Elite

Big bass of Lake Fork

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Captions by
Mike Suchan
It was a given big bass would come in bunches during the Simms Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork. It was the fourth consecutive visit to the famed Texas fishery, and each time it took more than 100 pounds to win. Five Elite anglers previously earned Century Belts, and more were expected on this visit, especially with low water bunching the fish. For the Jack Link’s Hook the Beast, let’s look at what those beasts meant to the anglers fortunate enough to land them.
Phoenix Boats owner Gary Clouse caught this 8-pound, 10-ounce largemouth relatively early on Day 1, when 85 of the 92 anglers filled five-fish limits despite strong gusts. The field caught 447 fish totaling 1,676-5 for an average weight of 3-12. It went down slightly on Day 2 to 3-10, then grew to 4-2 on Day 3.
Only one bass measuring above the slot (16 to 24 inches) could be brought in by each angler, and Clouse’s 8-10 was one of three on the day. Problem for Clouse was he only caught four fish totaling 18-11, which combined with Friday’s one for 5-13 left him 83rd. He did receive the $1,000 bonus his company pays for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day.
Daisuke Aoki landed this 7-12 “over” that was more than a third of his 21-6. With 17-8 on Day 2, Aoki made the cut and finished 33rd after 18-10. In honor of B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott, who died May 8 at 88 years old, the Elite anglers donned cowboy hats similar to Scott’s iconic headwear.
Oklahoma’s Luke Palmer had an “over” on Thursday, an 8-2 that was the bulk of his 18-13. It was one of 13 fish topping 7 pounds on the day, but Palmer was behind the eightball in 38th — 33 anglers eclipsed 20 pounds on the day, with the Top 10 all over 25 pounds. Palmer, who took 11th on Fork in 2019, made the cut but could only move as high as 44th.
Bill Lowen brought this 8-8 to the stage at the Sabine River Authority facility in his Day 1 limit weighing 24-12, good for 12th. Lowen followed it up with 20-6 before his best day of 26-3 that pushed him into Championship Sunday at ninth. Needing 28-15 to earn a belt, Lowen gave it a valiant effort but came up short with 96-12, good for eighth.
Rookie Matty Wong caught a 7-14, which, along with several 5-pounders, gave him Day 1’s fifth-best weight of 27-11. With a Bassmaster LIVE camera on Day 2, Wong couldn’t elicit any more bigs to bite and had less than half his first-day weight at 13-6. He finished strong with 22-5 to climb to 23rd and made a move in the Falcon Rods Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race.
Lee Livesay, who won on his home waters in the 2021 Elite at Fork, started fast, taking his first lead with 15 pounds less than an hour into the day. With 28-11, he took back the BassTrakk lead at 8:50 a.m. and culled to 32-0 before noon. It sure looked like he’d have the best opening round, but no one saw the real leader coming.
There were only a handful of anglers whose BassTrakk wasn’t registering, and Cliff Prince was one of them. He came in with an astounding 32-5 to take the Day 1 lead. Prince said his biggest was a 7-15 and the smallest a 5-9, but he never found that quality again, completing the event in 20th after 18-6 and 14-9. Prince’s weight held on for the $2,000 VMC Monster Bag bonus, and he climbed 16 spots in Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings to 56th, where he’s about 30 points back of making his fourth Classic.
While one big bass is helpful, two just doubles the pleasure. Marc Frazier experience that on Day 2 when he landed lunkers weighing 7-6 and 7-7. They helped him weigh 25-5 and climb from 31st to 12th. Frazier’s weights increased each day, his 26-4 sending him into Championship Sunday in seventh.
Big bass can turn an event around. Kenta Kimura was outside the cut in 54th with 16-11 before Friday’s rally, which started with this 7-0. He came in with the fourth biggest limit of the day at 28-1 to catapult him into 18th. Another decent five weighing 23-0 saw Kimura finish 14th, which lifted him 17 AOY spots to 32nd.
Bryan New had a decent first day at 23-7, but he rolled up some big numbers in catching Day 2’s second biggest limit. New had bass weighing 7-1, 7-5 and 6-3 in totaling 28-14, which propelled him into third. New topped 23 pounds the next two days to finish sixth with 98-14, one good bite from a Century Belt.
Tyler Rivet brought in an over, and the 8-pounder helped him stay in the 20s with a second bag topping 20 pounds. Rivet totaled 66-15 to finish 15th, moving up to 21st in AOY and putting some distance between himself and the Classic bubble.
Like he had in 2019, Chad Pipkens landed the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 2 at 8-11. It was the exact same weight as his “new personal best” that helped Pipkens lead in 2019 with 62-14. This time, his 8-11 helped Pipkens build a 27-8 limit that pushed him up 28 spots to 11th. With his second limit under 20 pounds on Day 3, Pipkens missed the Top 10 cut that required 70 pounds.
There was a lot of weighing in Brandon Palaniuk’s boat on Day 2. He had three fish give him almost 20 pounds — 6-2, 6-8 and 6-13 — in cobbling the biggest limit of the day with 30-1. Happy to be second just 4 pounds back of Livesay, Palaniuk also was stoked to record his first 30-pound day in competition.
On Day 3, Canadian Jeff Gustafson landed this beast tipping the scales at 8-9 and earning him the Phoenix Boats’ $1,000 daily bonus. After two 18-pound days, Gussy totaled 26-3 to finish 24th, which put him inside the Classic cut in the AOY standings at 34th.
Joshua Stracner, the 2021 Falcon Rods Rookie of the Year, hadn’t had the greatest start to his sophomore campaign, but he started Day 3 with a bang. Behind a 7-7 and 6-9, Stracner had 28-3 and the lead 40 minutes into fishing. A late 6-10 gave him 30-10, the fourth and final limit eclipsing 30 pounds at Fork this time. Stracner started 48th with 17-2, moved to 20th with 27-0 and began Championship Sunday in fifth, just 25-4 from 100 pounds. He had 23-2 to total 97-14 and finish seventh, which saw him climb 27 AOY spots to 43rd.
Gerald Swindle was in the hunt from Day 1, when he had the third-best limit at 29-7, built from 5- and 6-pound catches throughout the day. He fell to fourth on Day 2 with 22-5, but climbed back in hunt with 29-2 on Semifinal Saturday. Swindle, who has never won an Elite, had a 6-10 as his biggest on the day and even took a brief lead with a total of 73-9 at 8:30. Swindle started the final round in third with 80-14, just 19-2 from his second Century Belt. In 2007, Swindle totaled 105-8 at California’s Clear Lake.
Palaniuk, who nabbed the lead in the AOY standings at Fork, had bigger things on his mind. With 27-13 on Day 3, he actually gained half a pound on Livesay. He went into Championship Sunday just 15-9 from earning his first Century Belt, but more importantly, he was just 3-8 back of Livesay as he vied for his seventh B.A.S.S. tournament title.
Livesay and Palaniuk traded the lead from 10 a.m. until Livesay landed this 8-2 at 12:08. It came just minutes after Palaniuk culled up to 27-13 on the day for his three-day total of 84-7. Livesay had a 27-5 limit for 87-15, putting him just 12-1 away from his second Century Belt. Livesay won at Fork in 2021 with 112-5, bolstered by a final day 42-3.
On Championship Sunday, all 10 anglers were within 30 pounds of reaching the Century Club, but a smaller group had a legitimate chance of winning. Tenth-place Derek Hudnall needed 30-0 to reach 100, but started the day 17-15 back of Livesay. Frazier, who needed 27-8 for a belt, got off to a great start with this 8-12, which earned him $2,000 as the daily and overall Phoenix Boats Big Bass. Alas, Frazier came up just short, his 26-9 giving him 99-1 and fifth place.
Although he doesn’t have a blue trophy, Swindle has two AOY titles and an Opens championship as well as that series’ record weight. Wife LeAnn reminds G-Man that he is a force, which he might have taken to heart after a slow morning. The top three, Livesay, Palaniuk and Swindle, struggled early while most of the field topped 20 pounds.
Shane LeHew reached the final day in sixth place with 72-15, needing a day better than his best of 26-11 to reach 100 pounds. A 7-5 got LeHew off to a good start, and he had a limit before landing this 8-5 that put him oh-so-close. A 3-12 at 1:21 gave LeHew the big bag of the day at 27-10 and a four-day total of 100-9.
Palaniuk and Swindle, who’ve been close allies for year, shared the YETI hot seat on the Bassmaster stage after tying. That’s right, both totaled 102-2, with Palaniuk taking second because he had a bigger bag. Palaniuk’s school near the dam had scattered, and he had to work hard to get his 17-11. A 2-pounder at 11:34 put him over 100. Swindle was in for worse torture. A 6-13 at 12:40 put him 1 ounce away from the belt at 99-15. Bassmaster LIVE ended so fans couldn’t witness his 4-11 catch at 2:42 that put him over 100. There are now 52 instances of 100 pounds accomplished by 36 anglers, and Swindle became the 11th with more than one belt.
Needing two good bites on the day, Livesay caught smalls but earned his second belt with a 4-5, his limit fish, at 10:39. Worrying about defending his title, Livesay sweated it out but had a great afternoon, including an 8-3 that gave him 25-12 and his 113-11 total. Fork moved into second for most Century Belts awarded with nine, all in the past four years. Falcon leads with 15, Santee Cooper, which added two this year, has eight, Clear Lake seven, Amistad six, Guntersville five and one each at Okeechobee and Kissimmee.

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