In 1992, I spent a summer working for one of the walleye pros at his business on Leech Lake in Minnesota. Their tour was scheduled to visit Leech shortly thereafter and I asked him if he was excited.
“Heck no,” he replied. “Those guys are going to embarrass me. They’re going to reveal whole populations of fish that I never knew existed.”
In 1997, I spent a day on Lake Winnipesaukee with former B.A.S.S. winner Rick Lillegard, who had guided there for many years. I asked him what he thought about the possibility of B.A.S.S. someday holding an event up there. Like the walleye pro five years earlier, he was not thrilled by the possibility.
“VanDam will come here and crush them with a spinnerbait,” he said. “And Fritts will catch them on a crankbait. And Brauer will go into the backwaters and flip up largemouths on a jig.”
The point is, home field advantage is great, until it’s not. When you get your butt kicked by someone from out of left field, it hurts even worse. Everyone knew that Jay Przekurat was a smallmouth hammer, but right now 89 pros are wishing he’d stayed in his lane and committed to some sort of career in walleye world, something with planer boards, leeches and splash guards. Instead, he’s taking their lunch money. With style.
In a way, Przekurat reminds me of a young Kevin VanDam – the midwestern accent, the big Nitro logo on his jersey, and the utter calm in the face of what must’ve been unrelenting pressure. VanDam fished the first B.A.S.S. event of his career out of Clayton and ended up 110th – but things got pretty good after that, including seven AOYs, four Classic victories and a 2017 Elite Series trophy from the St. Lawrence.
In claiming this victory, Przekurat became the youngest Elite Series winner in history, beating out the prior record-holder Casey Ashley and the one before him, Derek Remitz. Remitz never fulfilled the promise shown by winning the first Elite event he fished, while Ashley went on to earn three more B.A.S.S. titles, including a Classic. Trophies don’t die, but what’s truly important is not necessarily how you start, but where you are a decade or two down the line.
I have a lot of faith that I’ll be writing about him for years to come – so much that I added his name to my spellcheck program.
More Questions Than Answers –After four blockbuster days, my brain is fried. I wish I had more answers. I wish I had been there on the water, listening to drags sing and graphs ping. Instead of answers, though, all I have are more questions. As a three-year veteran of the Socratic Method, here are a few that might be on the exam:
- What is it like, Mr. Johnston, to catch 100-5 and not win a four-day smallmouth derby? (Actually, I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this one and would not care to be within arm’s reach if forced to ask it).
- What would you do differently, Mr. Johnston. If you could have Day 3’s 21-5 effort to do over again?
- For Ronnie Moore: What other Elite Series records have been established by rookies?
- On the difficulty and shock-and-awe scale, how does this compare to the 2008 Falcon event, where all of the Top 12 topped 108 pounds (all largemouth, of course)?
- Will the Elites ever get four slick calm days on the St. Lawrence again?
- Does this somehow open the floodgates to more triple-digit smallmouth catches?
- Will future events here when no one tops a hundred pounds be considered disappointments? And
- Does anyone know if those fish will eat a glide bait?
A Nooner – Prezkurat appeared to pass the Century mark a little bit before noon. In most events, that would necessitate or merit an early check-in. Indeed, we’ve seen anglers with smaller weights head back to the dock to eat pizza. As a further testament to the fishery’s quality, though (as if it needed any more), that lead wasn’t safe and he had to continue fishing – either that or it’s just too much fun jacking on brown giants.
Fantasy Fishing Faux Pas – I picked the wrong Johnston, but still got decent points as Chris finished 6th, four spots behind his brother I’ll admit it, though – Cory’s extra points for Big Bag of the tournament kind of sting.
AOY Separation – Besides Przekurat, the other big winner this week was Brandon Palaniuk. While the well-known and only semi-dubious “baby pattern” did not propel him to a second St. Lawrence win, his 25th place finish improved his margin over 2nd place in the Angler of the Year race. David Mullins, who was previously 3rd, finished 16th, and made up some points, but John Cox, the former runner-up, finished 58th and dropped. When the Elites visited Oahe in 2018, BP finished 28th and Mullins was 45th. You might assume that Palaniuk would excel in La Crosse, but his results there have been lackluster by his personal standards, He was 59th, 34th, and 57th in 2012, 2106 and 2018, respectively. In 2013, he was 77th, but that poor finish reflects a disqualification caused by a culling error.
A Few To Watch – With the AOY race far from settled, and the number of double-qualifiers still in flux, here are a few pros outside of the Classic cut I’ll be watching as the last two tournaments unfold: Chad Pipkens, Josh Douglas, Brock Mosley and Ray Hanselman. At the risk of embarrassing them, I won’t name the several talented and storied veterans who are currently in worse than 70th place. How they finish out will reflect a lot about their character and their future prospects in this ridiculously talented field.
Mercury Morris Approves – Like the 1972 Miami Dolphins, Chuck Economou got to pop the cork on the champagne at the weigh-in’s end. Twenty-four years after setting the smallmouth five-fish limit B.A.S.S. record, he still has that bragging right. Maybe instead of champagne he should invest in some Spotted Cow from Wisconsin.
Generational Divide – Clark Wendlandt fished his first B.A.S.S. tournament out of Clayton just under 7 years before Przekurat was born.
Same Time, Next Year? – “You guys need to sign that three-year deal again.” Chris Zaldain to Dave Mercer, urging B.A.S.S to return to Clayton again and again and again.
Rev Up Your ICAST Order Sheets – The Strike King Half Shell may be the new MaxScent Flat Worm.
Jonah, Meet Whale – “I haven’t been around those big-big ones.” Greg Hackney, who weighed in 94-3, an average of 4.71 pounds per fish per fish.
More Firsts – Przekurat was the only member of the Top 10 who’d never made an Elite Series final-day cut before. He pretty much leapfrogged those pesky 2nd through 9th place finishes.
What Went Wrong? – Will Przekurat look back at his 24-12 catch on Day 3 and wonder if he could have hit 105 and made it really difficult for someone to top him?
One Last Question – What does Przekurat do for an encore?
