Elite

Big Bass of Lake Seminole

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It was a quick turnaround for the 104 anglers from Lake Okeechobee to the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole. The fishery on the Florida-Georgia border holds great history in the development of B.A.S.S., and of course, the second stop produced big bass.
Minnesota’s Austin Felix brought in one of those big bass on Day 1, when 102 anglers had limits and the average fish weighed just over 2 pounds, 12 ounces. Felix’s bass, which weighed 7-3, came in a limit of 19-4 that put him in eighth place. Felix had 19-2 to move into fourth on Day 2 then stumbled with 12-4 to finish 13th, way better than his 82nd at Okeechobee.
Rookie John Soukup’s best bass was almost exactly half his Day 1 weight of 14-1, which had him in 47th. Without a kicker on Day 2, the Oklahoman weighed 12-10 and fell to 61st. That 7-pounder salvaged some points for Soukup, who might look back and consider it a key to his season if he climbs from 88th in the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings to Classic qualification.
Local favorite Drew Benton had a 6-pounder in his limit of 20-6, the smallest of five bags topping 20 pounds on Day 1. He experienced much slower days, coming in with 13-1 then 14-12 to finish a disappointing 22nd. His road mate Drew Cook, another who grew up fishing on Seminole, couldn’t find the big bite and finished 32nd.
Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga., stood fourth after his 20-11 on Day 1, but like many of those early leaders, he experienced a dropoff. Frazier managed only half that weight, 10-4, dropping into the 30s before finishing 36th.
Jonathan Kelley had a big of 5-9 in his Day 1 limit weighing 20-12, good for third. Kelley, of Old Forge, Pa., hung around the Top 10 with 15-8 on Friday but dropped to 21st with 11-15 on Semifinal Saturday.
Australian Carl Jocumsen, who began the year with a sixth-place finish on Okeechobee, was at it again, holding second place with a bag of 21-6. Jocumsen’s biggest bass went 5-9, and it had friends. 
The biggest bag of the day came from rookie Will Davis Jr. The 30-year-old from Sylacauga, Ala., qualified to the Elites from the B.A.S.S. Nation, and he represented in a big way with 21-13. Only 10-5 on Day 2 then 14-5 saw him drop, but he had a respectable 26th-place finish. Combined with a 14th at Okeechobee, Davis is currently ninth in the AOY standings.
Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C., brought in the Phoenix Boat’s Big Bass of Day 1, an 8-1 that bolstered his 10th-place 18-8. Arey followed with 15-8 and 15-7 to take 16th.
On Day 2, 96 anglers brought in limits, with the average weight just under 3 pounds. David Fritts, who won a B.A.S.S. event on Seminole in 1994, made noise on BassTrakk all day with 4- and 5-pounders. The Lexington, N.C., pro weighed 20-14 to jump to 41st from 98th. Fritts’ 16-12 on Saturday gave him a 30th-place finish.
Another Bassmaster legend, Rick Clunn, brought in one of the big bass on Day 2, a 6-1. It helped Clunn, who started a spot behind Fritts, to a 17-14 limit, but his climb was only to 67th.
Rookie David Gaston had a pair of nice bass as he weighed an ounce shy of 20 pounds on Day 2, rising from 65th to 22nd. Also from Sylacauga, Gaston dropped 12 spots with 12-2 on Day 3.
Caleb Sumrall made his children smile with his Day 2 rise up the standings. The New Iberia, La., pro moved up 57 spots to 10th with 22-0, but Saturday’s 10-0 knocked him back to 35th.
Expected to do well on Seminole, reigning Classic champ Jason Christie was in good position after a late big catch saved his Day 1 as he culled to 18-0. He followed up with the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 2, a 6-5 that helped him total 17-5 and sit in ninth. Always a threat when in the Top 10, Christie faltered on Saturday with only 12-14 and dropped to 24th.
Wisconsin’s Pat Schlapper was among the big movers on Day 2, jumping from 75th to 15th with 21-14. Schlapper then weighed 18-0 to reach Championship Sunday in ninth. He was, however, nearly 15 pounds out of the lead.
Greg Hackney’s Day 2 move was similarly impressive. After a 14-5 for 44th, Hackney weighed the day’s second biggest bag at 24-7 to step into third. Although he was 7-2 back of the lead, there were still two days of competition.
After suffering a disappointing 2022 in his return to the Elites, Mike Iaconelli was looking to make some noise early in 2023. A 41st at Okeechobee was A-OK, but he had bigger things on his mind. Day 1’s 19-6 had him in the hunt at seventh. Behind a 6-2 lunker in a limit of 23-9, Ike moved to second. However, he burned up his small spot and only caught 8-10 on Saturday, slipping into the Top 10 by 3 ounces. He finished 10th, but stands 16th in the AOY standings as he vies for a 21st Classic appearance.
Rookie Joey Cifuentes matched Ike for their biggest bass at 6-2, but he had several around that size to total 26-1, which ended as the VMC Monster Bag of the event worth a $2,000 bonus. Combined with his 19-13, the Clinton, Ark., pro held the Day 2 lead of 2-15 over Iaconelli with 45-14.
Jocumsen fell from second to 21st after only managing 11-9 on Day 2, but his bite was back on Day 3 when he landed this 6-12 in a limit of 18-7. He totaled 51-6 and missed his second Top 10 by 3 ounces, yet he is second in the AOY standings with 193 points.
Shane LeHew of Catawba, N.C., moved up with 19-10 on Day 2, then popped into the Top 10 after 17-11, which included this 6-7. LeHew finished ninth with 66-8.
Hackney had another consistent day on Saturday, when only two of the 50 anglers didn’t bring in a limit and the average fish weight rose to 3-0. The Hack Attack remained third but cut his deficit on the lead. He had 22-13, third best of the day, which put him within 5-2 of the lead.
Japanese rookie Kyoya Fujita was 20th after two days, and he moved into position behind the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of Day 3. His 8-6 bolstered a bag of 23-6 and moved him to fourth. Fujita, a superstar angler in Japan at just 26, brought in Sunday’s second biggest bag of 19-15 to finish second. With the daily $1,000 and overall $2,000 bonus from Phoenix, Fujita earned $38,000 in his sixth B.A.S.S. competition, more than doubling his Opens earnings from last year.
Tyler Rivet, coming off his first Elite win at Okeechobee, proved once again that momentum is a thing. He moved to sixth after 19-11 on Day 2 then caught Day 3’s big bag of 25-11 to take over second place, just 4-1 back of the lead. Only 11-8 on Championship Sunday pushed him back a spot to third, but he goes into the Classic break as the AOY leader with 206 points.
Louisiana’s Derek Hudnall was steady Eddie at Seminole, growing each day after 15-0. Hudnall moved to 18th with 18-9 then seventh with 19-4 before 19-12 had him finish fifth, good for a $20,000 check and the 20th spot in the AOY standings.
Schlapper went on an early flurry on Championship Sunday, catching bass after bass and even taking the lead for about 15 minutes. With the big bag of 21-7, the second-year Elite from Wisconsin moved from ninth to fourth. His $25,000 payday is his biggest in 25 B.A.S.S. events.
Cifuentes, aka The Cowboy, had some nerve-racking misses on Championship Sunday as he stayed with his pattern of targeting bass deep in Spring Creek’s standing timber. He regained the lead at 8:51 and culled up to 18-7. That bag included a 5-12 that won the day’s big bass honors, which he proudly showed to family who arrived.
A protege of legendary Larry Nixon, who lives nearby in Arkansas, Cifuentes won the $100,000 first prize in his 13th B.A.S.S. tournament. He added $3,000 in bonuses, more than doubling his previous earnings. He’s also third in AOY with 190 points and holds a 20-point lead in the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race.

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