Tariffs got you down? Want to be your own boss? Have I got a suggestion for you!
Move to Anderson, South Carolina, on the shores of Lake Hartwell, and open a store that sells three things: balance beams, digital fish scales and band-aids for roughed-up thumbs. This place is chock full of bass, and the vast majority of them are surprisingly close in weight.
The differences between 1st place and 2nd place grew from yesterday. Drew Cook previously led Paul Marks by a mere 1 pound 10 ounces. Today, on the strength of a 17-3 limit, he extended that to 2-8, still far too close for comfort. Meanwhile, Cook extended his lead over 10th place from 4-7 to 7-10.
With 55-8, Cook is averaging about 3 pounds 11 ounces per fish, while Jacob Powroznik (10th, 47-14) is averaging about 3-3. Meanwhile, a plain old 3-pound average landed Kyle Norsetter in 32nd.
What does all of that mean?
A couple of big bites for one and a slight stumble from another could upend the leaderboard.
Anyone who’s still fishing still has a chance.
Stay tuned for Day Four when this game of ounces should shake itself out.
Here’s what I saw and heard from the shores of one of tournament bass fishing’s most historically meaningful playing fields, and what I think might happen tomorrow (along with a few fun things just because):
Near and Far – Zero South Carolinians made the top ten. JT Thompkins (13th, 47-6) was highest ranking among them. Meanwhile, none of the international anglers made the cut to Sunday, either. Taku Ito (16th, 47-0) was the highest finisher among the nine of them. No one named Kyle or Brandon will compete here tomorrow.
Applicable Crash Davis Line — “Know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It’s 25 hits. 25 hits in 500 at bats is 50 points, okay? There’s 6 months in a season, that’s about 25 weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week – just one – a gorp… you get a groundball, you get a groundball with eyes… you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week… and you’re in Yankee Stadium.” Handful of 3-pounders will go a long way tomorrow, and fours and fives are golden.
More Baseball – We’re still pitching a perfect game, with 254 angler days so far, 254 limits. The giant bags didn’t show up today. There was only one limit over 18 pounds and five more over 17.
Group Action – Earlier this week, Steve Kennedy reported finding three bass in a single bed. Today leader Drew Cook said he saw seven going at it. As Chris Johnston (31st, 45-1) opined: “They like to party. They like to have fun. They kind of remind me of The Villages in Florida.”
Different Parts of the State – Oklahomans seem to like South Carolina waters, as evidenced by Jason Christie’s Classic win here, but Luke Palmer (4th, 50-14) also seems to find something in the water favorable. This is his fifth top ten in the Palmetto State – including a win at Santee. He also finished 4th at Santee and 8that Winyah Bay. This is the first time he’s achieved the feat here outside of the Low Country.
Patrick Walters (21st, 46-4) – “When you spend so much time here you know too many things.”
Young’uns – Between the eight true rookies and the 10 sophomores, 13 made the top 50, with eight of them finishing in the top 15. Five of them will fish tomorrow, including four rookies.
Bill Lowen – “That mud came in and kind of goobered it up.” He’d been running far upriver and catching his fish on a buzzbait. He caught 10-5 today and fell from 38th to 48th. His finishes have gotten worse with every event this year – made possible by the fact that he won the season-opener – but he’s yet to miss a cut to Day Three and is on track to qualify for his first Bassmaster Classic since 2021.
AOY Separation – Jay Przekurat (6th, 50-0) is the only angler who entered the event in the top ten in AOY who will be competing tomorrow. Five more of them made the cut to Saturday, but other than Shane LeHew in 22nd, none cracked the top 30 in the leaderboard.
Caleb Kuphall – “If you’re going to trainwreck, today is definitely the day to o it.” He weighed in the week’s smallest limit, 6-12, and fell from 20th to 50th. He’s made all four top 50 cuts this season.
Back on Track – After finishing 43rd or better in eight of nine Opens, Andrew Loberg’s Elite career started off disastrously with three finishes of 87th or worse, which put him in the bottom 10 in AOY. We’ll see if this week’s 15th place finish marks the start of a turnaround. Notably, he’s gotten better with each finish. Meanwhile, Emil Wagner didn’t start that poorly, but after finishing in the top 12 in five of 10 Opens, we expected more than finishes of 33rd, 69th and 60th. This is his first top ten and probably not the last, maybe not even this season.
Taku Ito – “Today I found largemouth Disneyland.” He caught 14-12 and rose from 21st to 16th. It’s his third check of the Elite Series season and best finish so far.
Moving on Up – Bryant Smith had his best bag of the tournament and they best of the day with 18-13 and rose from 48th to 12th, gaining valuable points. Hade he made the top ten it would have been his first one since he finished 4th at Lake Champlain in 2023.
Gerald Swindle – “I threw at the only blind one out there.” He (Swindle, not the blind fish) weighed in 10-6 today and dropped to 47th.
Close Doesn’t Count – Six anglers missed the cut to Sunday by less than a pound. Eight more missed it by 2 pounds or less.
An Age Thing – Randy Howell (5th, 50-5) is the oldest member of the top ten, as he’ll be 52 later this year. Two members of the top ten were born the same year as Howell’s older son Laker. Easton Fothergill (7th, 49-14) was born the following year and Wesley Gore (9th, 48-11) was born the year earlier. Six of the top ten are 26 years or younger.
Kyle Patrick (36th, 44-1) Channeling Steven Tyler – “I love pink and I love worms.”
Mr. Consistency — Jordan Lee finished 19th with 46-6. When he won the Bassmaster Classic here in 2018, he weighed in 11 ounces more over three competition days.
Just a Bit Outside – Trey McKinney missed the cut to Sunday by virtue of a tiebreaker, as he had the same weight (47-14) as 10th place angler Jacob Powroznik. It would have been his fourth top ten including the Classic. Still, in his 13th Elite Series event he has nine top 25 finishes, including six top tens.
Schadenfreude – “Thankfully it was a little bit tougher on everybody today,” said Randy Howell.
Ups and Downs – Zero members of this week’s top ten have seen their weights go up every day so far. Three of them have seen their weights decrease each subsequent day – Paul Marks, Jay Przekurat and Wesley Gore. Randy Howell had 21-11 the first day, then turned in back-to-back 14-5 performances.
Knowledge is Good – Emil Wagner is now my second favorite Emil, after Emil Faber.
