Picking three anglers who can handle the pressure

Here are some Elite Series pros that were picked by their peers to do well.

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Ronnie Moore

Cayuga Lake is the longest of the finger glacier lakes in New York, but it doesn’t fish that way. It is incredibly deep in the middle of the lake and as a result it clumps anglers close together, which should make for exciting fish catches this week.

Grass is the predominant cover on Cayuga, but the angler who makes the most of their respective grass bed may rise to the top of the standings. Here are some Elite Series pros that were picked by their peers to do well.

Kevin Hawk

  • Chad Pipkens: "He is a good northern angler and he did well here in a Northern Open a few years ago."
  • Brandon Card: "Strong angler in the north and around grass."
  • Justin Lucas: "He is having a strong season and is good at fishing grass with his experience at Lake Guntersville."

J Todd Tucker

  • "Aaron Martens, Boyd Duckett and Scott Rook all handle pressured situations well and adapt in highly occupied areas. The key is getting the size to separate yourself from everyone else in that specific area."

Kota Kiriyama

  • "Any flipper will do well here because the big fish live in the grass."

  • Dean Rojas: "He is fishing in the right areas because we have been near each other in practice."

Randall Tharp

  • "I think the flippers are going to do well…at least I hope so because I put all my eggs in that basket."

  • Kevin VanDam: "I think he has a score to settle and he’s going to do it his way this week."

Cliff Crochet

  • Greg Hackney: "He is in the thick of the Angler of the Year race and he has momentum. I think the big stick could play a key this week."

  • Aaron Martens: "Not only is he in Angler of the Year contention, but he is one of the greatest at finessing fish out of pressured areas."

  • Myself: "I’m a grinder and I think covering water will be important this event when bites come few and far between."

Fred Roumbanis

  • Gerald Swindle: "Random junk fishing may do well this week and he is one of the best at throwing everything it takes."

  • Mark Davis: "I also think slowing down can be important and Davis is really good at picking apart an area for all its worth."

James Elam

  • Todd Faircloth: "Deep offshore grass fishermen will be hard to beat this week."

  • "Finding one group of fish to yourself will be hard, but I think an angler that does could do well."

  • "The angler who does well on Day 1 might do so because of the takeoff order, but then it flips on Day 2 of competition so it’s a tossup."

Grant Goldbeck

  • Aaron Martens: "Specialist at deep water fishing and he is very versatile…one of the best."

  • Greg Hackney: "Very good grass fisherman and with the year he is having it could lineup in his favor."

  • Mark Davis: "He is patient and he can really pick apart offshore structure."

Ott Defoe

  • James Niggemeyer: "He really understands fishing deep grass and he did well in the Open that was here a few years ago."

  • Dave Smith: "It is random, but he doesn’t let pressure get to him which might be good this week in tight fishing areas."

  • Cliff Crochet: "I’m choosing him because he is behind me and he is my buddy (laughs)."