Elias caught a 5-pounder on his last cast that brought his day-3 total to 14-12 and preserved his 16th-place finish. With that fish, and the resultant finish, he qualified for his first Classic since 2004.
"It feels great. I'll tell you, that was the most pressure I've fished under in 31 years of fishing. I put it in the hands of The Lord. I was suffering and I wasn't doing well and I caught a 5-pounder on the very last cast.
"I was still in the area I'd been fishing and it was kind of unbelievable. I hit the brushpile with a crankbait and had a big one get the crank and pull the drag. I pulled the other way and it pulled off. I circled around and threw a jig back in there and she bit the jig, or another one bit it. I set the hook and she bowed me up. She was pulling drag and just came off. I thought, 'Well, there it goes. I blew the Classic right there.
"I only had about 45 minutes left to fish, and I left there and fished around. I came back with 10 minutes left. The wind was blowing and boats were coming by and I had trouble finding the brushpile. With my last cast I came into the brush. The jig was halfway back to the boat – I was hopping it back – and I said, 'This is the last hop.' I hopped it and felt her and set the hook. I reeled about five times, swung her over and had to leave. I culled a fish that gave me 3 pounds.
"I'm fired up about New Orleans." - BassFan.com
Just a quick email to let you know how much I enjoyed my trip to Pachuta.
As an avid angler I found In-Depth Fishing to be a master's level course in
the sport of bass fishing. I learned a great deal and it was fun to apply
the lessons while catching lunker bass (see photos). Lake Eddins is an
extraordinary fishery! I appreciated your willingness to share your
expertise and answer my many questions. The two days with you filled in
some major gaps in my knowledge. I'm looking forward to applying the new
techniques with lure selection, deep structure techniques and, yes, my new
knots. I'll let you know how these impact my tournament results. 