Elite

Taku’s terrific Semifinal Saturday

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Photography by
Andy Crawford
We caught up with Taku Ito mid-morning, when he had taken the lead, according to BASSTrakk. He was fishing a set of offshore humps with the gorgeous rolling plains as a backdrop.
Ito had a limit weighing more than 12 pounds at the time, but we had barely come off plane when the Japanese angler hooked up again.
After a brief battle, the smallmouth was safely in hand.
He checked the weights using a balance beam to ensure he released his smallest bass …
… and dumped a 1 1/2-pounder in favor of a smallmouth that weighed over 2 pounds.
He quickly re-rigged so he could get his lure back in the water.
A few casts later, he was hooked up again.
Ito worked to keep the fish from jumping as he battled the hard-fighting smallie.
The bass slipped away on the first attempted scoop.
And then it was safely in the boat.
Again, Ito balance-beamed his smallest bass and culled up a bit.
Minutes later, the flurry continued – and this bass almost ripped Ito’s rod out of his hand.
This bass certainly wasn’t interested in riding around in Ito’s livewell.
But Ito soon had another cull fish scooped into the boat.
He gave a big wave as he prepared to run to another spot

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