Daily Limit: A-Mart in control

Day 1 recap of the Huk Performance Fishing Bassmaster Elite at Chesapeake Bay

First Cast

The AOY has become Aaron Martens’ to lose. Most of the anglers know it, knew it. Possibly only A-Mart didn’t, doesn’t.

Jacob Powroznik said it two weeks ago, with Chesapeake Bay, Lake St. Clair and Sturgeon Bay yet to fish.

“He’s just going to catch them everywhere he goes. He always does,” Powroznik said to Steve Wright for this Live Blog post. “I don’t see him stumbling this year.”

Martens sure didn’t during Day 1 of the Huk Performance Fishing Bassmaster Elite at Chesapeake Bay. No, quite the opposite. He save the best for last. The final angler to weigh-in, Martens had the biggest bag of the day, 17 pounds, 8 ounces.

Earning the leader’s points stretched his Toyota Angler of the Year lead from 11 to 52 points over Dean Rojas. Rojas entered Thursday knowing what he needed to do. “I have to be at my best for 12 more days to do what I want to do. (Today) is day No. 1 of the 12,” he told Wright.

Three fish and 8-7 for 42nd place was not in his best-laid plans. But there’s room for movement, as Martens can’t get any higher. The guys chasing him, Rojas, Justin Lucas, Powroznik and Edwin Evers, can maximize their points but would still need some unforeseen tragedy to overtake Martens.

Not that Martens is worrying about it himself. He’s taking his own one-day-at-a-time plan.

“I don’t even check the AOY stuff,” Martens told Bryan Brasher for Thursday’s game story. “My wife checks it and tells me where Dean Rojas is, but I can’t worry about that. I’ve got to put AOY to the back of my mind and worry about this event.”

Two in the well

How low would they go?

James Overstreet posed that question Wednesday during the angler meeting. When JO asked for estimated poundage of what it would take to win, the Elites’ responses on the winning weight ranged greatly.

David Walker was among the high with an even 66 pounds, and Powroznik was close behind with 64-3.

On the low side, Morizo Shimizu wrote down 32 something, something, Cliff Prince 33-5 and Bernie Schultz 37.

We thought Brandon Coulter knew something when he said 62-12. Apparently not. He only weighed three for 7-9. Walker was even worse, catching one for 1-13. (He’ll need bags of around 22 the next three days to meet his estimate.)

Shimizu, on the other hand, caught half of his four-day estimate with 16-9 to hold third place.

You can now see how fortunes can turn in fishing, dashing high hopes while lifting others, and why there was such great discrepancy.

Three’s company

Speaking of best-laid plans going south quickly. Michael Iaconelli found that out Thursday. He came into the Chesapeake Bay event rather optimistic, knowing some areas are full of life after studying on such things, namely Ken Cook’s 1991 Classic victory.

“Ken found a spot that was alive,” Ike told Alan McGuckin for this story.

Yeah, that was 24 years ago, but Ike took Cook’s clue to look for lively areas. Ike found some in practice, reporting 37 bites the past three days, and he seemed rather confident as others compared the fishery to the Dead Sea.

Iaconelli’s fish must have parted. He zeroed Thursday, tying for 98th with nine others, some who undoubtedly didn’t get a bite in practice.

Four on the floor

Jason Christie must have been pretty alert on Day 1. With no experience on the tournament waters and practice that was basically washed out, he wrote in his column that his best chances are to remain alert.

Apparently he did that Thursday, catching a limit that weighed 14-15, good for 10th place. He caught only six fish on the day. Wonder if he missed any.

That’s a limit

And the Smallest Limit of the Day Award goes to Nate Wellman for his five-fish bag weighing 4-2.

It’s a far cry from five years ago when Wellman caught 22-15 on Day 3 for a runaway victory in the 2010 Northern Open. He totaled 53-1 to win that event by 15 pounds.

Wellman’s limit Thursday was even smaller than the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass of the day, Stephen Browning’s 5-15 in his 20th-place bag of 12-5.

Browning’s big bass by itself would have put him in 59th place.

Culling

  • Photo(s) of the day come from James Overstreet and these shots of Jacob Powroznik. JO always takes captivating shots of catches, but here’s some of the environs. Nice spread. It’s always cool to see a slice of the playing field and how the anglers sometimes lose themselves in it. Check out all the Chesapeake photos.
  • Along with nine anglers who zeroed, 15 weighed in only one fish, the largest being Tim Horton’s 2-14. Only 43 angles brought in a limit. BASSTrakk had Andy Montgomery (14th with 14-4) with the most fish catches on the day at 10.
  • Pete Robbins delves into anglers timing the tide in his article. See how different anglers found different fortunes in differing manners in this different story, It’s about time.
  • Cliff Prince stands 50th with 7-6. Calculating Friday’s 50 cut weight, by doubling his weight and subtracting a pound, gives 13-12. That’s Gerald Swindle’s 15th-place weight. With such tight margins, it’s obvious ounces will be crucial for some trying to qyakuft fir the Classic.