Anyone who has been mired in a slump of any kind can empathize with a local pro bass angler as he faces perhaps his biggest challenge on the Bassmaster Elite Series.

Caleb Sumrall failed to make the cut to fish Semifinal Saturday in three of the season’s first four tournaments. The 36-year-old all-around outdoorsman goes back to work on the water Thursday for Day 1 of the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at Lay Lake in Shelby County, Alabama.

The New Iberian needs to bust out of his slump with a solid showing. It could happen at 12,000-acre Lay Lake, which is ripe for a “catch fest,” according to Sylacauga, Alabama, Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Will Davis Jr.

Sumrall and his many supporters in and out of town are hopeful he does much of the catching because going into the fifth tournament he’s 94th with 102 points in the 104-angler Elite standings that determine who goes to the 2024 Bassmaster Classic. He finds himself in that precarious position after a subpar two-week swing in April through South Carolina.

Sumrall finished a disappointing 83rd April 20-23 at Lake Murray near Columbia, South Carolina. He was hoping to get back on track following the first two tournaments of the season, followed by an unwanted break as he sat out the Classic held in March on the Tennessee River out of Knoxville, Tennessee.

But Santee Cooper Lakes nestled in Clarendon County, South Carolina, treated him even worse. He admittedly never figured out the bass population on his way to a 102nd–place finish with just 8 pounds, 14 ounces, for two days.

The proud man who has beaten all odds to get to his fifth year on the circuit was crushed but not beaten. This is the fifth tournament of the nine-tournament season with stops after this at Sabine River in Texas on June 1-4; Lake St. Clair in Michigan on July 27-30; Lake Champlain in New York on Aug. 17, and staying in New York for the St. Lawrence River season finale on Aug. 24-27.

On his Facebook page April 19, Sumrall wrote: “Leaving South Carolina with my tail tucked. Feel like I got run over by an 18-wheeler then it backed up and did it again.

“We work hard to be better every day and when I leave an event good or bad I always try to learn something. I’m not sure if you would’ve given me another week I would’ve figured out Santee.

“The competitor in me is mad. A good mad. A motivated mad. I know I can be better.”

Sumrall thanked his family, friends and sponsors for their continued support, especially in rough times.

This week he is in central Alabama to fish a lake he has never fished before, one that should show off its bass population at daily weigh-ins, according to Davis, the Elite rookie from Alabama. Davis believes most of the lake’s bass – both smallmouth and largemouth — will be in postspawn mode and transitioning to their summer haunts.

“The fish in the lake usually do their deal quicker. They spawn in late February and March,” Davis told bassmaster.com in a story posted May 4. “(The spawn) works its way up the lake. Around midlake, (the bass) are more in a funk this time of year. But any part of the lake can play a factor. It won’t be just one section.”

Sumrall and the other 103 Elites probably will take advantage of a threadfin shad and bream spawn that will be in full swing after the full moon a few days ago. Hopefully, Sumrall capitalizes on that bite to extend his tournament appearance.

The full field of 104 anglers will compete the first two days before the field is cut to 50 for Semifinal Saturday. The Top 10 anglers will compete on Championship Sunday for the coveted blue trophy and top prize of $100,000,

The Elites will launch from Beeswax Creek Park at 6:30 a.m. all for days and return for the weigh-in at 3 p.m.

If you want to follow the action, full coverage will be available on bassmaster.com.

Here’s hoping our native son has a full bag each of the four days in the tournament. Good luck.

 DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.