Elite

Pirch tackles Chickamauga

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Photography by
Andy Crawford
Pirch said his great 2022 fishing has come about after he pulled himself together mentally.
Arizona’s Clifford Pirch has been on a tear this year, after struggling for the past couple of seasons. He started the third day of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga sitting in second place in the Progressive Angler of the Year race. Here’s how his afternoon progressed.
Pirch had had a good morning, building more than 15 pounds and moving into the Top 10, according to BASSTrakk.
One of Pirches focus was riprap, which he was working with a glide bait. He said the bass really cooperated in the morning.
But he also caught some of his Day 3 weight on a dropshot. “They were eating a dropshot so well,” Pirch said. He spent a lot of time looking for fish on his forward-looking sonar.
He kept his deck lined with the tools of the trade.
His glide bait and dropshot hang from the side of his boat while he picked up a jig around docks.
“The past couple of years has been a mental grind,” he explained.
The wind was kiting by midday.
Pirch made a short run from one marina to another, hoping to cull one of the 2-pounders riding in his livewell.
He began by working a floating dock with his dropshot rig.
And quickly hooked up
It wasn’t quite the lunker for which he was hoping.
but it did allow him to cull up a bit.

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