James Elam was one of 10 anglers who failed to catch a keeper on day 1 of the Chesapeake Bay Bassmaster Elite Series. On day 2, all but one of his 106 fellow competitors failed to catch a better stringer than his 16-04 haul.
The 3rd-year pro from Oklahoma picked up a $10,000 paycheck and gained a bunch of Angler of the Year (AOY) points with his remarkable rally. After making the cut to the Top 50 with five places to spare, he boxed another solid stringer (12-05) on day 3 to gain an additional 14 slots for a 31st-place finish that was his second-best of the year.
He fished pretty much the same areas on days 2 and 3 that he had on day 1, but used different equipment. He said he got the bites to weigh a 9- or 10-pound sack in the initial session, but couldn't get them to the boat.
He used spinning gear to skip a Senko around docks on the first day, and it just wasn't up to the task of subduing fish under those conditions. There were too many submerged objects – whether natural or manmade – for the fish to utilize in their quest to get free.
He gave them what for the following day when he switched to flipping a Reaction Innovations Beaver on a more formidable rod with heavier line. His bag was topped by a 4 1/2-pounder and a 4.
"Everything just worked out the second day," he said. "I got to fish every thing I wanted to and there was never a boat in my way. I got to fish most of it again on the third day, but on my main place there was a boat there most of the day, and he caught them that day.
"I still got my three biggest ones there, but I had to weigh in two 12-inchers."
He's in 50th place in the points race with only next week's Lake St. Clair event remaining in the regular season. He'll need to either hold that position or move up to qualify for the AOY Championship in September.
"I've got a game plan for St. Clair, but I'll have to wait and see what the weather's going to do because that dictates things there. I thought I was going to catch them there last time, but I didn't (he finished 75th). I did learn a few things, though."
The Sunline Strong Performer, which focuses ons the angler who makes the most significant single-day move in the standings at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great people at Sunline.
