Sumrall enjoys smallmouth bass bonanza; stays on track for Classic

Published 1:00 am Sunday, July 24, 2022

CLAYTON, N.Y. — Caleb Sumrall could ill-afford a slip up here in The Empire State with the Bassmaster Elite Series season winding down in 2022.

The New Iberia outdoorsman rose to the occasion in a wild and woolly tournament on the St. Lawrence River where the United States meets Canada. Many Elites, including Sumrall, and others called the results “insane” in the seventh tournament of the year.

Sumrall kept his name in the mix for a berth in the 2023 Bassmaster Classic with a 33rd-place finish on the smallmouth haven — or is that heaven? — that is the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. He limited out all three days he fished to finish with 15 bass weighing 64 pounds, 12 ounces.

Most importantly, he made the cut again to fish on Semifinal Saturday, which was crucial in his bid to qualify for the next Classic. Given that opportunity, which also entails a fatter paycheck of $10,000, he finished that third day with his heaviest five-bass bag at 22 pounds, 6 ounces.

Sumrall’s in 42nd place in the Angler of the Year standings, right around the typical projected cutoff with two tournaments left on the schedule – Aug. 18-21 at Lake Oahe, Mobridge, South Dakota, and Aug. 26-29 at the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He has 395 points, sandwiched between George DiPalma of New Jersey, 396, and Texan Clark Wendlandt, 394.

Sumrall was upbeat on the third day, naturally, when he took the weigh-in stage Saturday afternoon in balmy upper New York State to banter with emcee Dave Mercer and get his limit weighed by tournament director Lisa Talmadge.

Mercer introduced the former B.A.S.S. Nation National Champion and said, loudly, over the mic, “Forty-two pounds and 6 ounces to start the day … 22 pounds, 6 ounces. He moves into 29th place currently.”

Then the showman thought of a pressing message and said, as Sumrall dug into his weigh-in bag to extract two big brownies, “I want to remind our Top 10 to get backstage because we’re going to bring you out at the very end of this weigh-in. If you’re in the Top 10, make sure you’re backstage. If not, we’re going to send Caleb Sumrall out in your place.”

Mercer was grinning and said to Sumrall, who returned his bass in their bag as he smiled at the emcee, “I don’t know if we can do that officially. I’m just threatening if they don’t show up, will you go out in their behalf tomorrow?”

“Oh, I like it. I like it,” Sumrall said, laughing.

Seriously, he said, “This week was fun, dude. These smallmouth here are something. Something I look forward to every year. Coming here. We didn’t expect this place to blow up like it did, you know?”

The New Iberian, who celebrated his 35th birthday May 20, turned his attention to those who matter most.

“I’ve got a lot of people to thank, man, real quick. My family back home, No. 1. Xpress Boat. It did great. It ran all over the lake… handled the waves flawlessly,” he said.

“Guys from Optimal (Optimal Field Services), my title sponsors, they’re coming up for some smallmouth fishing, so we’re going to stay over a week for some smallmouth fishing.”

He wrapped up his time on the big stage and said, “But, man, it was just a great week. I really needed the points. I really needed to, you know, to get the Classic going, get some points going. But I just wasn’t on any 5-pound fish like everybody else was … It’s a good tournament. I’m very proud of it. But (I need to) get some rest and get ready for the next one.”

Blow up? The smallmouth fishery showed out like never before. A Bassmaster Elite Series record of 61 bags of 20 pounds or more was set Thursday on Day 1.

Sumrall posted on his Facebook page after Semifinal Saturday: “This will probably go down as one of the best smallmouth tournaments in history! Absolutely insane!”

Rookie Jay Przekurat of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, demonstrated how crazy good the small bass fishing success was here in mid-July by breaking the century mark with all smallies. His four-day total of 20 smallmouths weighed 102 pounds, 9 ounces, to win the top prize of $100,000.

He delivered in the clutch on Championship Sunday with five bass weighing 25 pounds, 8 ounces, to beat Canadian Cory Johnston by 2 pounds, 4 ounces. Johnson, of Cavan, Canada, finished the event with 100 pounds, 9 ounces, worthy of another Century Belt and $38,000.

Przekurat did more than join the Century Club. At 23 years, 26 days old, he became the youngest Bassmaster Elite Series champion, a record previously held by Casey Ashley. Ashley was 23 years, four months, nine days old in his rookie season when he won the 2007 Elite on Smith Mountain Lake.