By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE
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| Chad grabs slim lead over Zaldain. (Photo: BASS) |
When
Chad Pipkens suffered a broken collarbone playing hockey back in early March,
some people automatically assumed he was done fishing the Bassmaster Elite
Series for the year.
But not only has he kept fishing, he’s actually
been better since the freak accident happened.
The veteran pro from Lansing, Mich., caught five
bass Thursday that weighed 31 pounds, 15 ounces and took the opening-round lead
in the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department on Lake Fork.
The catch gave Pipkens a 4-ounce lead over
Brandon Cobb of South Carolina (31-11) and a 1-5 advantage over Texas pro Chris
Zaldain (30-10) on a day when 19 competitors managed at least 20 pounds for
their five-bass limits.
“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to break
anything else,” Pipkens said, laughing. “But being injured has definitely
caused me to slow down and fish a little differently than I did before — and I
think it’s showed in the way I’ve finished.”
Before Pipkens’ injury, he had 51st- and
54th-place finishes in the first two Elite Series events on the St. Johns River
and Lake Lanier. After breaking his collarbone in three places and enduring a
surgery that left him with a massive scar, he finished ninth in his next event
at Lake Hartwell — his highest finish on the Elite Series since a fifth-place
showing at the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Sturgeon
Bay, Wisc., in 2015.
He actually got off to a slow start Thursday
when he went looking for a couple of large bass he’d found on spawning beds
during practice. When he realized those fish were gone, he tried to exploit a
shad-spawn bite that has been hot all over the lake.
Since that particular bite happens early — and
since he had wasted some time on the bedding fish — that didn’t work either.
“I think my timing was just off in the morning,
but it got right in the afternoon,” he said. “I rolled up to a place and caught
a 4 1/2-pounder and nothing else. Then I went to another place and just lit
them up.”
Since bass are weighed and released immediately
after they’re caught during Texas Fest, Pipkens knew the weight of each
individual bass he caught. His five biggest weighed 7-0, 6-14, 6-8, 6-5 and 5-4.
He said the major thunderstorms that moved
through the region Wednesday night may have been the reason his early-morning
tactics didn’t work.
“That thunder and lightning we had last night
even shook me and woke me up,” Pipkens said. “I don’t know for a fact that it
had anything to do with the fishing this morning. I just know the fishing
wasn’t like it was in practice.”
Cobb, who grew up fishing for bass during the
blueback herring spawn this time of year on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina,
devoted some of that knowledge to fishing the gizzard shad spawn on Fork
Thursday — and it eventually paid off with 31-11.
His biggest five bass weighed 8-12, 7-2, 7-0,
4-12 and 4-1.
“I think the lightning had them a little
messed up last night,” Cobb said. “I didn’t have a fish at 10 o’clock — and
after the practice I had, I really didn’t expect to catch a fish after 10.
“It was a really tough day for me until I hit
one little flurry.”
That flurry produced most of his weight in about
15 minutes.
“That’s the way it’s been for me all week long,”
Cobb said. “If you run into them, it’s good. But if you don’t, it’s really
tough.”
While the other anglers were tightlipped about
which baits they were using and where, Zaldain was open about using a swimbait
to catch the bulk of his 30-10 weight.
His bass weighed 7-6, 7-4, 5-12, 5-12 and 4-8.
“I’ve had some good days this year, but this was
the most fun I’ve had all season,” Zaldain said. “This morning was just
unbelievable with two 7 1/2-pound fish, two that were almost 6 pounds and a 4
1/2.
“I’m around them. I have a good idea of
what the fish are doing right now.”
In addition to the $100,000 first-place prize
and the $1 million total purse that will be split by the 75-angler field, the
angler who catches the Toyota Tundra Big Bass of the week will earn a new
Tundra. The competition for that award could be as interesting as the overall
tournament itself.
The Top 10 bass caught Thursday each weighed 7-2
or better, and Cobb and Oklahoma pro Luke Palmer tied for first place, each
with an 8-12.
The tournament will resume Friday with takeoff
at 7 a.m. from Sabine River Authority in Quitman and weigh-in back at the same
site at 3 p.m. The anglers will take a break from competition Saturday to sign
autographs, conduct seminars and meet fans at a special Outdoors Expo.
The Expo will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and
Sunday, with free demo boat rides, prize giveaways, food vendors and a live
performance by country star Chris Knight at 4:15 p.m.
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