JASPER, Texas–Before arriving at Sam Rayburn for the final 2022 St. Croix Bassmaster Central Open presented by Mossy Oak Fishing, Logan Latuso’s biggest bag ever in competition was 22 pounds, a mark he set at Rayburn the last time the Opens visited the East Texas reservoir in 2020.
Latuso shattered that personal best yesterday by landing an astounding 31-pound, 4-ounce bag, which included a 9-13 and a 9-11, by far the two biggest bass that have crossed the stage this week. Those two fish were the first two bites of the day, although they came hours apart, and are the second and third biggest bass Latuso has ever landed.
That bag couldn’t have come at a better time. Latuso only caught three bass weighing 5-13 on Day 1, landing him in 107th. Now he has just over a 3-pound lead to begin Championship Sunday and vaulted himself into second place in the Central Opens standings and in contention for an Elite Series berth.
His Elite Series fate will be decided today at the final weigh-in. Bradley Hallman has officially won the Central Open points race with 547 points, but there is still much to be determined.
As it stands, Latuso is second with 544 points, James Niggemeyer is third with 538 points and Kyle Norsetter is fourth with 537 points. Latuso and Norsetter are both fishing today and are on opposite ends of the Top 10. Latuso can’t gain any more ground tomorrow and Norsetter can potentially only gain ground.
Given his background as a shallow water angler from Gonzales, La., Latuso was hoping the grass bite would be a lot better this week on Sam Rayburn. He attempted to fish hydrilla mats on Day 1 and suffered for it. But on Friday, Latuso made a 180 and headed out to deep water and fished brush piles.
“Grass is more of my strength, which is why I tried to make it work yesterday,” Latuso said. “But I am comfortable with brush pile fishing. You are throwing in one specific spot.”
Landing the first lunker was somewhat of a moral victory after an incredibly disappointing Day 1.
“As tough as it had been on me all week, I told my co-angler, ‘If you are going to catch one, it might as well be the right one,’” he said. “And then I caught the second one, ‘If you are going to catch two, might as well be the right two.’ I kept saying that with every bite I had.”
While it looks good on paper, Latuso’s day only produced five bites and he didn’t even secure his limit until 10 minutes before check-in, which goes to show how stingy Big Sam is fishing this time around.
Patterns aren’t easy to repeat and the big bass aren’t easy to catch. Outside of the 31-pound bag, only one angler exceeded the 20-pound mark and that was Keith Poche, who also struggled on Day 1. Kenta Kimura secured an 18-13 sack, the third heaviest of the day, which was anchored by an 8-13 largemouth and Kyle Norsetter improved on his Day 1 bag by landing 17-11 on Friday to make the Top 10.
With big bags being a rare sight in this event, finding solid limits has been a key factor. Cody Bird and Keith Combs both caught slightly better bags on Day 2 to secure their spots in the Top 10 while other anglers like Chris Beaudrie, Cole Sands, and B.A.S.S. legend Larry Nixon stayed consistent and cashed checks.
Meanwhile, anglers like Kyle Austin and Garrett Paquette who eclipsed the 20-pound mark Thursday struggled on Day 2 and fell out of the Top 10. Although they will be fishing tomorrow, Tristan McCormick and Tyler Rivet did not find nearly the same amount of success on Day 2 as they did the previous day.
Among the reasons discussed yesterday, low water and higher-than-normal water temperatures, the wind kicked up today as the day progressed, making navigation a little difficult and likely moving some of the roaming bass.
The wind will be a factor today as well as the forecast calls for south winds between 10 and 20 mph with stronger gusts expected. That will have a huge impact on a Top 10 that has mostly succeeded offshore.