ST. JOHNS RIVER | Stetson Blaylock: "Days of an Elite"

see it's taking us a while to get going but we're starting to see things maybe loosening up a little bit here maybe they were going to get some fish to open their mouths for us so nervous dude because i know what can happen if i just find the right ones i could catch 25 pounds in here if i can just find the right ones oh there's a couple more in here ready to bite [Music] [Applause] oh my gosh begging right there these fish are so freaking strong dude this is the difference maker right here baby dude we can do we can do something here if we can just keep finding them like that [Music] yeah here we go day one of the 2021 bassmaster elite series is getting ready to kick off down here at the saint john's you know this is our third year to come here and it seems like weather here always has something to give us and this year it's fog just don't reel it up just just keep on going i caught that six pounder when i won way way down from that show like i was about ready it's probably about time go back up there and all of a sudden it just loaded up you know how it is when it starts to go it goes quick we're hoping we'll get a positive call here shortly so looks like y'all getting ready to roll that's a good thing it'll feel pretty optimistic right now yeah we just got to listen to the latest update looks like we're there's still a little fog but it's starting to clear up good see the bridge everything's looking right it's 9 45 so everybody's going to have a short day i cannot stand having to do that but having to fish on this short a day but we all are faced with the same challenges so we gotta get it together and make it happen fast i can't fish rush but i have to fish smart and thorough and find some fish that are ready to ready to play yes sir yes sir holy cow i need to do that five times today and i'll be in business dude what about that for a first one huge huge huge just to give me some peace of mind knowing that i can catch them if i can just get around the right ones that want to bite big one right there real big one just got to get her to flare on it if i can get her to flare on it i can catch it yes baby dude we can do we can do something here if we can just keep finding them like that if i can just find me some more like that we'll be in good shape so nervous dude because i know what can happen if i just find the right ones i could catch 25 pounds in here if i can just find the right ones i need to be able to see some swimming cruising oh my gosh [Applause] one just follow me in right there big one golly that was a little buck or a bluegill or something right there it really ain't even acting interested those bigger ones swam off i have to keep moving until i find another one that's ready i've played this game a lot of times [Music] like this is a giant right here dude like seven pounder but i don't know if it's locked on or oh dude i don't know what to do not very often do i feel like this but i feel like if you can't pull up and see that fish sitting there like completely ready to bite you i don't have time to sit and wait on them to work around and come back the buck bit it he came up there and slurped on that prop bait but he didn't get the whole thing he just bit it bit at it problem is the water's falling out of all this and it's like an inch deep in here so i'm literally just casting the cast trying to get something to come up and i ain't trying to set the world on fire i just got to start seeing some keepers that are catchable at some point i've got a fish for one i can't keep driving off from them but that one that i caught was there and she didn't run when i came by and these other ones are just kind of like they're there but then they swim off real slow as i go through trying to go slow and easy so i don't make a bunch of commotion in the water but i got to move fast enough to find them too the aggressive ones i feel like it's 50 50 50 of them want to bought a bait and 50 of them are gonna be sitting there locked on you've just got to find which 50 you can catch today oh there's a couple more in here ready to bite hey do y'all care if i fish for one right here i saw the other day thank you i've got two decent ones but i can't catch five it's been tough on me but we didn't get started till 10. she's still here giant i got a little close to her i'm gonna back up just a little bit she's still right here she's big too yeah yeah you will i think i can catch her but she's going to take a minute the little male's biting it every time i pitch it in there 50 50 shot i could catch him and she might swim up there but she might disappear too i think i'm gonna have to catch the male get him out of there because she won't get up in the bed if i had all day to catch him i'd stay and mess with it but i got to get them caught quick today taking a pretty big gamble but i think i think i've got to at this point yeah that's the little one inside the mouth but it's a keeper and at this point it's going to go a long ways to the total for the day i don't know what she's gonna do she hasn't got back up there yet but i'm gonna keep an eye just to see she bit it boys she just bit at it [Music] oh boy this makes you nervous i need that sun to stay out bad she swam in there and nosed up on it and i just popped it and she gum the back end of it she'll bite i just got to get her to commit to the bed oh my gosh she sucked it all the way in and i missed her i'm nervous as a cat man she's a begging miles this is the difference maker right here man she had half of it again she had half of it again he never jerked till they got the whole thing of course she's a giant guys [Music] she had it but she only had half of it gosh dang it dude i tweaked my back too oh oh dude that hurts so bad golly come on don't do this shaking like a leaf man there's one little tiny pad there and she wrapped around it as i was coming through i don't see her sorry i tried to put on a show for you i did too there was one this last pad out here she got around and pulled off i don't know if that one's gonna make it or not nope i cannot believe that dude [Applause] that's a keeper got one two three four one without a clip holy crap dude it's 220 we got to go i wasn't even i mean i'm paying attention to the time but i didn't realize that 2 30 and i got to be in at 3 20. it just didn't register with me and i'm like way back in here dude and i've got a long idle like there's a really really really clean chance that i don't make it back pretty big disappointment not not that how the day went or the day ended up but the fact that i had an opportunity i mean being is that i had three or four other fish hook that come off and then lost that big one i mean that's that's your day [Music] yeah i tell you what heading out this morning when we finally got to go i knew it was going to be a scramble to try to catch a limit and i actually had a chance at a really really big bag today i feel pretty good about what i have considering how tough the day was on me to get those fish in the boat but excited to get back out there maybe things will go right and we'll have a big stringer look forward to seeing how it works out i'm sure you'll figure it out you seem to always do that today was a was a unique day short and so short and running you know 40 minutes from takeoff made it challenging had the opportunities to be inside the top ten easily can't complain with that made the right moves the right calls all day long and just didn't get it done i mean not mad about it at all because i had the opportunities but we'll get it we'll get it together one of these days yeah i just finished up dinner and uh about to get some rain here so i pulled over this random parking lot on our way back to the house just so i can re-rigged my couple rods here for tomorrow and making a few adjustments some misses i had today so i'm making some adjustments on some tackle be ready to get them tomorrow you're gonna try to video me falling that's what you're gonna try to do [Music] well looks like we get to go fishing that's a that's a great thing today so uh just a few minutes away from takeoff totally different day ahead of us today gonna have a long day but uh nonetheless we gotta we gotta make the adjustments that we need to make today and get the bites that we need i'm excited to have a full day of fishing so uh we need to catch 15 20 pounds and make some moves in this deal try to get up that leaderboard did you find him yeah am i healed you tired thanks for coming to see me again are you tired guys i have to go we got to get on the other side i got to get over there because we take off on that side okay so we'll walk up there and find anna love you thank y'all for coming cash you're pulling on my back buddy i'm sorry stand up stand up what's wrong dude can i try to jump one right here one time have fun i don't know bye-bye please be careful she's about to get it or he is the buck he's as big as i thought he was skinny as a rail after not catching a limit i want to have all i can get she's not that big either but she's way bigger than what i got in there if that makes sense when i keep saying that until you got five those two pounders are huge they're just little but i gotta have five today there's like a nine seven or nine to nine right here but she won't sit there as soon as i throw in there she takes off how are y'all i'm good i'll be doing better if i catch this keeper right here yeah she's biting it every cast but she will not eat it that male's nice i could use him for sure it's probably two and a half at least two and three quarters female's like five pounds but i don't see her [Music] these fish are so freaking strong goodness gracious in the mouth dude it's not big but it's huge help today i know there's one at least five or six that's ready to be caught you just gotta see it miles i need a big one man [Music] that turtle's like i see you [Music] i know you're there 25 ain't big enough [Music] it's been my luck man i don't think that one's gonna help at all at all but i'm gonna weigh it anyway just to make sure i see my scale right here not gonna help but i ain't seeing nothing else to throw at so i wanted to throw at him it's definitely a 10. i've fished for tens before i've caught them and that's definitely a 10. she bit at it dude gosh this is what i was talking about when i said i needed to be out here all the whole time looking for a big one i don't see her in the dang mud that i just stirred up it's coming right in there on it gotta go don't have time it's just all there is to it fish was worth the time but i just she wouldn't ever get out there and sit still she's up under the edge of that mat she's unusually large big town [Music] what a day come on [Music] that's right is that all is that old is that old oh right there pick me up no you're too heavy you're too heavy up up up up no yep up up yes no no no no okay hold it like that with both hands remember what happens when you shut it open it eleven eleven yesterday who all the ones up on the board yesterday eleven eleven and five here today [Music] five fish for 13 pounds 11 ounces gives him 25 pounds six ounces hopefully that's enough to get to go fishing i actually uh saw one today that i think weighs 10 to 12 pounds so anxious to get back out there and see if i can get that fish to bite and put a couple more with it i'm anxious to see it myself i hope you bring it across the stage tomorrow let's bring out another florida [Music] okay i make the right moves all day today how big it was but it looked like a decent one [Music] dude i had him hooked in the mouth and he came off and re-hooked himself no he had he came off completely and somehow snatched kept him snagged there we go [Music] oh foreign [Applause] [Music] i'm gonna weigh it just to make sure but i don't think it'll help no [Music] [Music] oh all the way from ben arkansas to league series champion [Music] 11 ounces he moves into 31st place with 40 pounds at an ounce and now you're going to be happy i mean anytime you can be here on saturday is a good deal yeah what's crazy is i think this may be the first time in my career that i've bettered my weight every day and dropped in position every single day that just tells you how the fishing has picked up as we've been here like i said yesterday i found some really big ones on beds today was not the best day for bed fishing i still went back saw those fish they're still there but couldn't get them to buy it ended up switching up to a new young spine crawl and just pitching it down the bank and caught what i had today actually caught most of those out of one little canal so those fish are moving up still there's a lot of big ones out there to be caught it just it's good to start the year off on a positive note there's no doubt about that but ready for this next week it's going to be a cold one so i'm ready for it keep it rolling we look forward to seeing you there another elite series well our week's over here and st john's for the start of the year i mean it's crazy because we uh we started out in 25th the first day with 11 pounds and we caught 13 yesterday dropped down to 30th caught 14 11 and dropped down past the 30s so i mean good tournament good week all in all but man when you come to a tournament to a lake and you catch more weight every day and drop that just tells you what kind of fishery we're at and how the the those big ones started biting later in the week and as the week went on but uh all in all you can't complain with with a top 50 finish and you know my my rule of thumb is you make every every top 50 cut you're gonna be right there at the end of the year so off to a good start uh st john's has been really hard for us in years past but uh good finish this week we'll get it to get back home and re-uh regroup for a cold cold tournament in knoxville

Channel: Stetson Blaylock Fishing

Views: 5,931

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: St. Johns River, Stetson Blaylock Fishing, Bassmaster, Elite Series, Bass Fishing, Professional Bass Fisherman, Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Spawn, Bass Fishing Tournament, Florida Bass Fishing

Id: NsCi8J-xXbc

Length: 28min 16sec (1696 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 24 2021