Sumrall finishes 45th at Elite opener in Fla.; lets his big’un and a li’l one share limelight
Published 10:00 am Tuesday, February 25, 2025
- Caleb Sumrall ... just having some fun. Sumrall got a laugh from Bassmaster Elite Series weigh-in emcee Dave Mercer and the crowd in front of the big stage Feb. 22, Semifinal Saturday of the FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite tournament at St. Johns River. The New Iberia outdoorsman hoisted his biggest and smallest bass to show and tell. bassmaster.com
PALATKA, Florida – Caleb Sumrall avoided the sting of missing the cut, fished Semifinal Saturday of the Bassmaster Elite Series opener on the St. Johns River and had some fun Feb. 22 during the afternoon weigh-in at Palatka Riverfront Park.
The New Iberian had only three bass to put on the digital scale manned by Bassmaster Elite Series tournament emcee Dave Mercer, which assured he wouldn’t be fishing on Championship Sunday, but his spontaneous sense of humor shined on the big stage in front of a large crowd.
“He’s going to hold a few high for you, ladies and gentlemen,” Mercer said as Sumrall reached into his weigh-in bag to bring out, well, a 4-pound class bass and, ahem, a line scratcher at the least, then hoist them high as if they were both hawgs.
Mercer started laughing and said in a sing-songy voice as he looked at the contrasting sizes, “One of these things is not like the other one (pausing for effect) … not like the other one. It’s good to see both sides.”
Sumrall flashed a big grin, too, and said, “That’s right, man, gotta show the good and bad sometimes.”
His Semifinal Saturday catch, two bass short of a limit, weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces, to give him a three-day total of 36 pounds, 3 ounces, good enough for a 45th-place finish in the 104-angler field of Elites. He was excited to qualify for the tournament’s Top 50 after an inspiring comeback effort on Friday, Feb. 21.
Back on the big stage for another weigh-in Semifinal Saturday, he told the crowd, “Man, I flipped the script yesterday and it worked and I really pressed it today and it didn’t work out. I had six bites and locked up on three of them. That’s fishing. I’m more than satisfied for the finish I had this week.”
New Iberian Caleb Sumrall has his game face on Feb. 19 during a pretournament meeting in Palatka, Fla., before the start of the FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite tournament at St. Johns River. Sumrall made the cut and fished Semifinal Saturday of the Elite Series opener.
bassmaster.com
Sumrall found his back against the wall from the start with a Day 1 bag weighing 10 pounds, 9 ounces. His Friday catch the following day, which included two bragging-size bass in the 4-pound class, saved the tournament for him.
“Yeah, after yesterday’s subpar performance – uh, four fish – the last thing I was going to do was the same thing so I changed. Everything. Direction I went. What I threw, everything and it worked out …,” he said into the mic held by Mercer. “I really sat on 10 pounds till 10 o’clock today (Friday, Feb. 21). Then I picked up something a little different and, really, I caught two big ones … lost another big one. I think I got a little dialed in and I’m going to do it for eight hours tomorrow and I think I can come up with a big bag.”
Sumrall’s limit on that post-cold front Day 2 weighed 17 pounds, 13 ounces, which left him in 33rd place with a two-day total of 28 pounds, 6 ounces, with nine bass. It somewhat erased the bad day he had the day before when he scrambled to put those four bass weighing 10 pounds, 9 ounces, in the livewell.
These two big’uns smiling with him for the camera Feb. 21 propelled a proud Caleb Sumrall into Semifinal Saturday of the FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite tournament at St. Johns River. The New Iberia all-around outdoorsman finished 45th with 36 pounds, 3 ounces, thanks to the two big bass anchoring his 17-13 limit on Day 2 in Florida. bassmaster.com
The 37-year-old New Iberia outdoorsman and charter boat captain was the season opener’s second-highest finisher from Louisiana. Logan Latuso of Gonzales was 28th with 15 bass weighing 37 pounds, 9 ounces, which netted a payday of $5,500.
Latuso and Sumrall also were the only Louisianans who made the Top 50 cut to fish on Semifinal Saturday. Tyler Rivet of Raceland was 72nd with 21 total pounds Thursday and Friday while Greg Hackney of Gonzales checked in with an 88th-place finish with 16 pounds, 3 ounces.
Texan Dakota Ebare, a Louisiana native who won $1-plus million on the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour, failed to make the cut by a little more than 3 pounds and exited with 24 pounds, 1 ounce, in his first-ever Bassmaster Elite Series tournament appearance.
The 2025 FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite tournament winner was Bill Lowen, a Brookville, Indiana, resident and Bassmaster Elite Series pro who grabbed the lead on Day 2 and held onto it going into and after Championship Sunday. The winning weight was 73 pounds, 14 ounces, for $101,000.
Lowen needed every ounce to turn back Jay Przekurat of Plover, Wisconsin. Przekurat finished second with 73 pounds, 10 ounces, to take home $20,000. Shane Lehew was third with 73 pounds, 9 ounces, worth $16,000.
The 104 Elites left Palatka earlier this week and traveled more than 200 miles south to Okeechobee, Florida, for the Champion Power Equipment Bassmaster Elite tournament at Lake Okeechobee that begins Feb. 27 and ends with Championship Sunday on March 2.
DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.
