Hunting season seems to have begun early this year, with most of the anglers remaining at Lake Champlain visualizing their fish before taking a shot at them – but right now rookie Kyoya Fujita is the one with the biggest target on his back.
He extended his lead from 7 ounces to almost 3 pounds, and the crazy thing is that it’s still not safe. He could weigh in a more-than-respectable 18 or 19 tomorrow and still fall to any of the anglers in the Top 10, although it likely pays to watch just the five immediately following him. Fellow rookie Bryant Smith, in 6th, is less than 4 pounds back. Anyone below him would likely have to have every star over Plattsburgh line up to produce a monster bag, and they could still fall short.
Five of those top six contenders are either rookies or sophomores. Only Justin Atkins, once on the precipice of Elite Series elimination, has the clear chance to spoil their youth party. Matt Robertson is the oldest member of the Top 10, and he won’t hit 40 for nearly three more years.
My lasting memory of today will by Fujita with his hand on his hip, so I figured it made sense to write down some of my thoughts before they escaped my head. Here they are, in no particular order:
Get There Fast – Once again, Fujita was the first angler to unofficially hit the 20-pound mark, thanks to a 4-5 smallmouth that pushed him to 20-6 at 10:23am.
More than one way to skin a cat – While it took over 60 pounds to make it to Championship Sunday, not everyone reached 60 pounds the same way. Three anglers (Cody Huff, Jay Przekurat and Matt Robertson) all had at least 20 pounds each day. Justin Atkins and Fujita are the only two who’ve topped 21 each day. Fujita and Bryant Smith (6th) are the only two who’ve had 22 or more twice. Those who’ve missed 20 on one day – no one in the top 10 has missed it twice – haven’t been far off. The 19-6 that Patrick Walters weighed in today is the smallest bag any of them have brought to the scales. Joey Cifuentes, in 11th, was the only angler in the top 15 to have a sub-19 pound day. He weighed in 18-9 today and missed the cut by 4 ounces.
More on twenties – After the full field produced 17 bags of 20 pounds or more on Thursday and 23 on Saturday, today the halved field turned in 13 of them. One particular beneficiary of a 20 pound day was Kyle Welcher, who had fallen quite a bit behind leader Brandon Cobb in the AOY race. Today Cobb’s 16-8 bag dropped him from 18th to 32nd, while Welcher’s 20-2 allowed him to leapfrog him in the single event standings, rising from 34th to 25th.
History of Japanese bass anglers – By my count, nine different Japanese anglers have won B.A.S.S. tournaments: Kenta Kimura, Taku Ito, Norio Tanabe, Takahiro Omori, Morizo Shimizu, Daisuke Aoki, Masayuki Masushitsa, Shin Fukae and Kota Kiriyama. Omori is the only one to have claimed more than one victory – he had seven, including the 2004 Bassmaster Classic. Ben Matsubu, an American of Japanese descent, won an Elite Series tournament and the 2006 Wild Card event.
Word of the Day — “Tanker”
Perfect Nickname – “Mount Fujita”
Someone’s gotta be first – Seven of the ten remaining anglers have yet to win an Elite event, and four of them (Fujita, Cody Huff, Alex Redwine and Bryant Smith) have yet to win a BASS tournament. Przekurat and Walters have won at both the Elite and Open level. Felix has won an Elite and a collegiate championship. Atkins and Robertson have won Opens. Foutz won a college championship.
Unexpected bait choices – After seeing lots of anglers throwing similar soft plastics in various forms and a few jerkbaiting, it was refreshing to hear Chris Zaldain talk about what he’d used to finish 28th. “I caught every one of these fish this week on a flutter spoon,” he reported. It goes to show that even within the new forward-facing paradigm, it’s still possible to excel by thinking outside of the conventional box, and it’s also a reminder that a bass is a bass is a bass – whether it’s Guntersville or Champlain. Zaldain also reported breaking three rods.
Ivy Leaguers – The most-used analogy when it comes to forward-facing sonar is to compare it to hunting – as I did above. I’ve also been thinking of it in terms of Hall of Fame basketball coach Pete Carril’s Princeton offense. The Princeton teams under his leadership, typically competing against larger and more athletic squads, would keep the ball in constant motion with multiple passes until they were in position to exploit a mismatch or an unguarded player. Fewer shots, lower scores, more wins. That’s what Fujita in particular seems to be doing – waiting hand-on-hip until he has that easier backdoor layup and then taking advantage of fewer but higher percentage casts to beat the competition.
Studying Film – With the ability to stream and record sonar imaging, how soon will it be until the pros or the sonar companies themselves develop lesson plans exclusively around footage? College anglers, like college football players, will have film sessions and someone will work exclusively on Bass LIVE as the “Czar of the Telestrator.”
Famous Fujitas – Wikipedia lists 36 different people with the last name “Fujita,” but not our tournament leader. The closest were Kazayuki Fujita (mixed martial arts fighter), Kiyoshi Fujita (ice hockey player) and Kyohei Fujita (glass artist). The late Japanese-American meteorologist Ted Fujita may be the closest to a kindred spirit. He developed the “Fujita scale of tornado intensity and damage,” which seems apt for a sport where weather plays such a huge role. Can we somehow make a new Fujita Scale, perhaps a measurement that gauges an angler’s love of forward-facing sonar?
Cody Huff on friend, mentor, student and confidante Rick Clunn – “It’s just amazing to get to stand on the same stage he does every day.”
Mark Menendez says “Stay tuned” – “This is going to come down to the last fish catch of the day tomorrow.”
Food of the Week – Red Hots. Pat Schlapper, a resident of the Bratwurst Belt, enjoyed the regional delicacy but plans to celebrate tonight with a non-tube-steak. Matty Wong, weighing in after Schlapper, regretted losing a bunch of “spicy brown meatballs,” but it somehow didn’t seem like he was referring to food.
For a two-time Classic winner, Hank Cherry set a low bar – “I didn’t get sick one time, so that was an accomplishment for me.”
A vote for a return, from Bradley Hallman – “I wish it was mandatory we had to come to Champlain every year.”
Stories to Watch at the St. Lawrence – Five fan favorites and consistent Classic contenders who are right around the Classic cutline: Mike Iaconelli, Steve Kennedy, Brandon Lester, Cory Johnston, Seth Feider.
Early Predictions – Jacob Powroznik speculated that it could take 105 to 107 pounds to win at the St. Lawrence River this next week. I can’t imagine catching 100 pounds, but what I really can’t imagine is the feeling of catching 100 and not winning.
