After some wild ups and downs in the standings from Day 1 to Day 2, anything is possible on Day 3 at the Academy + Sports Bassmaster Elite at Grand Lake. Day 1 leader Takahiro Omori is the prime example, as he went from first place with 23 pounds, 12 ounces to 43rd place after bagging a limit weighing only 7-13 on Day 2. On the plus side, there’s Dave Lefebre, who vaulted from 71st place to 8th with 24-1 on Friday.
There are countless other examples, both positive and negative. Brett Hite jumped 56 places from 70th to 14th with 21-15; Jessie Wiggins vaulted 53 places from 77th to 24th with 20-12; Chris Groh dropped 74 spots in the standings from 10th to 84th following 20-4 Day 1 with two bass weighing 4-14 on Day 2. Matt Herren fell 47 places from 24th to 71st.
It had to be one of the biggest flip-flops in the standings in Elite Series history. And it points to the difficulty of being consistent on this 59,000-acre lake where the bass are heading to the banks en masse. Only three anglers in the top 10 on Day 1 were still there after Day 2 — Kevin VanDam (4th to 2nd), Cliff Pace (7th to 5th) and Jordan Lee (10th to 6th).
It would appear that anything is possible on Day 3. If you’re in 50th place after the Day 2 cut, you’ve got to feel like there’s a chance to make the Top 12 cut at the end of the day.
“You probably could,” said Edwin Evers, who jumped 22 places from Day 1 to make the Top 50 cut in 49th place. “I almost did it one year at Pickwick Lake. I was 49th and finished 13th, so it’s definitely possible. This lake is just as good as that one.”
And this lake is particularly good right now with a full moon coming on Monday, the water temperatures rising, and new spawning beds appearing in cove pockets every day. Yes, anything is possible today, from boom to bust.