Day 3 with Cherry - Bassmaster

Hank Cherry has surprised everyone in the A.R.E. Truck Caps Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend, mainly by fishing on the bank and flipping and pitching. Cherry is known for his expertise with a jerkbait around off-shore structure.

But he can catch them shallow too on short casts.

This was his first fish of the day, although he had missed a few good ones prior to this.

Like many of the anglers he was concentrating on the shad spawn that was taking place around the shorelines of Toledo Bend.

He spent the first part of his morning rolling a swim jig around shallow grass.

He moved quickly in and out of the cuts.

Sharing water with the egrets that were lined up and down the banks.

But either because of the lack of wind or stepped up pressure from anglers of all kind, the fish didn’t want to take the bait.

Cherry would start to get some bites as he fished around the occasional dock.

This one would be his first keeper of the day. It wouldn’t count for much but it would be a start in the first hour of the morning.

He would stay shallow hoping for quality bites while taking advantage of the shad spawn.

But every once in a while it would pay off with a bite.

And sometimes it would come with a surprise.

This would be what Cherry would describe as a “won fish.” Or as he put it “I ‘won’der what it is?”

That fish was followed by a fish he didn’t have to wonder about.

The hefty largemouth would come to the surface and let him know immediately that he had a better than average largemouth.

Up to this point, Cherry had been struggling.

But it became obvious by his body language this was one he was after.

A few moments later and the fish would come aboard.

And Cherry’s whole day would start in another direction.

The quality largemouth would elicit a yell and a smile.

After putting it in the livewell, Cherry would stretch his wings to similar cover.

And quickly hook up with a fourth keeper around a nearby dock.

While this one didn’t have the shoulders the earlier fish had, it would give him a spurt of life.

With the quick solid keepers, he would have close to 11 pounds.

But things would really change 20 minutes later when hooked up with his limit fish.

The initial splash was big and the fish’s first run took it out to open water.

Where it was obvious Cherry was in for a tussle.

The fish shot quickly to the back of the boat and started breaking the surface.

And for those watching, a big head started wallowing at the top.

And it just seemed to keep wallowing.

Cherry would hit the deck, working to get the fish closer.

Where the fish would make one last splash,

Before Cherry would pick the big fish from the water.

The fish never stopped fighting and throwing water.

Cherry would let out a yell.

And while he admired the fish from several anglers, he would almost giggle non-stop.

With a “thank you Lord,” he would get back to work.

The thick cover would force the occasional stop and rigging required.

And every once in a while, he would be hooked up again.

This keeper would race out of the bushes on top of the water.

Creating a splash of water.

And an eventual dive back into the lake,

Then it would try and repeat the process.

Before Cherry could jerk it in the boat.

The fish would give him an upgrade on almost a half pound or more.

But after two hours of searching,

Cherry would eventually leave his primary area looking for better bites.

That search would allow him to cull a time or two, but he ended the day with 18-12 and in fourth place, more than 11 pounds out of the lead.