“Wait until we get to the Sabine. That’s when we’ll see if these kids can fish without the scope.”
That’s what we’ve heard all season, and one day of one tournament is far from dispositive, but so far the “kids” are proving the doubters wrong. There are multiple anglers in the Top 10 who have been derided as overly dependent on their underwater eyes, and many of the all-time shallow water dirt devils are 90 spots below that.
They may have been using their forward-facing sonar to supplement what they’d found, but it probably wasn’t the dominant deal, especially in water that Tommy Sanders described as looking like a “good color for a roux.”
Apparently, it’s not as simple as the oversimplifiers want to make it.
This may turn out to be as much a mental game as it is a matter of technique. As Orange, Texas native Bum Phillips once quipped: “You don’t win by making sensational plays. You win by not making mistakes.”
Right now the field is tightly packed. The difference between 67th place and 26th place is light years in terms of getting paid, but only 2 pounds in terms of actual weight. Everybody’s still in it, as long as they don’t get spun out.
Here’s what I saw, thought and heard (other than the word “grind” 812,000 times) on a hot day on the river:
Mercer on Jay Przekurat (4th, 10-12) – “We’re still looking for his kryptonite.” Indeed, the AOY leader strengthened his hold on the pole position. He’s in 4th in this tournament, and the only other member of the Top 10 heading into the event who’s in the Top 10 at the Sabine is Kyoya Fujita. He came into this tournament in 7th in AOY and is currently in 8th place in the tournament. Five of the anglers who came in inside the Top 10 in AOY are outside of the top 50 cut after Day 1.
Double Digits – Seven anglers exceeded 10 pounds today. Stetson Blaylock (2nd, 11-5) was the 14th to weigh in and the first one to get there. “The only way to get past those tough tournaments is to keep fishing,” he said. He’d missed checks at both Hartwell and Fork, finishing 100th at the latter tournament. Przekurat, the 29th angler to weigh in, was the next one to go double digits. He said it was his “best day ever on the Sabine River and the two biggest fish I’ve caught on the Sabine River.” Carl Jocumsen (9th, 9-4) noted that he caught more weight today than he did at Lake Fork last week.
Jay Przekurat – “That is a point-six-eight.” Indeed, his first fish weighed less than 9 ounces, barely enough for a fish stick, but don’t think a fish of that size can’t be significant. By the end of the tournament someone is going to wish they’d had that midget, or an equivalent weight. It might be the difference of moving forward and possibly thousands of dollars. As Hunter Shryock said: “One bite, it’s going to change someone’s week.”
International Flair – The Top 10 features anglers from four different countries – the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia. Among the seven domestic fishermen there, two are from Wisconsin, two are from Arkansas, and two reside in Texas.
Justin Hamner (5th, 10-5) – “Four good ones and one that just didn’t want to let go.”
Texas Tornado – The two Texans in the Top 10 are Ben Milliken (6th, 10-3) and Dakota Ebare (T-10th, 9-2). Chris Zaldain is just an ounce behind Ebare. The widely-traveled and previously highly-successful Ebare has yet to make an Elite Series cut. At Fork, he ended Day 1 in 6th, but plummeted to 75th on Day 2.
Ben Milliken – “I caught three today that were bigger than anything I caught in practice.”
Winning Weight – Of the five times the Elites have visited the Sabine, the winning weight has always been between 43-15 and 50-0. Chris Lane hit that high-water mark in 2015. If leader Pat Schlapper can keep up the 12-2 pace over four days, he’ll have the third highest, behind Lane and Todd Faircloth’s 49-6 (2013). The 48-8 total would be 3 ounces higher than Greg Hackney’s winning weight in 2018.
John Cox (64th, 6-4) – “Go ahead and call in the pizza.” He’d just caught his first bass, estimated at 1-4, a little before 7:30am and breathed a sigh of relief.
Lightweights –Two of the top three lightest winning weights in Elite Series history came here on the Sabine, but the lightest in the tour’s 20 year ride was Kevin Short’s 43-3 on the Mississippi River out of Ft. Madison, Iowa in 2009. There is a chance of course that this week that record could be broken. The only angler who finished in the Top 10 when Short when who is competing in this event is Steve Kennedy, who finished 7th with 38-2. Now he’s in 85th with 4-2. Stephen Browning finished 5th in that event with 39-10. His son Beau, an Elite rookie, is in 42nd with 7-4.
K-Pink – Short used a number of different baits to win at Ft. Madison, but do you remember the crankbait he employed to clean up? It was a WEC E1 in Chartreuse Classic produced by the late Ed Chambers of Zoom.
Old School Lure Sighting – Mark Menendez (66th, 6-1) throwing a Snagless Sally. He’s not the first Elite I’ve seen using it in competition, though. I know Steve Kennedy likes them, and I believe Bernie Schultz is an adherent, too.
John Garrett (75th, 5-4) – “I’m a Day 2 comeback kind of guy.”
Past Success is No Guarantee of Future Performance – The three past Sabine winners in the field – Brock Mosley, Greg Hackney and Jason Christie – are in 71st, 93rd and 95th place, respectively.
JT Thompkins (T10, 9-2) – “This is the type of fishing I grew up doing my whole life on Winyah Bay.”
Cut Weight Math – Five anglers (Matt Arey, Ray Hanselman, Logan Latuso and Bryan Schmitt and Matty Wong) are tied for 47th with 7 pounds even, which makes them the last men inside the cut. Expect the cut weight after tomorrow to be right around 14 pounds, with a heavy dose of flip-flopping and a number of anglers sliding way up or way down the leaderboard. There are 16 anglers outside of the cut but within a pound of that mark. Assuming Pat Schlapper’s 12-2 may be the high-water mark of the tournament, any angler who could replicate that tomorrow might very well slide into Saturday. Right now there are only six anglers with less than 2 pounds.
Mike Iaconelli (60th, 6-9) – “I love the dynamics of a tough tournament.”
Lots of Fish – While it “wasn’t easy” (not gonna say the “G” word that rhymes with “bind”), lots of Sabine River bass came to the scales today. The top 39 anglers all had limits and there were 69 of them overall. Greg DiPalma (40th, 4 fish for 7-7) was the highest-ranking angler without a limit. The largest three-fish bag was Wesley Gore’s – he had 6-11 and is in 58th place. The smallest limit was Jacob Powroznik’s. His five bass weighed 5 pounds even and he’s in 76th.
‘Staches – It appears that Tim Dube (100th, 1-9) and Blake Capps (79th, 4-13) have swapped facial hair.
Keith Combs (90th, 3-4) – “If you’re looking for a challenge, this is the place to be.” Indeed, for some of the greatest anglers in bass fishing history, there was no joy in Mudville. There are multiple past Classic winners, multiple past AOYs and multiple past Sabine champs in the bottom ten.
