YANTIS, Texas — Bryan Schmitt described Lake Fork as “ridiculous” on a cold, windy Day 1 of the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite. So what’s his definition of ridiculous?
“When you catch 21-10 and you might stay in the top 50,” Schmitt said.
He did catch a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 10 ounces, but he did not stay in the top 50. He’s 51st.
“That’s ridiculous, and I thought I did something,” Schmitt said. “It’s just a really good lake and today felt tough. It felt cold and raw, and they still cracked ‘em, even in these conditions. That’s ridiculous.”
It makes you wonder what’s possible over the next three days of this tournament, after Day 1 produced 14 limits topping 30 pounds.
Stetson Blaylock’s bag of 37-6, the heaviest of his career, is in second place to Taku Ito’s 39-1. He got a clue of what might happen today during the final day of practice Wednesday when the cold front first arrived.
“I had a day (Wednesday) in what was terrible weather,” he said. “I’m like, this ain’t normal to catch ‘em this good. And I didn’t practice all day.”
It carried over to Thursday when Blaylock’s bag included largemouth bass weighing 6-10, 8-6, 9-10, 5-6 and 7-6.
“The goal is the top 10, and it’s going to take another 30-pound bag to do it, no doubt,” he said. “During practice, the weather got worse but the fishing got better. I don’t quite understand that. I’m kind of confused on when the weather gets better (as the tournament continues) are the fish just going to show up and everybody catches 38 pounds? You can’t do much better than what we did here today.
“It’s a weird dynamic of a spring warming trend and a bad cold front. I think it just fired them up, the last cold front of the year, hopefully. It was one of those days I’ve dreamed of for a long time. It’s crazy to me that there were that many good stringers and it was just a terrible day.”
What is possible on Lake Fork when the weather is supposed to warm to highs of 70 Friday and 80 on Saturday and Sunday? Lee Livesay weighed 42-3 the final day when he won here in April 2021. Is 45 pounds possible?
“I don’t think we’re going to see it, but I think we’re as close to it as any place where it’s possible in a long time,” said Ben Milliken, who’s in 7th place with 32-13. His bag included a “little” 3-14, which could have been replaced with a 7-plus pounder, which came unhooked at the boat.
“A lot of these fish, these 7-pounders you’re seeing, are the 4 ½- to 6-pounders you’ll see post-spawn. This place has got ‘em, man. I’m excited to see if it holds up the rest of the tournament.”
