandons and two of three Kyles are inside the Top 50. Two of the Brandons – Palaniuk and Lester – are in seventh and eighth, respectively.

Greg Hackney (38^th) – “The cool thing about this place is, just around the corner there’s always 30 pounds.”

Paul Marks, Master of Understatement – “It was pretty epic out there.” I guess once they’ve earned a Happy Gilmore check, even the most wide-eyed rookies become difficult to impress.