Brock Mosley has a somewhat comfortable lead, for now, building on the small margin he had amassed by the end of the Day 2 weigh-in. His plan to pick off what he could close to Orange early and then run over to Taylor’s to grind for a big one played out to perfection through the first couple days.
Mosely caught 8 pounds off his starting spot on Day 2, by 6:30. He then abruptly pulled the trolling motor, opting to head to Taylor’s and conserve fish on his starting spot for Day 3 and, hopefully, Day 4. The perfect plan persisted into the morning of Day 3, with Mosley catching 10 pounds there by 6:30 this morning. But, things are finally getting a little complicated.
Mosley was able to move on yesterday without much concern. He would have liked to do the same this morning. But with three other anglers in contention for the Top 10 within site, yanking the trolling motor today hasn’t been nearly as easy a decision to make.
In fairness to the other anglers, none seem to be encroaching on the area because of Mosley’s success there. Instead, they just happened to find the same fish in practice and have caught at least some of their fish in the area the last two days. Hunter Shryock and Kenta Kimura are on the other side of the river, really not even affecting what Mosley is doing at all. The only other angler really close to Mosley (Matty Wong) has every bit a right to be there as does Mosley, who said as much himself.
Mosley himself acknowledged on camera that Matty Wong caught his fish there on Days 1 and 2, including Wong’s Day 2 VMC Monster Bag of 13-13. After a quick call last night from Mosley, Wong ceded the area to Mosley for the start of Day 3, respecting his lead and offering to allow him an unmolested first pass down this key stretch of the Sabine. The resulting outcome of Wong’s congenial gesture, 10 pounds for Mosley, including the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the day worth at least 4 pounds, 10 ounces.
“Matt, I respect the hell out of you man. That’s something that money can’t buy,” said Mosley after boating the beast. An unbelievable show of respect from Wong towards the coming-of-age Elite veteran Brock Mosley, who has finished runner-up in five Elites now. The respect was returned to Wong on the water, and could payoff even further if Wong rallies here on Day 3. Mosley made the deal with Wong that if he’d relinquish starting rights to the spot due to Mosley’s Day 2 lead, Mosley would give Wong first shot on Championship Sunday, should Wong lead going into the final day.
The issue at hand though for Mosley now, is whether he stays or goes. If he leaves this area to Wong and the other competitors, it will likely be picked clean by the end of the day and have a hard time reloading. Does he stay and defend it, in effect burning it to the ground? Or does he head over to Taylor’s for the last few hours to try to catch a big one and close the door a little more on the competition? Decisions, decisions, decisions.
**Mosley just made his move as I was finishing this post up. Time to see how it pans out.
