Brandon Card appeared headed for his third straight non-money finish after day 1 of last week's Wheeler Lake Bassmaster Elite Series. Then he advanced 68 places over the next 2 days with back-to-back stringers that weighed close to 17 pounds, and he nearly advanced to compete on the final day.
"On the first day I had a backwater pond-type place that was hard to get into, and I'd seen some pretty big sight-fish in there in practice," he said. "I thought that was my best chance, but when I got back in there they'd stopped spawning. I was fine with that because I knew they still had to be somewhere in the pond, so I just fished around, but I just kept catching the small bucks."
With a little over 9 pounds in his livewell, he bailed out at noon and went down toward the dam, where he threw a shaky-head for about a half-hour. He really wanted to flip, though, so he ran up near the Ingalls Harbor launch ramp and pulled out the big stick, but couldn't make a cull over the next 3 to 4 hours and ended up in 82nd place.
He ran down-lake again on days 2 and 3 and threw a shaky-head the whole time. His 16-13 sack on day 2 moved him up to 35th place, and he boxed 16 1/2 pounds the following day to gain another 21 places.
"I'd lost all confidence in my shallow bite, so I just fished the shaky-head slow and kept it wet. I found a few areas that were holding some big fish.
"I caught a 5 1/2-pounder on the second day and another 5 1/2 and one that was just under 5 on the third day, and I actually lost a few that would've gotten me to the last day. There were a lot of other boats fishing that same area, but I think the difference for me was I was fishing so painstakingly slow."
The finish moved him up to 76th in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race after he started the campaign with 101st- and 87th-place bombs at the St. Johns River and Winyah Bay, respectively. He was 38th on last year's points list and qualified for his second Classic.
"My finishes have gotten better each time and I'm hoping I can keep that trend going."
The Sunline Strong Performer, which focuses on the angler who makes a significant single-day move in the standings at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great people at Sunline.
