Carl Jocumsen transfers his fish to Mike McClelland’s boat while conferring with tournament officials. (James Overstreet photo)
Mike McClelland picked up a good number of fans Friday — basically every Australian who follows bass fishing.
Carl Jocumsen was the man in need on Day 2 of the Bassmaster Elite at Bull Shoals/Norfork, and McClelland rode in and saved the Aussie’s tournament. Jocumsen damaged his prop and needed McClelland’s help getting his 17 pounds to the scales.
The sportsmanship of giving Jocumsen a lift to the weigh-in was noticed and commended by throngs of McClelland’s new mates, who immediately and repeatedly showed their appreciation. A post on McClelland’s Facebook page quickly accumulated 400 likes and around 100 comments, many from Down Under.
“You could very easily just kept going but you did the Aussie thing and helped a mate and saved Carl’s tournament. You’ve gained the admiration of a nation overnight,” wrote Ben Norris from Brisbane, Australia.
For McClelland, it wasn’t that big of a deal, just something he would have done for anyone, and something he would expect from others.
“I am humbled by all of the support from Carl’s Aussie fans. I just did what I knew what’s right. I know Carl would’ve done the same thing,” he wrote.
“I was stranded with not a lot of time to make it back,” Jocumsen wrote on his Facebook. “Mike had a great bag also and went out of his way to help me out! This is what I love so much about this sport!”
Both are in the top 12 as Jocumsen’s 28-9 total has him seventh, 2-5 out of the lead. McClelland weighed 16-10 Friday that puts him 11th with 27-11.
Hopefully they won’t have such anxious moments on Saturday, even if they did end up closer friends (below), and McClelland an honorary Australian.
GOING IN HARD ON NORFORK
Mark Zona said he could tell just from the photo galleries that the anglers were trying to fully milk their Day 1 spots on Norfork.
“Those guys leaned on their areas because they knew it was going to have another two days to rest,” he said. “In a regular four-day event, they are more fish-management conscious.
“If this was another tournament, you play it safer. Thursday, if they were around them, they were punching holes, knowing they would have two days rest.”
Chris Zaldain backed that up during his extensive appearances on Bassmaster LIVE. He had 16-2 on Day 1 to stand in third and his 14-12 has him tied for the lead with Bill Lowen with 30-14. Zaldain is really hoping to get back to Norfork.
“Opening round, it’s go, go, go, go,” he said. “If you go back (to Norfork), there only going to be 11 other guys.”
Bassmaster.com tournament editor Steve Bowman, on the water covering a variety of anglers, said he didn’t see any saving fish for the weekend.
“They squeezed every juice out of the lemon they could get,” he said.
He foresaw the big flip flops after the Day 2 weigh-in, and that those who really mapped out this event might just end up on top.
“This is still a thinking man’s sport,” he said. “The one who gave it a lot of thought will eventually wind up on the top of the standings.”
SPOOKY ALSO WITH CAPITAL ‘S’
The prevailing thought was Bull Shoals would produce bigger bags than Norfork, and while that’s been the case, many could have been bigger. Bowman said he sees something that’s not quite right.
“It’s crazy, last night was a full moon and you would have thought they would have loaded up” on beds, he said.
He said he can certainly see fish staging around beds, but they are easily spooked and that’s hurt the size of bag.
“Once they felt that boat’s pressure, they just moved off,” he said. “Falling water is sometimes a good thing, but not this time of year. You just don’t know. It’s a full moon and water clarity is a little bit dingier …. I’m totally surprised by the people I’m running across who are struggling, and that’s with a capital S.”
CUPCAKE IN THE FACE
James Watson, who fished the last Classic after winning a Bass Pro Shops Open on his home lake of nearby Table Rock, was Dave Mercer’s guest on LIVE Friday. He gave great analysis of the fisheries.
In honor of Tommy Sanders’ birthday this week, Mercer had cupcakes, and Watson got to “taste” them. Watson willfully shoved an entire one in his mouth, then bit another like a bedding bass before having a third planted on his face, courtesy Mercer.
Dave, we hear there’s a pie factory near Wheeler Lake, site of the next Elite.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Britt Myers, who was coming off a win at Winyah Bay, is the subject of James Overstreet’s top shot of the day. Myers, who finished second and fifth in the past two Elites on Bull Shoals, found better success there Friday than his two-fish effort Thursday on Norfork. His Day 2 weight of 14-0 couldn’t make up for it and he missed the cut.