There has been a phenomenal morning bite on Pickwick this week, for a select few. Most of those few are all still fishing here on Championship Sunday of the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick Lake.
Tournament leader Brandon Lester has been catching one 5-pounder or better within 30 minutes of arriving to his starting spot every morning, with the majority of his Day 1 weight of 21-6 coming within the first hour of fishing for him in this event.
Yesterday, we watched as 3rd place contender Jacob Foutz blistered 18-pounds in roughly his first 7 casts as the bass came up schooling when he sat his boat down on his one and only honey hole of the week.
Anglers like Brandon Palaniuk, Cody Huff, and Bryan Schmitt have been on more of an all-day grind to catch a big one every now and then. But we should expect to see similar early action out of a couple of the guys in the top 10 at least.
Then it will be up to the other grinders to mount rallies the rest of the day. No doubt John Cox will shuffle down the leaderboard for a little while, as his expected first cast will come after an hour-long boat ride down to Bay Springs.
We have a truly exceptional Top 10 here today, and a lot of exciting storylines. Three of the Top 4 in the Progressive Angler of the Year race are all still on the water (Brandon Lester, Brandon Palaniuk, and John Cox). Local favorite Justin Atkins made a big move yesterday, slipping into the Top 10 in tenth place. Day 1 leader Matt Robertson put another big bag on the scales after a brutal Day 2 to launch himself up the leaderboard and back into the cut. And then you have Kenta Kimura and Chris Zaldain slinging big swimbaits around catching giants. Oh, and did I mention two Elite Series rookies are sitting in second and third to start the day, with the ever-present threat of seasoned pro Bryan Schmitt hot on their tails in fourth?
This is gonna be a fun one to watch. Stay tuned.
