If anglers thought Day 2 of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Harris Chain of Lakes might be better than the previous day, they were sorely mistaken. With increased wind speeds, bluebird skies and dirty water conditions still in place, pro anglers caught 123 limits on Day 2, 24 less than the previous day and overall, 325 less pounds were caught on Saturday than Friday.
Only one angler broke the 20-pound mark while only three other anglers caught more than 18 pounds.
The tough conditions did create plenty of drama on the final day of the Opens season, however, the day nine Elite Series berths were decided. After a difficult Day 1 with 9-5, Logan Parks made a nice recovery to move from 107th to 60th on Day 2 with an 11-11 limit. That moved him back into the top 10 in points, and Parks advanced to the Elite Series.
The opposite happened to Kyle Austin who was 54th after Day 1 with 12-1, but he could not manage to catch a limit on Day 2 and fell outside the Elite cut. Bobby Lane caught limits both days, but he ended up being the first man out of the cut.
Here are some final thoughts from the Harris Chain.
Messer quickly becoming the king of the Harris Chain
Matt Messer may be from Kentucky, but he may have to start thinking about buying some property in the Leesburg area. The former Kentucky Christian University angler notched his second major victory at the Harris Chain, the first coming in record-breaking fashion in the 2022 College Series event with his brother Lafe.
As noted yesterday, Messer has brought a different approach to Florida than most anglers. He does his best to ignore the hydrilla and eelgrass, instead looking for other aspects to focus on. On Day 2, he caught a 5-pounder on a buzzbait in Kissimmee grass before moving to lily pads.
Sylvester calls his shot
After catching 15-14 on Day 1, and losing a couple more that would have increased that total, Blake Sylvester said he felt like there was the potential for a 30-pound bag in his area of Lake Apopka.
While he didn’t reach the 30-pound mark, the pro from south Louisiana did catch 22-3, by far the biggest bag of Day 2. His top bait choices for the tournament mirror what he would throw in his home state: a Prototype Lures Smasher Frog, a Delta Lures Thunder Jig and a Missile Baits D Bomb.
Milliken’s risky gameplan
Day 1 went about as flawlessly as it could for Ben Milliken. He started fishing close to takeoff, filled a quick limit and then headed to Apopka where he was the only boat wanting to lock through at that time. He proceeded to catch more than 20 pounds to land in second.
The morning of Day 2 was the complete opposite. The New Caney, Texas, pro failed to catch a bass at his starting spot and when he arrived at the lock that connects Apopka to the rest of the chain at 10 a.m. ET, Milliken found himself in a line 10 boats deep attempting to get through the lock to Apopka, which allows just three boats at a time.
Locking into Apopka is always a gamble simply because of how much time it takes to get from takeoff in Harris Lake to the southernmost lake in the chain. One must run through Eustis, Dora and Beauclair to get to Apopka. Several long idle zones are in place as well.
With limited fishing time already, these were stressful moments for Milliken, who was forced to ponder what could have been if he just arrived right after takeoff.
Milliken finally entered the lock at 10:40 a.m. and raced to his best area. His first bass, a 2-pounder, entered the boat just after 11:30 followed by another 2-pounder at 11:45. Many more bites never entered the boat.
“The brushpile gods were nice to me yesterday, but haven’t been as kind to me today,” Milliken said on LIVE.
Luckily for Milliken, he was able to fill out a limit and ultimately finish third, which was enough to keep him inside the Elite Series cut.
Slow and steady
The importance of a quick limit can’t be understated in tournament bass fishing, but many of the top finishers weren’t able to get off to quick starts. In a tournament as tough as this, it would be easy to get spun out. But those who remained calm and trusted that bites would eventually come excelled.
Tyler Lubbat caught the first limit of the anglers featured on Bassmaster LIVE, filling out a solid limit of around 9 pounds around 10 a.m.
Matt Messer caught a 5 1/2-pound largemouth to start the day, but then went over two hours without adding another bass to the livewell. Bobby Lane steadily worked lines of Kissimmee grass, occasionally putting a keeper bass in the boat.
The offshore bite was slow to develop for many, including Wesley Gore and JT Thompkins. Tyler Williams, however, put his boat nose in the wind and filled out a limit with his favorite jig.
Happy to be here
Bassmaster LIVE fans have quickly come to love Williams, who earned the nickname “Good Time Tyler” as he battled the waves on the Harris Chain. The generally joyful Williams was smiling most of the morning, even if it took a while for a limit to materialize.
“I love fishing. I was stressed before, but I have gotten bit two casts in a row,” Williams said with a smile after catching a 3 1/2-pounder.
A few casts later, a dream was realized. “Oh my gosh, I did it!” he shouted as he flipped his limit filler into the boat, no doubt recognizing he would officially be Elite Series bound.
Lubbat has had a tough season in the Opens this year, but you could feel the excitement from his boat as he carried a LIVE camera for the first time in his career. Early in the morning, he put himself in contention for a top five finish and was full of smiles the rest of the day.
Clear water is best
There is a universal understanding that when anglers come to Florida, clear water will be their friend. This week at the Harris Chain proved that theory correct. The dirty water across all of the lakes seemed to hinder anglers greatly.
