At the start of Championship Sunday, everyone had a legitimate shot to win. Hunter Shryock started in 10th, 7 pounds, 6 ounces back of leader Brock Mosley. The VMC Monster Bag of the week so far belongs to Chad Pipkens, with 14-7 on Day 1. So, very realistically, even Shryock had a good chance to rally from the back of the pack with a 15-pound bag, if Mosley failed to boat 8 pounds or more.
Mosley has done some of what he needs to do to seal the deal here, but he’s far from slamming the door. With an estimated 7 pounds, 10 ounces, Mosley has put together a solid limit. But he’s still within reach of even Shryock, who has already boated one of those 3-pounders he’ll need to make a run at this. And we’re talking about the guy’s chances that started in tenth.
Let’s look at what Keith Poche, who started in second, needs to do to get the job done. He sits 5 pounds, 3 ounces back of Mosley at the moment, with only four fish in the boat. So he’s one legitimate big bite away from tying Mosley currently. Clifford Pirch had a 5-8 for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass yesterday, so we know they’re out there.
What most likely needs to happen, is that either Mosley needs to catch one bass of the 3-pound class or better, or Poche, Clark Wendlandt, Matty Wong or Matt Robertson need to catch a couple of them. These four anglers started the day within 6 pounds of Mosley, Robertson the farthest back in this group. But he’s worth mentioning for sure, having caught the second biggest bag of Day 3 (12-13) and in an absolute mood to wreck them today. It seems as though Mosley is in full control right now, but one big bite from half of these guy’s completely changes the landscape.
