Let's talk about the Elite derby in my backyard....Elite Series stop at Lay Lake, AL. ** Now with 100% more pics

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Very true on the first part, nice thing about getting older.

 

The pressure I imagine is what culls lots of otherwise elite level talent.   I highly doubt I could do it for a year, much less a career.  

 

Imagine what Jason Christie is feeling right now, 2ft away from a 7lber an hour before weigh on the final day to win in the most incredible fashion.   So many things could have happened where those three could have changed place, and if New wouldn't have had such a bad day 2 IIrc he'd have won.   It's such a thrilling sport, I was very stupid for leaving it as a young adult, perhaps something in me knew I didn't have the stuff to be a professional angler and it hurt but it was the truth.  

 

At the end of day I can thank Ben Milliken for getting me back into this side of the game.   I bumped into a guy I grew up fishing with that has kids now, and just yesterday they were at Wheeler practicing for a college tourney IIrc, anyways they saw Milliken out on the water, and said he looked like a mythical God out there in his hoodie ?  Dude is just cool, and he's gonna bring a ton of new fans to the sport I imagine.  

 

Sure hope he makes the elite series.   I wanna be an elite angler just to have Dave Mercer MC me, he's incredible.   GAAAAAA GAAAAAAAAA GIANT BASS ?

[Jrob78]

Pro sports in general are high pressure and dealing with that definitely separates the elite from everyone else, but I imagine the pressure is even bigger in fishing, or at least different. Most of these guys aren't making millions and many of them are living paycheck to paycheck, in the beginning at least. Not knowing if you can afford gas to drive back home is a different kind of pressure!

 

I will have to check out Ben Milliken on YouTube. I know the name and I've seen his videos pop up but I don't think I've ever watched any.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

The only other channel I watch everything from is Tactical Bassin.   His recent stuff is mind blowing, monster bags, monster fish, show all in regards to live scoping techniques, and now he's showing all in the Open tourneys through his youtube channel.   Be prepared to go down a rabbit hole, dude just loves to fish, he ditch fishes, and then wins the Open recently at Toledo Bend.    

I don't know much at this point in my foray back into the sport, but he's easily the most impressive angler I've seen.    He just makes it all look so easy.  

 

He's part owner of 6th Sense, and that seems to be growing as his fame grows, so be aware he pimps the 6th Sense stuff lol.  

[MN Fisher]

They

 

TB is run by Tim Little and Matt Allen

[TnRiver46]

@AlabamaSpothunter, thanks for the pics and details! Kyle is BP’s camera man, he’s the guy with the big camera in your photo of Brandon at the tanks. He’s a pretty funny guy, sounds like it may have been who you heard BP tell the dead fish story too 

[Pat Brown]

This was one of the funnest tournaments to follow in recent memory.

 

It had everything.  Tough fishing.  Giant bass.  Big names.  Unlikely local heroes.

 

Just everything that makes bass fishing great happened.

 

WDJ is the real deal and he fished consistent for 4 days when no one else could.

 

Just awesome stuff.  So cool you got to go @AlabamaSpothunter!

 

I Loved watching the rain pour down as they announced the winner and it was so cool seeing BP come back out one more time to congratulate Will.

 

Christie and BMP are two of my favorite anglers but WDJ is one of the many reasons more people need to pay attention to the quiet little Southern states that aren't Texas or Florida.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Awesome stuff Pat, and I agree that it was the most exciting derby I've watched this year, but that's only 3 Opens, and 5 Elite events.   

 

The crowd went nuts when he won, somebody said the Live went dead for a second during it.   It was a truly special scene, Will had a couple dozen people there for him, and most importantly his dad was there who is a local legend.   He said it best, that trophy represents a lot of old hammers on Lay Lake.

 

Love how Aaron Martens still played a roll in Will's win as well, it's amazing the baits that Aaron designed, or help refine that we're all currently fishing with.  That ShakeyFish(scrounger head) by Davis Baits was created by Aaron and Will's dad back in the day, and it's what won him the derby to land him in the elites, and now it's what won him an Elite derby.  That's so cool.  Bought some last August, time to break them out again.  

[Pat Brown]

 

 

I have never fished a scrounger and I betcha most folks round here also haven't.  Might be time to try one out!

[gim]

That was one of the aspects I really noticed and enjoyed too when I went to the AOY events here back in 2015 and 2016.  Some of them offer flat out honest opinions of how their day went, the fishery itself, etc.  This was back when many of the heavy hitters were still on the Elites too and hadn't moved to MLF.  I went to the weigh in on the 2nd day (AOY events only have 3 fishing days) each time, and then afterwards we went in and ate at the casino buffet.  I saw a couple of anglers in there too just stuffing themselves with crab legs, raw oysters, and shrimp lol

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Imagine going to a Matt Robertson victory party ??

 

This guy can't open his mouth without making me laugh, same with Swindle.  Some of these guys could sell bubblegum in a lockjaw ward.    

 

I know they have to be affable, and friendly, but so many of these guys seem like your best buddy, or just one of the guys.   

6 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

 

 

I have never fished a scrounger and I betcha most folks round here also haven't.  Might be time to try one out!

They are dynamite on schooling fish, and Spotted Bass can resist them either.  

 

I think I'm going to start fishing them like a chatterbait around cover and see what happens.

[Pat Brown]

 

I feel like fish that have seen lots of chatterbaits and swimjigs would crush em.

 

Matt Robertson, Gerald Swindle and Seth Feider all feel like old friends that I never knew.

 

I had so many friends growing up that remind me of those dudes.

[TnRiver46]

Did you see the guy honking his truck horn Alex?? Hajaha

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Couldn't find those guys lol, but Will's mom and wife were in front of us, and his buddies were sitting right beside us.   Every angler should be so lucky to win his dream in front of so many friends and family.   

 

He handled it well until his dad came on the stage, and then kind of lost it, I would have been balling ?

[AlabamaSpothunter]

So it took a day for a legitimate/trusted source of fishing news to write about the 4oz dead fish penalty, and even then it's not called the dead fish penalty.

 

I think this shows how classy BASS or BP is being, if this was more widely known at the moment of weigh in or shortly after, it really would sour the victory in a way for the winner.    I mean just like Bobo, BP literally had the winning weight.    Glad I wasn't reporting false info.   

 

"After leading three days on Lay Lake, a disappointed Palaniuk fell to second with a four-day total of 62-10. He opened the tournament with 19-7 and followed with bags of 16-5 and 15-11. On the final day, the two-time Progressive Insurance Bassmaster Angler of the Year caught the bass he needed to win, but a 4-ounce penalty forced Palaniuk to wait longer for his seventh B.A.S.S. win."

 

For whatever reason I can't mention or link the source, but some other good tidbits:

 

“I knew I was going to expose this to the world. My dad and I have worked all of our lives to learn this lake,” Davis said. “It took me seven years to figure out that deal up there (below Logan Martin Dam) and a lot of torn-up stuff. That’s why you don’t see a lot of people up there. Boulders up there move.”

 

 

The victory wouldn’t have been possible without a bedding largemouth he affectionately called “White Eye.” Boats had been in the creek where he had seen this 4-pounder in practice, but when he asked Mark Menendez about it in the Day 3 weigh-in line, his fellow competitor confirmed the bass with the white outline around its eye was still there.

“At 1:30, I didn’t think this was going to happen,” he said. “I went into this creek, I saw her and she ran off when I flipped to her. I went down the bank and there was a brand new one. I flipped and flipped and couldn’t make her bite. I tied on a jerkbait, threw it out there and after about five casts in a row, she just opened her mouth at it. The next cast I threw it 2 feet away from her and she sucked it in.”

When he landed that bass, the back hook came unbuttoned from the fish and ended up in Davis’s thumb. He had to push the hook through his finger. With no hook cutters in his own boat, he, fortunately, found a local angler at the mouth of the creek who had a pair he could use.

 

Once the hook was out of his hand, he went back to where he saw White Eye and caught her with the jerkbait, an old floating Bomber Long A, in a chartreuse foil color.

“She was pulled up and positioned perfectly,” he said. “That is what sealed the deal.”

[TnRiver46]

Love the long A 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Me too, it was like he was paying homage to the OGs 

[TnRiver46]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsPQWAAAfUs/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
 

I believe I spied our very own alabamaspothunter reporting live in this video 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsPQWAAAfUs/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
 

I believe I spied our very own alabamaspothunter reporting live in this video 

Bawahahahaha........I'm famous and so is my new buddy ?

 

Only the diehards stayed in their seats ?