Canadian: Cory Johnston 41st
BASS PRESS RELEASE
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Kyoya Fujita has been a star in Japan for several years, winning four Angler of the Year titles in his home country. Now, the 27-year-old is starting to make a name for himself here in the United States.
Fujita caught 20 pounds, 12 ounces on Day 3 of the Marathon Bassmaster Elite at Lake Murray — and with a three-day total of 65-8, he became the event's third leader. He also guaranteed his second-straight Top 10 finish after a second-place showing at Lake Seminole in February.
After catching 22-6 each of the first two days, Fujita is now the only angler to top the 20-pound mark each day this week. Tennessee pro Hunter Shryock is in second with 64-3 and South Carolina’s Patrick Walters is third with 62-8.
While the rain and storms were not as heavy as expected, clouds and wind were more prominent Saturday morning than they were on Days 1 and 2. As Semifinal Saturday wore on, the clouds cleared and sunny skies prevailed. That led to a great day of bass fishing, as 48 of the 50 anglers competing caught limits.
With several different LiveScope transducers, Fujita has been picking out bass that are suspended in open water near a creek channel in 6 to 18 feet. He said he has been using one bait primarily, a Jackall RV DriftFry with a 1/8-ounce Keitech jighead.
“The LiveScope wasn’t showing me fish,” said Fujita, who added through an interpreter that he will not make a cast unless there is a fish on the screen. He said he is also seeing a lot of stripers swimming around his area. He can tell the difference between the two if they are sitting still, but if the fish is swimming he cannot tell which species he is seeing.
“I am still figuring out the difference,” he said.
Fujita was hampered by boat problems to start the morning and the fishing wasn’t stellar when he got to his first spot. Although he caught one over 5 pounds around 8:30 a.m., he was not seeing a lot of activity on his Garmin LiveScope and changed areas. |
