Western pros probably face the toughest road into the Bassmaster Elite Series. There used to be the Western Bassmaster Opens, which gave rise to the current stable of western superstars like Aaron Martens, Skeet Reese, Luke Clausen and others.

But nowadays a western pro with his or her sights on the Elite Series must travel east and compete in one of

three Bassmaster Open divisions, or realize the one-in-a-million shot of making and then winning the Federation Nation National Championship.

Chris Zaldain chose the former and this year sits atop the Central Opens points with one event left to fish – Table Rock in about 4 weeks.

The 27-year-old aspiring pro from San Jose, Calif, made the Forrest Wood Cup through the Western FLW Series 4 years in a row (2008-11) and thus earned priority entry onto the FLW Tour each of those years. But he never joined the Tour.

"The Central Opens – I'm there for one reason. Forget the (Bassmaster) Classic berth – I don't care about that. I don't care about the money. I'm there to qualify for the Elite Series," Zaldain told BassFan.

Elites Only

The last time Zaldain fished a B.A.S.S. event was back in 2005 as a non-boater in the Western Opens. As noted, he spent the following years fishing the Western EverStarts and FLW Series (B.A.S.S. pulled out of the West after 2005).

After four Forrest Wood Cups, why take a gamble on qualifying for B.A.S.S.?

"We don't have the FLW Series out here anymore – just the (EverStarts) – so I still hold down a 9 to 5 job as a technician at a semiconductor company here in Silicon Valley," Zaldain said. "If I quit my job or take a 6-month leave, I'm not going to do it to just walk onto the FLW Tour like some other guys who have a sponsor pass. The Elite Series is a lot more prestigious to me. I grew up watching those guys – they're my heroes – and I want to go for the biggest, baddest that bass fishing has to offer. That's the Elite Series."

His Elite invite isn't guaranteed yet. The Top 5 in each Open division at least are expected to qualify, and he's got a 31-point lead on 2nd with one event left. His points lead comes by virtue of a 7th at Lewisville and 2nd at the Arkansas River.

At The Ark, he finished 2nd to local Tommy Biffle, who employed the controversial strategy of using an aluminum boat, then casting into a buoyed-off area where boats, but not fishing, were prohibited.

The good news for Zaldain is that Table Rock's going to fish a lot like his northern California home waters Shasta and Oroville. In fact, he fished for several days at Table Rock before the event was postponed due to high water.

During that practice he felt he found the winning pattern – throwing topwaters over deep timber – and was "livid" when the event was cancelled. He's past that now and aims to take things as they come at the rescheduled Central finale.

"Basically I'm taking it one step at a time – just letting things flow naturally. I'm not trying to force or rush anything. I'm really happy with the way things have gone so far.

"I'll just go and practice with an open mind and not stress about leading the points or finishing outside of the Top 5. I'll go shoot for another Top 10 and hopefully do that. This is my debut and I've only got one shot at a first impression. I want to let everyone know I came to party."

Notable

> Zaldain said that if he does qualify for the Elites and accept his invite, he'll personally fund a large portion of the first-year cost, although some current sponsors he's contacted have agreed to step up their commitment too.

> He lists his current sponsors as Seaguar, Powell Rods and Hi's Tackle Box (San Francisco).