Elite Series Success Hampers David Walker at Southern Open No. 2

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (April 18) — As good as his fourth-place finish at last weekend’s Bassmaster Elite Series tournament was for Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler David Walker, he knew it might not be the best for his next appearance.

That played out at this week’s Bassmaster Southern Open No. 2 on the Alabama River. Missing crucial practice time because he was competing at the Elite Series tournament on Lake Guntersville, Walker struggled in the Southern Open and missed the cut.

“Doing well at the last one was great,” Walker said. “But the longer I was fishing, the less time I had to fish when I got here. I cut myself short.”

Walker finished with a two-day total of 13 pounds, 1 ounce despite a decent total of 10 pounds on Thursday. Still, it wasn’t enough to advance to Saturday.

“The thing about practice is a lot of times it determines how much luck you’re going to need,” Walker said. “With the short amount of practice, I was going to need a lot of luck. I didn’t get that.”

Walker had fished the Alabama River before, and he was counting on that knowledge to help him this week, but it never materialized.

“Having been here and done well, I was hoping that where I caught them and how the last time I was here would work again. Obviously, it wasn’t.”

Walker doesn’t have much turnaround time before his next event, the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on the Sacramento River April 30-May 3 in Sacramento, Calif. The tournament itself is two weeks from now, but Walker will drive his Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat bass boat from his home in Sevierville, Tenn.

“Driving is what’s next for me,” Walker said. “That’s a four-day drive each way. My joke about being a professional truck driver who gets to fish on the weekend is coming to be the truth.”

Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler David Walker finished with a two-day total of 13 pounds, 1 ounce despite a decent total of 10 pounds on Thursday, but it wasn’t enough to advance to Saturday.