opens

AdvBassStats: 2023 Lake of the Ozarks Open

Posted on
Written by
ADVBassStats
The 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Lake of the Ozarks started strong, with seven anglers weighing in more than 18 pounds of fish and a pair of key Opens EQ names sharing the Day 1 lead. Kyle Patrick and JT Thompkins both caught 19-pound, 15-ounce limits. For Thompkins it was more of the same for 2023, as he has been in the overall EQ lead for several events, regularly appearing in Top 10s, and his Bassmaster Elite Series qualification is all but guaranteed. Patrick entered the event just outside the top 10 in EQ rankings, and his first-place Day 1 position put him inside qualification range, unofficially.
Jamie Bruce jumped into the lead on Day 2, edging ahead of Patrick by 1 ounce. Bruce entered this eighth Open of 2023 in 20th place in the EQ standings, needing a pair of Top 10s in the final two events or a lot of backsliding from the anglers in front of him to reach the EQ line. (Mini-spoiler: He would get both at Lake of the Ozarks).
 
The bag of the day and the big move came from Robert Gee, with 18-15. Gee is another angler who was already inside the EQ top five, and this finish would all but certify his ticket to the Elites next year.
On Championship Saturday, Patrick jumped out with a big early bag and a big lead on BassTrakk. Daisuke Kita had been out of signal range for most of the day fishing big glide baits way upriver. In the last hour of broadcast time, his data started flowing in, and he hit a flurry of big catches that created a bit of uncertainty between the end of LIVE and the weigh-in. When the scales registered, Kita did bring the biggest bag of the day, but Patrick cruised to a mostly comfortable 3-pound margin of victory.
Five of the final-day Top 10 registered bags among the 10 biggest of the tournament, with Patrick being the only angler to score a pair on this list. 
Once again, the EQ anglers dominated the top end of the standings, taking eight of the first 10 tournament spots. Andy Newcomb and Brad Jelinek broke through with nice finishes for the division/jackpot/locals group.
The Opens EQ standings top five have been pretty stable for a few events, mostly just swapping a place or two with each other. Lake of the Ozarks did give us a big shake-up in places six to 10 of the overall rankings, with four of those five moving in from outside the top 10. Patrick’s win jumped him from 12th to sixth in the standings. Logan Parks moved up to seventh from 11th. Tyler Williams and Jamie Bruce both used their Ozarks Top 10 finishes to make 50-plus point jumps up the chart and into Elite Qualifier range. Williams moved from 17th to ninth and Bruce from 20th to 10th. It’s not unusual to gain 50 points on one angler in front of you with a Top 10 event finish, but gaining on eight to 10 anglers ahead of you, after eight events worth of points accumulation, is extreme.
This is a shifted view of the EQ list, focused on the Qualifying line between 10th and 11th. While 50-point jumps like Bruce and Williams made at Lake of the Ozarks are uncommon, it is notable that none of next eight anglers outside the cutoff line are more than 42 points out of Elite Qualifier range heading into the final event. It takes help from the anglers in front of them, but if it could be done at Lake of the Ozarks, it can be done at Harris Chain Oct. 12-14.

Related