TAHLEQUAH, Oklahoma — Some Bassmaster Elite Series anglers probably can’t wait to get Lake Tenkiller in the rearview mirror as they either head home or north to the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship in Michigan.

New Iberian Caleb Sumrall, who qualified previously for the AOY, which starts Sept. 28 at Lake St. Clair, might be one of those pros despite a 21st-place finish in the 75-angler field after six days (including practice days Monday through half-a-day Wednesday) of fishing the Cherokee Casino Tahlequah Bassmaster Elite tournament at Lake Tenkiller. The Elites were challenged by a rapidly falling lake level and 16-inch length limits for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass.

Sumrall wrapped up his stay on Semifinal Saturday when he managed to put three bass weighing 4 pounds, 14 ounces, on the scale at Cherokee Casino Tahlequah. That meager but hard-earned catch gave him a three-day total of 27 pounds, 4 ounces, worth $7,500.

His effort Friday (see related story on Page B4) helped him make the Top 35 cut for the fifth time in the nine Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments in 2019. Lake Tenkiller was the ninth and final regular-season tournament.

The 32-year-old Elite angler also had the biggest bass of the tournament through Saturday, a 5-pound, 9-ounce, hawg that smashed a buzz bait in 80-feet of water along a bluff on Thursday. It was his fifth fish to fill out his limit that weighed 14 pounds, 9 ounces, and vaulted him into second place going into Day 2.

Things got even tougher for him on a Friday filled with rain squalls but he scraped a limit together for 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and overcame dead batteries that threatened to end his day around 1 p.m. He steered his boat to the boat launch site and got plenty of help to get back out on the water and qualify for Semifinal Saturday.

His goal going into the tournament was to stay within the Top 43 in the AOY standings in his bid to return to the Bassmaster Classic for the first time since 2017. Mission accomplished. After Semifinal Saturday, he had 631 points and was in 28th.

Kyle Monti of Okeechobee, Florida, leapfrogged Texan Chris Zaldain on Semifinal Saturday to lead the Top 10 into Championship Sunday. Monti bagged 16 pounds, 9 ounces, for a three-day total of 39 pounds, 11 ounces, to take over first place.

Zaldain managed a limit weighing 11 pounds, 14 ounces, for a three-day total of 36 pounds, 14 ounces, good enough for second place going into the fourth and deciding day.

Others fishing today in the Top 10 are Carl Jocumsen, 35 pounds, 3 ounces; Cory Johnston, 34 pounds, 13 ounces; Brandon Card, 34 pounds, 12 ounces; Todd Auten, 34 pounds, 8 ounces; Keith Combs, 33 pounds, 12 ounces; Stetson Blaylock, 33 pounds, 5 ounces; David Mullins, 31 pounds, 14 ounces, and Hunter Shyrock, 30 pounds, 1 ounce.

The tournament’s final weigh-in will be at 4 p.m. today at the Cherokee Casino Tahlequah.