Seeing his name in 73rd place after day 1 wasn’t exactly what David Walker envisioned for himself at the Douglas Lake Bassmaster Elite Series. The resident of nearby Sevierville, Tenn., was hailed as one of the pre-tournament favorites because of his mailing address and the fact that he hadn’t finished lower than 17th in an event this season, including the Bassmaster Classic.
He bounced back with a 16-04 stringer on day 2 to jump 42 spots in the standings and make the 50-cut in 31st place. He carried the momentum through day 3, catching another 14-05 to move up an additional seven spots and close the week in 24th with 40-10.
While he failed to join his two Tennessee counterparts, Brandon Card and Ott Defoe, in the Top 12, he came away from the fourth Elite Series event of the season with a glass half-full outlook. Because of Brent Chapman’s 68th-place finish, he moved up a spot to 2nd in the Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year standings and trails current leader Randy Howell by 26 points.
“The tournament didn’t start off so good, which was really disappointing to me,” he said. “You have to look at what went right this week and for me, when you start off in 75th and you’re 3rd in the Angler of the Year points, it’s not where you want to be. I managed to move up every day and managed to move up another spot in the Angler of the Year race. I have a lot of positives to work off.”
Day 2 went more according to plan and that’s when he made his big move up the standings, thanks to a couple key bites.
“I was that much more determined to do well,” he said. “I was basically mad about (day 1) because I knew I could do better than that. On top of that, I caught a 5 1/2-pounder. That makes a lot of difference. It was one of the first fish I caught on day 2 so that was a real momentum-changer for the whole week.”
He caught fish on a variety of baits, including a big flutter spoon, several models of deep-diving crankbaits, a football-head jig, a swimbait and a Carolina rig. His depth range was to 25 to 35 feet, targeting fish near the bottom on main-lake points and bars.
“It wasn’t like I didn’t know where to go or what to throw,” he added. “That was the frustrating part. I fished in the same exact spot where three of the 20-pound bags came from on the first day. Some of it’s out of your control. There are only certain things you can control, but some it is just timing and things just happen for you. It didn’t happen for me, but fortunately I didn’t let that be the headshot and just give up. I used it as more of a kick in the (butt).”
The Sunline Strong Performer, which focuses on 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.
