Wow. Good thing he’s got that sweet new Coppertone burn protection because Brett Hite is on fire. I’m sorry, proud Florida anglers, but a 12-pound lead is tough to overcome in one day – even at big, bad Lake Toho.
This one’s all but over, folks. And for a lot of you Arizona bass-fishing fans, congratulations. You are the going to be the proud leaders in the chase for the inaugural $1 million grand prize in FLW Fantasy Fishing.
Here’s the number that sticks out Saturday: 27. That the number of fish that the opening-round leader, Carl Svebek, caught today. And that’s a lot of bass to catch in one day, anywhere. I guarantee that most of the pros fishing today would have killed to catch that many fish on a relatively tough-fishing Toho. In an ironic twist, however, that actually might have hurt Carl today.
In competitive bass fishing, especially in a place like Florida, sometimes more is not better. Florida’s got some of the biggest bass in the country. However, they’re not ALL big. More often than not, the anglers who catch more fish at fisheries known for big bass don’t necessarily catch the most weight. It’s a quality v. quantity thing. At big-bass fisheries, if you want to catch a lot of fish, fine. But if you’re catching a lot of them, you’re likely around the little ones.
That sounds about like what happened to Svebek today. He caught too many fish. Likely, the spot he’s on is solid, but the bigger fish he’d been catching in the opening round moved out today and smaller ones moved in.
Notice, too, what bait he was throwing versus what Hite was throwing. Svebek stuck with his wacky worm – a dependable, numbers bait, especially in these conditions. If the reports are true, Hite caught a few on a Chatterbait today, which is an action bait. Sometimes anglers say they’re “swinging for the fences,” which is generally code to say that they’re throwing “action baits,” or baits that move – like swimbaits, crankbaits and Chatterbaits. Generally action baits catch bigger fish than finesse baits, especially at big-bass fisheries in Florida like Toho. But they don’t catch as many numbers.
So, in short, Svebek stuck with the quantity game. Hite went the quality route.
Keep that in mind for future picks, fantasy anglers. It’s not always going to happen, but sometimes the anglers who swing for the fences actually connect with one.
Man, Brett Hite catching them on a Chatterbait in Florida. I’d never have taken THAT bet, not even for a million dollars.