Even though the humidity ramped up after a round of severe storms exited the Leesburg, Fla. area during the mid-morning on Thursday, the storms that forced the cancellation of the first day of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Harris Chain of Lakes, John Garrett wasn’t sweating a thing.
In fact, Garrett said he is the most relaxed he has been since the 2023 season began in Eufaula, Ala. in early March. With 1461 points, the pro from Union City, Tenn. is sitting in second-place in the Elite Qualifier standings and will almost certainly be one of the nine anglers who will receive an invite to the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series roster.
With the stress of moving to the next level behind him, Garrett has been able to practice freely on the Harris Chain this week. While winning the Angler of the Year title would be nice (he is 19 points behind the leader JT Thompkins), Garrett isn’t too worried about that either.
“It has been the most stress free week I’ve ever had. It has been so nice,” he said. “I’m not really worried about winning the AOY deal or dropping out of the Top 10. I wasn’t getting up at 4:30 in the morning or staying out until 9 in the evening. I’m still trying my best to find good stuff, but I wasn’t stressed inside. I wasn’t pushing myself to exhaustion.
“JT has a decent lead on me. If it happens for me, it will be because I just went fishing and it happened. If not, I’m content with it. I have been trying to qualify for the Elites for so long and it is finally happening. So I’m just trying to enjoy it and soak in this last tournament with my buddies.”
Garrett is one of the few anglers in contention for the nine Elite Series berths who will be fishing stress free this week, however. Only Trey McKinney–who enters this event in third place in the EQ standings with a large cushion between him and 10th place Jamie Bruce– and Kenta Kimura (who is already Elite Series qualified) have expressed feelings of relief.
Even Thompkins is feeling an immense amount of pressure, albeit different from the other contenders. With a 20th place finish or better, Thompkins will lock up the AOY title and the first place prize that goes with it.
“Honestly, about two tournaments ago I completely forgot about the Elite race. It was no longer a thought in my mind,” he said. “It switched to the AOY race. That is why I have been shooting for the win in the last couple of events. This week, I have been more stressed out than any other week of the year. I have had cold sores, I can’t sleep, and when I saw that trophy at registration on Wednesday, everything came into focus. I have been pretty stressed about it, but usually the more stress I put on myself, the better I do. The more confident I feel about going out and catching them.”
Outside of Thompkins, Garrett, McKinney, Robert Gee and Kimura, who are all largely safe by one definition or another, the bigger picture is this: 41 points separate sixth place Kyle Patrick and the bubble boy Bruce in 10th. One point separates Bruce from Wesley Gore in 11th and 52 points separate Bruce from 20th place Keith Tuma. Two-time Classic qualifier Joey Nania, former Elite Series pro Bobby Lane and big bass specialist Ben Milliken are just a few of the anglers between Gore and Tuma.
Some of those gaps may seem quite large until you remember that these anglers will take on a Harris Chain of Lakes that is extremely dirty and fishing rather poorly compared to its normal standards, but still has a healthy population of big bass.
No one will know exactly what the weather did to the fishery until they reach their starting spot.
Several of the anglers in contention have been in position to qualify for the Elites before and have just missed the cut. Take Logan Parks for example, who was 17 points inside the Elite cut in 2022 before the last event at Sam Rayburn and finished just a couple points outside the cut.
This year, he finds himself in 7th place in the standings, this time 31 points inside the cut.
“This year, I’m in very similar shoes. It is worse this year because there are so many guys on the bubble. It is Florida, so there is a lot of shaking up that is going to happen,” Parks said. “Prior to the final day of practice. It isn’t often you can say you are in this position. It is a great opportunity and I hope I can capitalize on it this year.”
Just behind Parks is Kyle Austin, who has flirted with Elite qualification the last two years. Austin opened the season in the 20s and worked his way into the cut after three-straight Top 30 finishes at Eufaula Oklahoma, St. Lawrence River and Watts Bar before finishing 53rd at Lake of the Ozarks.
While some in his shoes may play it safe, Austin will not. He has seen that strategy punish other anglers too many times.
“The goal this week was to not really get it in my head that I’m in the Elite cut,” Austin said. “I wanted to show up here like I was still 40 points out. That is what I’ve done all year, and it has worked so far. A lot of guys will let it get to them and they will play it safe, and that will usually result in their worst tournament of the year. My goal this week was to find the fish to win like I do every tournament.”
Gore has done his best to keep the points race out of his head. If he doesn’t make it to the Elite Series this season, he has already decided he will try again in 2024. His main concern right now is trying to get the most quality bites he can on a tough fishery.
“I truly avoid thinking about it. I generally fish with no pressure. If it is meant for me to catch them, it will happen at some point during the day,” the Alabama native said. “I had zero fish at noon on Day 1 at Eufaula Oklahoma and ended up catching 14 pounds and salvaging that event. In Florida, unless you find one of those magical places, it’s about trying to find bites. I do feel like I will need to finish in the Top 30 for me to have a chance.”
No one knows the disappointment of just missing out on making the Elite Series more than Austin’s travel partner Sam George, who has come so close to qualifying several times over the past couple of seasons. But with the birth of his baby girl, George has found perspective on his situation.
“I really haven’t had a lot of emotions this week. When we had our baby in July, it took my mind off fishing and made me realize this is just bass fishing,” George explained. “At the end of the day, I have all I need right now. If I have to fish these again next year, I will. So I’m good mentally with it. I haven’t lost sleep over it. I’m less stressed than I would be if I was in the cut trying to hold on.”
Being outside the cut, George never had a thought about playing it safe this week at the Harris Chain. He knows that to make the Elite Series, he will need a special pattern to make it happen. Even though most of his success has come in the spring, George has a good track record in Florida.
“It made my practice a little easier knowing what I need to do and what I need to look for to have a shot,” he said. “I found some of what I think I need, it is just a matter of whether the bass are willing to bite. If they bite they bite, and if they don’t it’s not the end of the world.”
Day 1 has begun at the Harris Chain of Lakes. Be sure to tune into Bassmaster.com for full coverage!
