UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. (Aug. 22) — Two consistent days of competition have pro angler Mike McClelland closing in on the leaders at the Bassmaster Elite event on Cayuga Lake and possibly his second win of the season.
Bringing in a heavy stringer of 17 pounds, 12 ounces Thursday and another solid bag of 15 pounds, 14 ounces Friday, the Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat Elite angler sits 15th on the Bassmaster leaderboard. His total weight of 33 pounds, 10 ounces has him only 1 pound, 14 ounces behind the championship Sunday mark.
“This is one of those tournaments where there is a lot of fish in the lake, but little fish aren’t going to make a difference,” McClelland said. “A minimum of 12 to 13 pounds a day isn’t going to be good enough to stay competitive.
“Looking back to the first day, I feel frustrated that I didn’t grind a little harder on some of my areas. I fished through them one time and caught some decent-sized fish. I took what I had thought was going to be sufficient. Unfortunately, the fish were biting a lot better yesterday and I probably could have brought in a lot more than I did. That was probably my best chance of bringing in a 20-pound bag.”
In search of that big bag, McClelland will launch from Frontenac Park at 6:15 a.m. ET with the other remaining Elite Series anglers. He will return for weigh-in at 3:15 p.m. to see if he made the final cut.
“I made the decision yesterday to not revisit my areas because I didn’t feel like I had enough spots to just beat on them,” McClelland said. “Tomorrow I’m going to take a different approach than I have the first two days. My plan is to get in an area, and if they’re biting I’m going to stay and catch as many as I possibly can before moving on. Hopefully, that means I can bring in a 20-pound bag tomorrow at weigh-in.”
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Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler Mike McClelland advanced to Saturday’s round after bringing his two-day weight total to 33 pounds, 10 ounces on Friday.
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