PALATKA, Florida — Bassmaster Elite Series bass fisherman Caleb Sumrall caught arguably one of the biggest bass in Lake George on Friday to end three years of frustrating finishes on the St. Johns River.

At approximately 11:27 a.m., the New Iberian slammed the steel home on a “hawg” and boated a 9-pound, 7-ounce, bass on Day 2 of the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament for 2022. His fifth bass of the day gave him his limit weighing 17 pounds, 13 ounces, and more importantly, vaulted him into Semifinal Saturday.

B.A.S.S. emcee Dave Mercer watched Sumrall pull the big bass out of the weigh-in bad on the big stage, said, “We’re going to have to weigh this fish here. It needs to be bigger than 8 pounds to take over Phoenix Big Bass for the day, 9 pounds, 13 ounces to take over big bass of the tournament.”

Mercer called out the weight at 9-7.

“That takes over the Phoenix big bass for the day and that fish right there is a major reason you’re going fishing tomorrow,” he said.

Sumrall laughed and said, “It’s the sole reason because her friends are all pretty small. I get to go fishing tomorrow. I’m excited. I broke my St. Johns curse. I caught five bass.”

He was relieved because the 9 ½-pound bass snapped a heart-breaking streak in Bassmaster Elite Series openers in which he finished a dismal 83rd in in 2021, 48th in 2020 and 72nd in 2019.

After Semifinal Saturday when his five bass weighed 13 pounds, 5 ounces, for a three-day total of 39 pounds, 13 ounces, for a 15th-place finish in the 94-angler field but missing today’s Championship Sunday, Sumrall said, “Hey, man, today, this week, it was a great week. I don’t think I have enough to go tomorrow, I mean, catching that bag yesterday, to have a little comeback rally in the first event of the year, get a little momentum going, go to Harris (Harris Chain of Lakes, second Elites stop of the year that begins Thursday), go to the Classic (Bassmaster Classic scheduled March 4-6 at South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell), all I want to do is carry the momentum on.

“I want to say a big thank you to my wife (Jacie Sumrall) at home, I miss you. I love you,” he said before thanking a new title sponsor, Optimal Field Services, for taking a chance on him. “We’re going to work hard to bring home a blue trophy for them, my family and everybody else that’s cheering me on.”

Sumrall, fresh from a solid seventh-place finish in the AOY standings in 2021, missed the Top 10 cut for today’s final round by less than 3 pounds. Micah Frazier of Newman, Georgia, claimed that last spot with a three-day total of 42 pounds, 2 ounces.

John Crews of Salem, Virginia, will be trying to go wire-to-wire to win the first Elite tournament of 2022. His three-day total is 58 pounds, 3 ounces. He has a 3-pound, 1-ounce, lead over runner-up John Cox of DeBary, Florida, going into Championship Sunday.