Wisconsin's Pat Schlapper maintains the lead on Day 3 of the MAXAM Tire Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River with a three-day total of 29 pounds, 2 ounces.
ORANGE, Texas — Pat Schlapper felt the moment slipping away, but he patiently persevered and found a late-day kicker that kept him in the lead of the MAXAM Tire Bassmaster Elite at the Sabine River.
The Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series pro from Eleva, Wis., took the early lead with a Day 1 limit of 12 pounds, 2 ounces and then remained in the top spot with a second-round bag that went 8-7. Catching a Semifinal Saturday limit of 8-9, Schlapper made it three days straight with a leading total of 29-2.
Coming off a 32nd-place finish last week in the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork, Schlapper heads into Championship Sunday with a 14-ounce lead over Kyoya Fujita. Schlapper attributes his Texas success to a rejuvenated perspective.
“It’s been a tough year, but I’ve kinda changed my mindset; I’m trying to have fun and I’m fishing to win,” Schlapper said. “We hear that all the time, but I’m really fishing to win this week.”
Schlapper demonstrated the determination requisite of blue trophy ownership by enduring a lean third day. Round 1 saw him catch all of his fish at a bridge near Taylor Bayou. That structure produced part of his Day 2 limit, with the rest coming from shallow shoreline cover.
Schlapper tried his bridge again on Day 3, but it did not yield any keeper bites.
“I started on some other stuff and then went (to the bridge) and didn’t catch ’em, then I just started fishing the way I did in practice,” Schlapper said. “I’m not counting on the bridge anymore. I’ll fish it tomorrow and think I can still catch some there, but I’m focused on the other way I’m catching them.”
That other pattern simply comprises covering water and flipping shallow habitat features. Schlapper said he’s fishing a mix of natural targets with a Texas-rigged creature bait and a jig.
“It could be grass, it could be wood, it could be a little undercut point,” he said. “I’m just trying to get my bait in front of as many fish as I can.
“It took me all day to get those five keepers,” Schlapper said. “I had six keeper bites and only I caught five of them.”
Grinding through a stingy day, Schlapper found himself with only four fish for a little over 5 pounds at 1 o’clock.
Coming close to missing his Top 10 spot, Schlapper’s day took a dramatic turn when he caught a 3-5 shortly after 1:00. That fish lifted him back into the (unofficial BassTrakk) lead — a point later confirmed at the Day 3 weigh-in.
Confident with his game plan, but aware that his lead is far from safe, Schlapper said Day 4 will mirror his third day's work.
“I have a good plan for tomorrow,” Schlapper said. “It’s going to be a shootout, but that’s the way I like it; I’m a pretty good shot. I think anyone has a shot to win.
“If you have one of those days like I had the first day, with a couple of those difference makers, that’s all it takes to have a good tournament. I’ve been fortunate to get six quality bites and get them in the boat in this tournament.”
Hailing from Yamanishi, Japan, Fujita is in second place with 28-4. After finding himself in a three-way tie for 18th place with a Day 1 limit of 8-8, Fujita added a second-round bag of 11-3 and rose to third.
Fujita gained one more spot with a Semifinal Saturday limit that went 8-9.
A well-established technology ace, Fujita stressed that he’s not catching his fish off of forward facing sonar. Rather, he’s power fishing with Texas-rigged plastics. He hopes that this strategy will serve him well in the final round.
“I’ll (continue) bank fishing and I hope to catch five big fish tomorrow,” Fujita said.
Cooper Gallant of Bowmanville, Ontario is in third place with 27-10. He placed seventh on Day 1 with 10-2, then added 10-3 a day later and rose to second. Gallant caught 7-5 on Day 3 and slipped to third.
Gallant has been flipping shallow cover with a 3/8-ounce hand-tied flipping jig and a 3/8-ounce Outkast Tackle Cage Feider jig. He fits both with a X Zone Lures Adrenaline Craw Jr.
“Coming into this tournament, I wasn’t sitting very good in (Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year) points and I was like, ‘Man, I gotta catch ’em,” Gallant said. “At the same time, I just want to survive to get a Top 50.
“As the week’s gone on, it’s like, ‘Holy smokes, I caught ’em on Day 1. On Day 2, it didn’t look like I was gonna catch ’em and I caught another 10 pounds. Tomorrow, I’ll have a chance to bring a blue trophy back home to Canada and there’s not much more you can ask for.”
Wisconsin's Pat Schlapper maintains the lead on Day 3 of the MAXAM Tire Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River with a three-day total of 29 pounds, 2 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
John Crews of Salem, Va., is in the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his Day 2 4-14.
Jay Przekurat of Plover, Wis., leads the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 544 points. Chris Johnston of Otonabee, Canada is in second with 502, followed by Fujita with 495, Trey McKinney of Carbondale, Ill., with 487, and Will Davis Jr. of Sylacauga, Ala., with 480.
Paul Marks of Cumming, Ga., leads the Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year standings with 435 points.
Sunday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6:30 a.m. CT at City of Orange Boat Ramp. The weigh-in will be held at the same location at 2:30 p.m.
Bassmaster LIVE coverage of the MAXAM Tire Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River will be available on FS1 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. before heading over to Bassmaster.com in the afternoon.
The MAXAM Tire Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River is being hosted by the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce.
