Take a look behind the scenes on Day 1 of the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River.
Photo: Shane Durrance
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Team members including Syler Prince (Elite Series pro Cliff Prince’s son) and Robert Warwick kept bags of ice flowing to the release boat to ensure the fish remained healthy. Syler said one of the draws of working the event was seeing how everything operates.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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The youths’ energy was revealed as they ran from the release boat back to the stage so they were for the next bag of bass. Here, Hayden MacGibbon hustles up the dock ramp.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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One of the benefits of working the weigh-in is being backstage and able to watch the anglers as they staged up at the docks.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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Team members quickly grabbed the bags and ran them to the release boat.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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Lucas Chapman signaled anglers when it was time to move from the livewell tanks to the stage.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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Glenn Burnett ran to and from the release boat. “I wanted to see the big bass,” Burnett said.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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The first step in ensuring a smooth weigh-in process is ensuring competitors had weigh-in bags. Westin Lesiter of the Putnam County Bassmasters prowled the docks handing out the bags so anglers could quickly move their catches from their boats to the livewell tanks.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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The cycle was complete as team members like Glenn Burnett handed the bags of bass to Bassmaster weigh-in staff on the release boat.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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Luke Tincher and Wyatt Chapman were ready to take the bags from Bassmaster Tournament Director Trip Weldon and hand them to high school anglers off stage.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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John Badger was one of the youths who carried many pounds of bass to the live release boat.
Photo: Shane Durrance
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High school anglers were Johnny on the spot to grab bags of bass from the stage to hurry them to the live release boat.
Photo: Andy Crawford
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