Fantasy Fishing: Minor details for major results

Written by

Solomon Glenn

Minnesota

After a little hiatus, the Elites finally set their sights north to an unbelievable smallmouth fishery in Lake St. Clair. The 430 square mile monster fishery always shows out with tons of quality fish but while the lake has very little contour, the leaders will need to find a special zone where the average is bigger, and the big ones are bigger. Minor details and adjustments on the fly are especially important on this lake and every ounce will count. Almost every time Bassmaster visits, it’s a different area that prevails. The notorious Anchor Bay is sure to be a player and it will be very interesting to see if the winner comes from a crowd or finds something all to themselves.

With the season winding down, tensions will be high as ever for anglers battling it out for AOY, Classic qualification and Elite requalification. This added pressure can make some thrive while other will crumble. It will be exciting to watch this one go down.

Let’s get into some picks.

Bucket A: PREZKURAT

Yes, still a broken record over here! But Jay Prezkurat has been unstoppable all season and now we are going to his territory. Jay also won on St. Clair last year in the open and was on track for a century belt. His expansive smallmouth knowledge gives him an edge to make critical adjustments when the bite changes.

Solid secondary pick: When you have big water smallmouth, the Johnston brothers are going to be a threat. Pick your poison. You can’t go wrong with either one.

Bucket B: FOTHERGILL

Another smallmouth wizard, Easton Fothergill, will be a player on a place where minor details can pay major dividends. Last year, Easton also fished the Open and just over 20 pound average over the first two days landed him in 46th. While still a strong showing, I see him building off his experience this time.

Solid secondary pick: Seth Feider has done very well every time at St. Clair, including a win of the Angler of the Year Championship in 2019. 3 of the last 4 visits, Feider has finished 26^th or better.

Bucket C: REDWINE

While less known as a smallmouth angler, Alex Redwine can definitely hold his own against the best of them. In the last couple of years, Redwine has posted two Top 30s in an Elite and Open. Being from Ohio, he would travel to Erie and St. Clair growing up, so he’s no stranger to the big body of water. Being a smallmouth junkie, he knows how to keep up when they change.

Solid secondary pick: Joey Cifuentes has been struggling a little bit over the past couple of years. However, he will be looking to make a push to end up the year, especially going back to a place he has won.

Bucket D: BROWNING

After a strong start to his Elite career, Beau Browning has struggled as of late. Last year in the opens, Browning made a strong push to end off the year to make it to the Elites and will be looking to do it again. Browning is a very good smallmouth angler and made a Top 50 in the Open last year. He also made 13^th in the Open on Leech.

Solid secondary pick: Cody Huff is a master with his electronics, which will definitely play on St. Clair. His last Elite visit to St. Clair ended in a 20th place finish.

Bucket E: WETHERALL

Bucket E is definitely a tricky one to pick, but I’m going with Alex Wetherall. He had a horrible finish last time at St. Clair but that was 2 years ago and he has had some solid smallmouth events since then. Other than that, Wetherall is a little shot in the dark.

Solid secondary pick: Jeff Gustafson is the obvious pick here but already has 52% own percentage. Gustafson also needs two incredible events to have any slight chance of making it back to Knoxville.