Hopeful of making back-to-back cuts in Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments in 2022, Caleb Sumrall is primed to continue his comeback in the Angler of the Year race to qualify for the next Bassmaster Classic.

Sumrall pumped the primer April 7-10 with a hard-earned 28th-place finish at the Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga Lake in Tennessee. He needed that pick-me-up in a tough tournament following 89th- and 72nd-place showings in the previous two circuit stops at the Harris Chain of Lakes and Santee Cooper Lakes.

The 34-year-old New Iberia pro bass fisherman’s regained confidence showed on the weigh-in stage April 9 in Dayton, Tenn., where he weighed his third straight five-bass limit for the crowd and emcee Dave Mercer. Sumrall and the other 93 Elites weathered rain, sleet and, even, snow in early April while fishing Chickamauga Lake.

He waved his left hand to the crowd when called on stage by Mercer and handed the weigh-in bag to weighmaster Lisa Talmadge, B.A.S.S. senior tournament manager.

“The three-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier had 27 pounds, 4 ounces, as of this morning. Five fish to add to that here today. Thirteen-thirteen gives him 41 pounds and an ounce and he moves into 25th place, currently!” Mercer told the crowd on Semifinal Saturday, the second Semifinal Saturday appearance this season for Sumrall.

Sumrall held up two of the biggest bass as Mercer said, “Let’s hear it for the Xpress/Yamaha Team’s Caleb Sumrall!”

Sumrall said, “I’m happy with it, man. Today was, you know, this has been a really grind tournament. The first day I caught six keepers. Yesterday I caught five keepers and today I caught five keepers.

“So, it’s not easy fishing out here. I mean, maybe it is for some of the guys but it hasn’t been for me. I caught my fifth one on my last cast today and made it in just in time (for weigh-in).”

Sumrall went into the latest tournament in 67th place with 127 points in AOY. He jumped to 56th with 200 points before the next stop May 19-22 at Lake Fork in Texas, where his wife, Jacie, their daughter, Clelie, 10, and their son, Axel, 4, will join him along with other family members and friends.

That he was buoyed by the recent effort showed on stage a week ago Saturday. Nevertheless, he also was looking ahead to going home.

“Um, (to my) wife and kids at home, I’m leaving tonight. I’m driving all night and I’ll see you in the morning,” he said.

Before leaving with a $10,000 payday, Sumrall posted on Facebook, “Grinded it out on Chick and finished 28th. So damn happy with that result despite it being so tough.”

The Top 10 from Semifinal Saturday fished April 10 and none could beat Oklahoman Jason Christie of Park Hill, whose Championship Sunday limit weighed 15 pounds, 12 ounces, for a four-day total of 73 pounds, 7 ounces, worth $100,000.

Nearly 4 pounds behind Christie, who won the Bassmaster Classic in March at Lake Hartwell in South Carolina, was Brock Mosley of Collinsville, Mississippi. Mosley weighed five bass at 11 pounds, 14 ounces, on the fourth and final day of fishing for a four-day total of 69-15, good enough for second place and $35,000.

Charleston, Tenn., Elite angler Jacob Foust finished third with 67-6 after bringing in a bag of bass weighing 11-9 on Championship Sunday.

Fog that last morning of competition was the key for Christie, who went into the championship round 6 ounces behind leader Kentuckian Matt Robertson’s 40-5. The pea soup fog created by temperatures that dipped into the 30s overnight changed his original game plan.

Waiting for the fog to lift, Christie stopped to fish a shoreline he hadn’t fished all week and quickly put a solid limit in his livewell. He culled up a few ounces the rest of the day.

“The fog is why I won. I went through one fogbank at about 25 mph going to where I was going to start. But then I hit another fogbank and I saw a boat wave that I knew didn’t come from one of our guys, so I just immediately peeled off to an area that I fished three or four years ago in another event,” he told bassmaster.com.

Sumrall, in his fifth year as an Elite, started the 2022 season with a strong showing on the St. Johns River in Florida. He finished 15th with 39-13 for $10,000.

The next week he failed to make the cut at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida and skidded to 89th.

After his Bassmaster Classic effort March 6 in front of family, friends and sponsors on site at Lake Hartwell in South Carolina earned him a 16th-place finish and $13,000, Sumrall stumbled at Santee Cooper Lakes and finished 27th, falling to 67th in AOY standings.

He’s looking forward to the next tournament at Lake Fork near Quitman, Texas, where he finished 21st with 57-14 in a slugfest won by his roommate on the road, Lake Fork guide Lee Livesay with 112-5.