Another day, another 30 pound bag for 2023 Elite Series Angler of the Year Kyle Welcher at the Pasquotank River.
To put that in a bit of perspective, over the course of two days of competition, only 16 other anglers out of the field of over 100 cumulatively matched or exceeded his Day One weight of 30 pounds 11 ounces. Only two more than that topped his Day Two weight of 30-3.
He’s just about lapping the field. His lead over the current second-place angler, Trey McKinney, is an even 22 pounds.
These runaways seem to be par for the course in 2025. Bill Lowen led by 7-14 after Day Two on the St. Johns before seeing that lead shrink on Day Three and again on Day Four, but he prevailed. Brandon Palaniuk led by nearly 10 pounds after Day Two on Okeechobee, extended it to 18-plus on Day Three, and then cruised to victory by 15-13.
Likewise, at the three-day Classic, Easton Fothergill led by eight and a half pounds going into the final round, and preserved that lead through the end.
Lowen’s was the only nail-biter, as he edged runner-up Jay Przekurat by 4 ounces. Still, he closed it out. The obvious point is that it pays to be the lead dog.
Right now it looks like nothing can stop Welcher, but two days on big waters loaded with big fish make for a strange and malleable chessboard.
Here’s what I saw, thought and heard from Day Two on the Pasquotank River as I dined on a steady diet of Pimento Cheese sandwiches:
Early Bird – Welcher did his damage early, catching one giant early and another around 10:30, then making a solid late cull at 11:43. In a classic case of the rich getting richer, that meant not only that there was little chance he’d miss his check-in time, but also that he’d have time to practice, explore and experiment. It minimized the pressure and maximized the potential upside of his tournament going forward. “We found a couple of extra places,” he said.
River Rat – I’m not sure that I can characterize Welcher as having a particular fishing style, but rivers seem to suit him well. Of his six Elite top tens, four have been on river systems – the St. Johns, the St. Lawrence, and the Sabine twice. Unless something seriously unexpected happens, this should be number five. His best prior finish in the Carolinas was 2nd place at the 2022 Classic on Hartwell. His best prior regular season finish in the Carolinas was 18th at Lake Murray in 2023. There’s a good chance he could skip tomorrow and still beat that latter mark.
Buy a Vowel – After two days of fishing the Pasquotank, Jay Przekurat stated that “I finally got the pronunciation right.” For someone whose name has likely been confusing teachers, baristas and other bingo-callers for decades, that’s kind of like the pot and the kettle.
Cut Weight – Yesterday’s 50th place angler was Scott Canterbury with 11-07. Today’s cut weight ended up being 23-11 – two times the first day’s mark, plus 14 ounces, well within the normal range. Seven anglers finished in the top 50 despite not catching a limit each day, with Easton Fothergill (7th, 9 fish for 34-9) the highest-ranked among them.
Tyler Williams (4th, 37-9 – “I was just hoping to gather 20 to 30 points coming into this event. We got that and then some. He may be a longshot to win, but he’s only 1-5 out of second.
Twenties – We had the same number of 30 pound bags today as on Day One, with leader Kyle Welcher producing the only one each day, but the number of twenty-plus pound bags went up. Yesterday there were two besides Welcher (Easton Fothergill, Trey McKinney). Today there were three (Drew Benton, Chris Johnston, Greg DiPalma). Only three anglers other than Welcher have topped 17 both days – Jacob Foutz (3rd, 38-2), Tyler Williams (4th, 37-9) and Brandon Lester (5th, 36-5). Chris Johnston moved up 70 places today and DiPalma moved up 77.
Kyle Welcher – “This might be my new favorite place to fish.”
Deuce – Trey McKinney (2nd, 38-14) has a lot of ground to make up if he’s going to claim his second Elite win, but he’s on a pretty impressive streak. If he can hold position, he’s on pace for his third consecutive top ten (including the Classic) and his fourth in the last five events. Last year he had four of them. The best other than the win at Lake Fork was his 3rd place finish at the St. Lawrence.
Caleb Sumrall (86th, 17-0) – “I want another crack at it. It sets up for a Louisiana boy to a T.”
Double Dipping – Greg Hackney’s 8-4 was the big fish of the day and big fish of the tournament so far. He broke it off yesterday and got some revenge, but the key for him was moving up from 90th to 58th. “That was the main thing,” he said. “Just to salvage the entire season.”
Home Cooking – Out of six current North Carolina residents, Shane LeHew (9th, 33-3) and Jake Whitaker (12th, 32-4) were the only ones to make the cut. Former North Carolinians Randy Howell (57th, 22-4) and Bryan New (88th, 16-3) also missed the top 50. Howell, the 2014 Bassmaster Classic winner, has yet to make a cut since coming back to the Elite Series this season.
Beau Browning (82nd, 17-10) – “I can’t wait to watch BASS Live and see how many times I went wrong.”
Speaking of Double Thirties – My favorite episodes of “30 for 30” include “The Best That Never Was,” “The U,” “Broke” and “You Don’t Know Bo” – but the all-time best is “Phi Slama Jama” (special shout out to Stevie Wright, who knows what to do when you drop a dime on him.)
Wesley Gore – “Yesterday I speared one and washed my contacts out and it ruined my whole day.”
First Years – Three of eight of the “true rookies” made the cut, with Fothergill and Tucker Smith (28th, 28-8) being the highest-ranked among them. Meanwhile, three finished 82nd or worse, with former Rookie of the Year race leader Evan Kung ending up 98th after blanking yesterday.
Super Sophomores – Six of last year’s ten rookies are in the top 50, with three – McKinney (2nd), Tyler Williams (4th) and Kyle Patrick (6th) in the top ten.
Hank Cherry (59th, 22-2) – “I hope we can come back a little later when the Frog-O-Rama is going on.”
A Pile of Kyles – All three Kyles in the field made the cut, with Welcher in 1st, Patrick in 6th and Norsetter in 45th. Meanwhile, Brandon Lester (5th, 36-5) is the only one of his namesakes who will be competing tomorrow. Palaniuk (78th, 18-14), Card (95th, 12-13) and Cobb (97th, 11-5) all struggled here.
Matt Robertson Tests the Limits, Uno – (When asked why he didn’t make it back yesterday) “It ain’t cause I ain’t got a set on me.”
Matt Robertson Tests the Limits, Dos – “I thought I was getting waterboarded in Vietnam.”
Gussy’s Struggles – Past Classic winner Jeff Gustafson has now missed the first three cuts of the year. He last struggled like this when he finished 78th, 59th, 68th and 51st to close out the 2023 season. The main difference was that he’d already qualified for the 2024 Classic by winning the one before. There’s no doubt that he desperately wants to qualify for next year’s big dance in Knoxville, where he’s won twice, but it’ll take some heavy lifting to get there.
Pet Sounds – As far as I heard, no one mentioned a pet raccoon on stage today. We may have hit our season’s quota with one each from David Mullins and Buddy Gross yesterday.
Gerald Swindle – “You could be in the Titanic. It’s still rough.” For the record, the Titanic sank.
