Wheeler No-Go
Pros Discuss The Decision And Who It Favors
Friday, April 03, 2009 
Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito
After a long delay this morning, BASS decided to cancel day 2 at Wheeler due to unsafe boating conditions.
Anytime there's a canceled day 2 or 3 at a 4-day event, it tends to favor those at the top of the standings. The reason's simple. A day-2 cancellation makes day 1 twice as important, so anyone who whacked 'em the first day has one less chance to slide out of the Top 10.
It gets a little more complicated for a day-3 cancellation, since fish management comes more into play, but still, those atop the board are generally better off.
As for those down deep in the field, a canceled day gives them 1 less day to play catch-up.
Today's cancellation of day-2 competition at the Wheeler Bassmaster Elite Series is a perfect example. Eleven pros weighed 15 or more pounds, and there's five more pros below them in the 14-pound range. But with the deluge of water produced by last night's storm, the full field will launch onto a brand-new fishery tomorrow.
The lake has already risen substantially, it's downright muddy, and the current's ripping, which means everybody's practice is pretty much shot. So anyone with 14-plus-pounds right now has a distinct advantage (again, remember the bloated importance of day 1).
BASS has yet to determine what the cut structure will be, but it's reasonable to assume – given the TV necessity to focus on a core group of pros – that it'll cut the field to the Top 12 after tomorrow's weigh-in.
There also remains the chance that day 4 will be canceled due to additional storms, with the Top 12 to fish Monday.
A lot more will become clearer tomorrow, when BASS announces its cut structure, and when fans get a handle on what the general weights will look like.
Until then, here's what several pros had to say about the decision of BASS tournament director Trip Weldon to cancel day 2, as well as their thoughts on whether or not it gives them a perceivable advantage.
Alton Jones (1st, 17-12)
About the decision itself – "I'm never going to second-guess a decision that deals with the safety and security of the anglers. That's the reason we have a tournament director, and I'm always going to stand by his call."
On whether or not the decision helps him – "I don't think it does. I'm still going to have to go out and catch them if I hope to do well in this tournament. The interesting story here isn't the cancellation – it's the weather. No anglers have gotten to prefish these conditions. It's bass fishing in it's purest form. You know the fish have changed, so it's who can go out and figure them out the quickest. There'll be all these details (about the new conditions) running through guys' minds and somebody will put the puzzle together in the right order."
Mike Iaconelli (3rd with 17-01)
About the decision itself – "Honestly, I think we all want to fish in any situation. I'd always rather fish than sit on the bank. But one thing with the BASS organization over the years is I've always respected their decisions. That's their job – to make a decision – and if it's for our safety and it protects somebody from getting hurt, then I agree with it. That's always my mindset. I'd always rather fish, but I respect the decision."
Photo: ESPN Outdoors
Alton Jones doesn't think the ruling helps or hurts him – he just knows he needs to catch fish tomorrow.
On the conditions this morning – "I'm not one of the ones that got out there and saw it, but I've seen it a lot on the Delaware River over the years, so I know it happens. What you had was a strong westerly wind, and then you had strong current coming out of the east. With the current ripping one way and the wind blowing the other way, it stacks the waves real high. It's not like Lake Erie where you can ride the troughs. They get real high and there's no space between the waves. There's no real good way to get through those waves."
On whether or not the decision helps him – "I think it helps me. Obviously it helps me. Again, I'd have rather fished, but at the same time, looking at the tournament and looking at the kind of fish I'm on, the fewer days that I have, the more I can conserve the area and really maximize the fish. Some guys end up on the high end, and some guys end up on the lower end of these decisions. But I think overall it helps me by making the Top 12 cut a little easier to make."
Rick Morris (4th, 16-14)
About the decision itself – "I agree with it totally, but I think is should have been made earlier today. Even if the wind subsided, it takes a long time for it to go back down. It was going to be dangerous, and a lot of boats were going to get banged up, and marshals too. It happens at the Potomac, but it can be worse here, because with the flats you can't even get to the bank. The waves were white-capping against the current."
On whether or not the decision helps him – "Yes. I get a full day of rest and a full day to fish. I'll make some changes. It looks like I'm for sure going to get a check, but I'm shooting to stay in the Top 12. The biggest thing is, all the guys with good weights – they had a chance to mess up today and stub their toe. Everybody was making pretty long runs and you could have easily gone out and caught two or three little dinks. That would be devastating for someone in the Top 12. The rough water puts too much of a luck factor into it."
Mark Menendez (7th, 16-01)
About the decision itself –"Here's my whole thing on canceling days. Whether it's really bad weather or wind or whatever, if you cancel a day, you take away all opportunity for somebody to get hurt. We'll come back tomorrow, the sun will be shining and everybody gets to play another day."
On whether or not the decision helps him – "Absolutely it does. It puts you a step closer to making another Top 12. I've been on the other side of the coin where a canceled day made it a very tall wall to hurdle. I'm just looking to catch what I can catch tomorrow. Hopefully the 5-pound cushion I had over 50th place will still be there at the end of the day."
Russ Lane (20th, 13-13)
About the decision itself – "Trip made the call he thought was in the best interest of the safety of the anglers and marshals. I do know from a little experience I have on this lake is that when you have as much current as we have and that strong west wind, there's no other place like it I've ever been. It ranks right up there with how bad Champlain can get. In my opinion, he definitely made the right call."
Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito
Mark Menendez, who won last week at Dardanelle after a cancellation, definitely feels today's decision helps him.
On whether or not the decision helps him – "I don't think it's a benefit or a hindrance. I'd probably like to see us go ahead and fish 4 full days, since we have an open week next week. But I don't think it's that big of a deal if we only fish 3. I do know I'm going out tomorrow trying to be in the Top 12 no matter what. I'll throw out everything I found in practice and go try to figure out something different tomorrow. I do think we're going to see some good weights tomorrow though."
John Murray (68th, 10-04)
About the decision itself – "I agree with it. It wasn't going to get any better, and guys would have gotten into trouble. From what I heard, about halfway down the lake was going to be brutal. The thing is, I think we think about it more now because of the marshals. We're not dealing with seasoned co-anglers. There's a bunch of marshals not happy about yesterday, and this one would have been worse."
On whether or not the decision helps him – "With just 1 day, it doesn't really matter. It's not a big deal. I've gone back and forth about what to do tomorrow. It's going to be totally different. This morning, I was going to run up the river instead of going to the dam. But it's hard to go up there cold, so I don't know. I haven't made my decision yet."
Notable
> For an update on BASS's position regarding the cut, click here.
> Menendez won last week at Dardanelle after day 3 was canceled.
> The field was held at the launch for several hours this morning awaiting a decision. Weldon reportedly took several trips out on the lake with different pros to inspect the conditions.
> There does seem to be a general sense within the field that BASS has become more conservative with its safety rulings given the fact that marshals are now in the boat, vs. co-anglers in years past who paid money to compete amongst themselves.
