28-Pound Cut-Weight Alters Strategies in Sudden Death

One of the more interesting facets of Major League Fishing is observing how anglers in Sudden Death Round try to build off of their Elimination Round experience, especially if the zones are somehow connected, let’s say, by the Mississippi River.

So when Sudden Death Round 2 of the Jack Link’s Major League Fishing 2016 General Tire Summit Cup was about to begin on Pool 9 of the Mississippi River, much of the “strategizing” was in full effect as the six pros started to relate their previous experience on Pool 7 with what they were seeing on their zone maps for Pool 9. Interestingly, those who advanced from the Elimination Rounds by utilizing better quality bass in the backwaters of Pool 7 were starting to get cold feet on applying the same strategy in Pool 9, mostly because of the 28-pound cut-weight.

As he perused his map of Pool 9, Jason Christie explained why.

“From the looks of the map, it sets up very similar to the pool we fished in the Elimination Round (Pool 7),” Christie said. “You have the main river and a big backwater and little chutes that connect the two. They’re almost identical, but what’s not identical is the format. In Elimination, we have a whole fishing day guaranteed – so you have the time to sort of get in the backwater and hunt that needle in the haystack for better quality to catch up. But in this Sudden Death deal, your day might be shortened to just a few hours.

“So I’m going to be looking for something a little bit more confined to begin with. I don’t want to get out there and start wandering around in that backwater when others are on a fast track to checking out in that current.”

Read the rest of “28-Pound Cut-Weight Alters Strategies in Sudden Death” at MajorLeagueFishing.com

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