By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

When they left the dock this morning, all 20 anglers remaining in the St. Johns River Elite Series each had to think they had a shot to win. From Paul Mueller, who held a one-pound lead, to Cliff Prince, a native of host city Palatka, Fla., who trailed by 11-04 in 20th, it wasn’t outlandish to think it was a still wide-open race.

The conditions were trending in a positive direction and the river had yet to show off its true potential in the wake of some topsy-turvy weather over the past week. Today was supposed to be the day the stars aligned.

It may sound a bit over the top, but considering Rick Clunn erased an 11-13 deficit last year on the final day to win at the St. Johns, it wasn’t illogical to think history could repeat itself.

Ultimately, though, there was no heroic rally from back in the pack. There was no 30-pound stringer anchored by a pair of 9-pounders. In fact, the winner wasn’t even able to finish out his limit today, which was a total grind for many of the finalists. But Mueller’s 10-12 effort was more than enough to fend off all comers and help him collect his second Elite Series win in the span of a year.

Mueller’s 47-06 total topped runner-up John Crews by three-plus pounds and capped off a grueling tournament to begin the 2020 season. As is often the case in Florida tournaments, especially around the spawn, big fish dictate the outcome and Mueller’s 6-11 kicker today certainly proved to be the difference.

“I definitely didn’t think I had a shot,” a stunned Mueller said on stage after clinching the victory. “Against this group of guys on this body of water, I’m like, ‘Man, I needed one more big bite.’ I didn’t think I had a shot, to be honest. I didn’t even think I had that much weight, but that fish was big.”



Big indeed. Mueller’s kicker weighed more than the day-3 stringers of eight other anglers. Just 11 of the 20 competitors managed a limit today and only seven pros eclipsed the 10-pound mark.

“My gut feeling when I caught the big one was I felt it was a pivotal fish, but I still felt like I would catch something bigger before the day was done,” Mueller said. “When that didn’t happen, I felt like I would fall short. I have fished against these guys long enough to know that if you don’t bring your A game, you’re in trouble.”

Crews hauled in 12-02 to finish with 44-04 and earn a second straight top-5 finish in Palatka. Kelley Jaye, the day-1 leader, caught 6-00 and wound up third with 41-10.

Prince, meanwhile, tried to pull off his version of a “Clunn-back”, but his 16-00 stringer pushed him up to 4th with 41-06. Jake Whitaker settled for 5th with 41-01 after sacking 8-02 today.

Mueller, whose other Elite Series win came at Lake Lanier last February, said this victory rivals his 2014 B.A.S.S. Nation national championship triumph at the Ouachita River because it was so unexpected.

“That win was pivotal because it launched my career, but it was just like it because both places are not my style of fishing,” he said. “What a blessing. Nobody picked me to win this tournament and rightfully so. I’ve struggled in Florida. This is my weakness, but God does his best work through your weakness.

“Every time I’ve won, even B.A.S.S. Nation-level stuff, I kind of knew I was going to win. I had no idea (here). Even today, I had no idea. I knew I had a shot after my first day. The second day I slipped and today I really felt like I let it slip away. What an awesome deal. To win this tournament was a gift. To weigh 10-12 on the final day and win, it was meant to be.”

While the majority of the field headed south from Palatka, Mueller spent all three days 20-plus miles north in a pair of creeks off the main river. On days 1 and 2, he relied on a 3/8-ounce swim jig with a craw trailer. Today, it was a mix of the swim jig and a punching presentation to coax his four bites. He had a fifth fish on late in the day, but it came off.

“The challenge the last two days was there was not as much water in there as there was on day 1,” he said. “I didn’t punch on day 1 because the water was high, so I threw the swim jig around lily pads. As the water fell out, they just didn’t get in (the pads).”

To adjust to the falling water, he began to punch a compact craw-style bait through hyacinth mats that extended out toward deeper water.

“There wasn’t much of it and they weren’t using it all of it either,” he added. “Just little stretches. That bite wasn’t that strong, but it yielded my anchor fish on day 2 and the winning fish today.”

After catching most of his weight on days 1 and 2 on a dropshot and Tokyo rig, Crews had to rely on a vibrating jig today.

“I thought I needed way more,” Crews said. “I fished clean and moved around and caught fish in a few different areas. I guess it was meant for me to be second. I capitalized on every good bite I got.”

Jaye opted to abandon the area that had carried him through the first two days as the tide came in earlier today and brought the water up higher than it had been.

“I made three passes through my primary area and got four bites and caught three, but they were just keepers,” he said. “I made a move and wound up with seven bites. I just never had a big bite all day. I’m not upset with myself because you can only catch what bites, but to have an opportunity like that and not be able to take advantage of it stings.”

Prince was disappointed his rally fell short, but still pleased to start the year strong in his backyard.

“Of course, you want to win at home, but I think it’s tougher to win at home versus somewhere else where you’re not expected to win,” he said. “That way you have no preconceived notions. I didn’t sleep for a month thinking about all the scenarios that could play out here.”

After other areas didn’t pan out this morning, Prince resorted to flipping a stick worm along a stretch of trees near Lake George where he’d caught some decent fish two decades ago.

“I got five bites and landed them all,” he said. “With all the experience I have here this time of year, I try to make the shell bars work. I survived on that the first two days, but to get a good bite, to catch a 6-pounder on those bars is hard to do. I needed a dadgum 8 pounder today.”

Prior to the start of the weigh-in Monday, B.A.S.S. announced the Lake Chickamauga tournament, which was due to begin Friday, had been rescheduled for March 19-22 amid flooding concerns this week as a result of heavy rains that are forecasted for the Dayton, Tenn., area.

That means the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Guntersville March 6-8 will be the next time many of the Elite Series anglers will be back in action.

Final Results

1. Paul Mueller -- Naugatuck, CT -- 14, 47-06 -- 100 $101,000
Day 1: 5, 20-08 -- Day 2: 5, 16-02 -- Day 3: 4, 10-12

2. John Crews Jr -- Salem, VA -- 15, 44-04 -- 99 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 16-13 -- Day 2: 5, 15-05 -- Day 3: 5, 12-02

3. Kelley Jaye -- Dadeville, AL -- 15, 41-10 -- 98 -- $21,000
Day 1: 5, 21-07 -- Day 2: 5, 14-03 -- Day 3: 5, 06-00

4. Cliff Prince -- Palatka, FL -- 15, 41-06 -- 97 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 10-10 -- Day 2: 5, 14-12 -- Day 3: 5, 16-00

5. Jake Whitaker -- Fairview, NC -- 14, 41-01 -- 96 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 16-12 -- Day 2: 5, 16-03 -- Day 3: 4, 08-02

6. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, AL -- 15, 40-09 -- 95 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 17-14 -- Day 2: 5, 12-06 -- Day 3: 5, 10-05

7. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 15, 40-01 -- 94 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 16-02 -- Day 2: 5, 10-12 -- Day 3: 5, 13-03

8. Kyle Welcher -- Opelika, AL -- 14, 39-11 -- 93 -- $17,000
Day 1: 5, 11-13 -- Day 2: 5, 20-12 -- Day 3: 4, 07-02

9. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 15, 39-09 -- 92 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 11-01 -- Day 2: 5, 16-11 -- Day 3: 5, 11-13

10. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- 15, 38-13 -- 91 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 09-09 -- Day 2: 5, 22-15 -- Day 3: 5, 06-05

11. Buddy Gross -- Chickamauga, GA -- 12, 36-10 -- 90 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 15-05 -- Day 2: 5, 15-14 -- Day 3: 2, 05-07

12. Harvey Horne -- Bella Vista, AR -- 14, 36-00 -- 89 -- $12,000
Day 1: 4, 08-07 -- Day 2: 5, 17-08 -- Day 3: 5, 10-01

13. Robbie Latuso -- Gonzales, LA -- 15, 35-11 -- 88 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 17-05 -- Day 2: 5, 08-08 -- Day 3: 5, 09-14

14. Jamie Hartman -- Newport, NY -- 15, 34-14 -- 87 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 07-14 -- Day 2: 5, 18-05 -- Day 3: 5, 08-11

15. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, ID -- 15, 34-13 -- 86 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 10-05 -- Day 2: 5, 15-06 -- Day 3: 5, 09-02

16. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, TX -- 11, 33-10 -- 85 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 20-00 -- Day 2: 4, 08-03 -- Day 3: 2, 05-07

17. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 13, 32-12 -- 84 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-11 -- Day 2: 5, 09-09 -- Day 3: 3, 05-08

18. Drew Cook -- Midway, FL -- 13, 32-06 -- 83 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 09-10 -- Day 2: 5, 17-14 -- Day 3: 3, 04-14

19. Jay Yelas -- Lincoln City, OR -- 13, 32-02 -- 82 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-15 -- Day 2: 5, 14-01 -- Day 3: 3, 04-02

20. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 8, 27-14 -- 81 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 19-00 -- Day 2: 3, 08-14 -- Day 3: 0, 00-00