Elite

Schmitt’s solid start to semifinal Saturday

Head out with Bryan Schmitt as he gets started on Day 3 of the 2022 Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick Lake!

Posted on
Photography by
Kyle Jessie
With a two-day total of 38-1, Bryan Schmitt found himself sitting in fourth place heading into semifinal Saturday of the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick Lake.
After a 30 minute run up river, Schmitt set up shop on a spot that a large percentage of his weight has came from this week.
Unlike a lot of the field, Schmitt has done a lot of his damage on a spinning rod. Theres no question that these fish have been heavily pressured, which makes catching them on power fishing equipment very difficult.
After fishing his starting spot for roughly 15 minutes, Schmitt hooks up with his first keeper of the morning.
The Maryland pro got on the board early with this solid fish.
This one fell victim to the new Missile Baits Magic Worm.
Shortly after Schmitt landed his first keeper, Taku Ito joined the party.
“Usually they don’t let you catch another one real quick” said Schmitt.
What Schmitt suggested ended up being true, as he didn’t boat another keeper off of his primary area. He rotated through a number of different baits before making a move back down river.
As we trolled by Elite Series rookie Joseph Webster, he hooked up with a nice fish just 100 yards or so from where Schmitt was fishing.
After fishing his second spot for a short amount of time, Schmitt continued down river.
As soon as he arrived to his next spot, he scanned his Garmin LiveScope out and found a group of fish which resulted in an immediate bite.
Schmitt was filled with excitement after boating this four pounder.
“That’s not what I thought lived here,” said Schmitt in a state of shock.
Once Schmitt got back to fishing, he was thrilled to see that the fish were still showing up on his electronics.
Schmitt drifed down river about 20 yards and hooked up with another keeper.
After boating this solid keeper, Schmitt had 9-10 according to BassTrakk.
The final move we saw Schmitt make was back up river to fish near Joseph Webster. The two compared notes and both agreed that the fish were being super stingy.

Related