OVERTIME OUTDOORS: Mark my words, Sumrall will make cut for the Classic

Published 8:45 am Sunday, August 9, 2020

Right now, New Iberia’s Bassmaster Elite Caleb Sumrall is on the outside looking in.

Through four tournaments spaced oddly apart because of coronavirus pandemic-related postponements, Sumrall sits in 63rd place in the AOY standings with 192 points. The Top 40 Elites at the end of the year qualify for the next Bassmaster Classic scheduled March 19-21 at Lake Ray Roberts near Denton, Texas.

Sumrall’s next outing will be Aug. 20-23 at Lake St. Clair in Macomb County, Michigan. For sure, he’s looking forward to reversing his fortunes in the second half of the season, one that will interfere with his love of hunting in the fall.

After Lake St. Clair, there’s another break until Sept. 30-Oct. 3, when the 88 Elites visit Lake Guntersville in Alabama. That tournament is a makeup for the Cayuga Lake tournament in New York state that was canceled in early July.

Then Sumrall and the rest of the field, which includes six other Elites from Louisiana, head to Santee Cooper in Clarendon County, South Carolina, on Oct. 8-11; to Tennessee’s Lake Chickamauga on Oct. 16-19, and to Lake Fork in Texas on Nov. 5-8.

Sumrall has some catching up to do following the recently concluded two-tournament swing in New York — July 23-26 on the St. Lawrence River and July 30-Aug. 2 at Lake Champlain. He went into the St. Lawrence River derby in 30th place in the AOY standings with 128 points.

But the bottom fell out on the second day on the St. Lawrence River out of Clayton, New York. Sumrall was heading back for his flight’s check-in time when his boat ran out of gas.

An Elite competitor in the flight behind him picked up his bass but didn’t arrive before the check-in time for Sumrall, who was penalized for the lateness and ended up with 4 ounces, leaving him in 86th place with a two-day total of 17 pounds, 13 ounces.

The 33-year-old local outdoorsman packed up and towed his Xpress X21 Pro bass boat to Plattsburgh, New York, site of the Lake Champlain stop on the circuit. He was looking for redemption from the previous week but finished 52nd with 32 pounds, 5 ounces.

Sumrall wrote on his Facebook page, “Finished Champlain in 52nd. I’m tellin’ y’all, this New York swing chewed me up and spit me out. So many valuable lessons learned the last 2 weeks. All in all I’m so grateful to be able to travel all over the country doing something I love with the best support system a man can ask for. Y’all #watchmework.”

On July 25, after the bad day on the St. Lawrence River, a disappointed Sumrall wrote, “This was hands down one of the most trying weeks of my fishing career. I had a game plan and caught what I could. While running back on Day 2 I got caught up on where I was going to get my next bite and made the fatal mistake of passing the gas pump up. End result … 86th place. Thanks to everyone for constant support.”

Don’t count Sumrall out of the Classic. He’s skilled. He’s tough. He’s motivated. He doesn’t quit. After all, this is the man who was down to the waning few hours needing to catch four smallies under tough conditions on a 56,000-acre lake during the final day of the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship in October 2017 at Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. He made a clutch move, filled out his limit and won the tournament, punched his ticket to the 2018 Bassmaster Classic and qualified for the Bassmaster Elites.

And with the surprise addition of Lake Guntersville to the schedule, Sumrall will return to the site of his highest finish as an Elite. He was fourth with 77 pounds, 10 ounces, and won $15,000 in June 2019.

Sumrall leads all Louisiana Elites in the standings for 2020. Derek Hudnall of Baton Rouge is 68th with 174 points; Robbie Latuso of Gonzales is 75th with 153; Brett Preuett of Monroe is 79th with 132; Tyler Rivet of Raceland is 132nd with 132; Quentin Cappo of Prairieville is 83rd with 122, and Tyler Carriere of Youngsville is 84th with 117.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.