4-3 at the Tenn-Tom has me at 12-16 on the season creeping towards .500 in the T-H Marine’s Pick Em Challenge; still reeling from that awful showing at Lake Martin! I am still looking for that big 5 or 6 win week, and maybe it’ll come this week at the Arkansas River, as we near the halfway point of the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series regular season. So, do we go with straight up River Rats, or do we mix in some scopers? Let’s get after it!
In the 1st match, we get the top dogs in the Progressive Bassmaster AOY race, John Garrett and Trey McKinney. Both of these guys will likely find some scope fish, but I have learned my lesson about going against Trey McKinney. He’s the pick here.
The 2nd match pits Okies Jason Christie and Luke Palmer. I love Jason Christie in the event, not just in this match up. He comes in with great momentum, and he’s my pick here.
Match 3 is skinny water studs Greg Hackney and Kyle Welcher. I love the Hack Attack, but Welcher is a Crush City guy, and I’m a Crush City guy, and I think the Bronco Bug is going to play really well this week. Take Kyle Welcher.
Match 4 brings us Alabama Hammers Wesley Gore and Tucker Smith. This is one of the toughest match-ups on the board, but I am a slight lean towards Tucker Smith, who could find some offshore fish, as much as it is on the Arkansas River!
We get a couple of rookies in Match 5 with Caleb Hudson and 2-time Open winner Pake South, who is on quite a heater this season. I’ll take Pake South…Put that on a T-Shirt!
Match 6 has Texan Lee Livesay taking on Cody Huff. These guys were both in the Top 10 when the Open was here in 2020, but on a river like this, I’m not sure you can take anything from that. Lee Livesay is due for a good tournament, and I am leaning into him here.
And finally, the biggest toss up of all this week is on Match 7 with Stetson Blaylock and Dakota Ebare. I have vacillated on this one quite a bit, but in the end, I am going with Blaylock…no Ebare…no, Stetson Blaylock. He’s the pick!
Good luck and enjoy Bassmaster Live all weekend!
