The Bassmaster Elite series on the Sabine River began on Thursday.
First the good news, seven anglers weighed in 10 pounds or better, lead by Pat Schlapper (12.2) and his 4-5 kicker.
The conditions couldn’t be much worse Thursday with water being released from the north, turning it gumbo brown, coupled with a heavy south wind that’s keeping the water from moving out. The SRA did drop the CFS down to 13789 today from 24470.
Eighty five of the 102 fishermen used the phrase “it’s a grind” which The Grind wouldn’t be a bad name for the tournament.
Thirty two did not bring in a five fish limit. That includes former Sabine winners Greg Hackney (93rd) and Jason Christie (95th). 2023 winner, Brock Moseley, is 71st with 5 fish for 5-11. Last weeks winner at Lake Fork, Tucker Smith weighed in one fish and is in 99th place. Brandon Palaniuk, an 8x winner on the Elites, did not weigh in a bass.
Reported: 80% of the fishermen were in Taylor’s Bayou on Day One.
Great quote: “I wish the limit was 11.5 inches because I had several that weighed more than the 12 inchers. You know how when you’re a kid, you’re a little chubbier and then you get taller and thinner.”
Zinger: Veteran fishermen Chris Zaldain said, “For the first time I was passing up other fishermen and I could actually tell who they were. That’s because I could see their faces, fishing, instead of them looking down at their screens (forward facing sonar).”
Dialing it down: After fishing Fork for a week, fishermen will have to slow their hook sets after several confessed to jerking the smaller fish so hard they lost them as they flew across the boat to the other side.
Acadian on Standby: Japan’s Kenta Kimura admitted to MC Dave Mercer that he drank 10 Red Bulls while on the water.
Southeast Texas Slam: Besides bass, fishermen reported catching reds, crab, catfish, grinnel, white perch, gar, stingray, and flounder.
Stat of the day: Hawaii’s Matty Wong did the math and said he caught a total of eight fish after making 3200 casts. Five of those were keepers for seven pounds and 47th place. The top 50 get to fish on Saturday and then the top 10 on Sunday will battle for $100K.
Daily takeoffs from City of Orange Boat Ramp are at 6:30 a.m. and weigh-ins each day back at the boat ramp at 2:30 p.m. The MAXAM Tire Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River is free and open to the public.
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(photo of Chad Pipkens by Andy Crawford)
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