{"id":330,"date":"2025-02-21T04:53:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T04:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/?p=330"},"modified":"2025-02-21T04:53:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T04:53:12","slug":"bassmaster-elite-series-started-today-przekurat-warms-up-to-floridas-cold-for-st-johns-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/bassmaster-elite-series-started-today-przekurat-warms-up-to-floridas-cold-for-st-johns-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"Bassmaster Elite Series started today: Przekurat warms up to Florida\u2019s cold for St. Johns lead."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Posted on\u00a0Chad Gay<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
\n

PALATKA, Fla. \u2014\u00a0\u00a0Jay Przekurat<\/a>\u00a0of Plover, Wis., was just happy to finally hit the water, but his winter-weary enthusiasm lead him to a five-bass limit of 24 pounds, 15 ounces that leads Day 1 of the 2025\u00a0FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Przekurat, who won the 2022\u00a0Dakota Lithium Elite Series Rookie of the Year<\/a>\u00a0title, leads Texan\u00a0Lee Livesay<\/a>\u00a0by 2-2.<\/p>\n

Not the least bit intimidated by takeoff temperatures in the upper 40s, or Friday\u2019s forecast for 34 degrees at sunrise, Przekurat ignored the traditionally gloomy outlook associated with cold fronts and notoriously weather-sensitive Florida bass. The result was a nearly flawless day far surpassing his expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a day; I couldn\u2019t do any wrong today,\u201d Przekurat said. \u201cAll I have to say is \u2018I\u2019m so happy to be fishing in Florida.\u2019 At home yesterday they cancelled school because it was so cold. Whatever tomorrow is, I know everybody at home will be watching me fishing in Florida, wishing they were fishing in Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just happy to be fishing. Prior to this tournament, I hadn\u2019t wet a line since before October, so I was really anxious to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up around weedy Wisconsin fisheries, Przekurat\u2019s solid on the skill sets that equally fit Sunshine State waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fishing shallow; that\u2019s what I like to do in Florida,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not much for fishing past about 8 feet in Florida. I like a flipping stick, and I like to use a spinning rod with a wacky worm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot like back home in Wisconsin. The only difference is this place has 8- to 10-pounders and we have 4-pounders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Przekurat anchored his bag with an 8-4 \u2014 his first catch, which ate a Strike King Baby Z-Too. He caught several other fish on that bait and also fished a wacky-rigged Strike King Ocho.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking for flats and places where the fish are going to pull up to spawn,\u201d Przekurat said. \u201cWe had a really warm week (before the cold front) and I think a lot of fish had pulled up to where they were spawning, and now they\u2019re kinda getting that push back. But they\u2019re still lingering in those areas; they\u2019re not going to swim a mile away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notably, the past several years have seen the lush eelgrass meadows that once carpeted much of the St. Johns sadly absent. Hurricanes and the sunlight-choking high water that followed rendered much of the historically productive patterns and places irrelevant.<\/p>\n

Starting his fourth\u00a0Elite Series<\/a>\u00a0season, Przekurat said he\u2019s unhindered by changes that preceded his pro career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t able to fish here when they had eelgrass, so I\u2019m not even familiar with how good the fishing used to be, which maybe is an advantage for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI think (the lack of eelgrass) makes areas a lot smaller, and it makes you concentrate on areas where you know there\u2019s fish instead of running around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his clearly productive efforts, Przekurat admitted to a pleasantly casual day where all the pieces simply fell into place. Spending most of his time in the Lake George area, he went into the day without a defined target list.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t a specific spot that I thought was going to be the deal,\u201d Przekurat said. \u201cI\u2019m kinda playing this tournament day by day. I thought I had an area that I could catch fish in today, but I don\u2019t know if I can catch fish there tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday looked great, but tomorrow might be a completely different area and a completely different style of fishing. I didn\u2019t expect to catch 24-15 today, not in my wildest dreams. I was hoping for 15 pounds. Tomorrow I\u2019ll be really happy with 15 pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee Livesay of Longview, Texas, is in second place with 22-13. Making a big run paid off, in terms of jump-starting his day, but returning to waters closer to the tournament site proved most productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran an hour south to Lake Astor, fished some shellbeds and caught a limit really quick,\u201d Livesay said. \u201cIt was maybe 7-8 pounds, but it got me comfortable. Then I went and fished some new water and caught a 6-pounder on a Chatterbait in some pads.<\/p>\n

\u201cI caught a nearly 3-pounder on a 6th Sense Provoke 97X jerkbait, then I came back (downriver) toward Palatka and caught a 7, a 4 and a couple of 3s just flipping a black\/blue-tip 6th Sense Clout (stick worm). I made the right decisions today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contemplating Day 2, Livesay said he\u2019s planning to repeat the shallow power-fishing game plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kinda feels like I can\u2019t do it again, but at the same time, I had them fairly early and it felt pretty good,\u201d Livesay said. \u201cI kinda laid off some areas where I think maybe I could duplicate today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill Lowen<\/a>\u00a0of Brookville, Ind., is in third place with 21-5. Enjoying a fast start to his day, Lowen drew on his vast experience fishing the Ohio River\u2019s shallow, muddy water and relied on tactics with which he\u2019s deeply familiar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran to my primary area where I had kinda figured out a little deal with a swimming technique, but they were just nipping at the bait,\u201d Lowen said. \u201cI figured out a flipping bait to get bit on, and my first bites this morning were a 5 and a 4. That\u2019s a good way to start the morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just fishing shallow wood, and I don\u2019t have any company in my area, so hopefully, what I have going on will hold out. I have two other areas that I didn\u2019t even look at today, because I have my weight pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Cox<\/a>\u00a0of Debary, Fla., is in the lead for\u00a0Phoenix Boats<\/a>\u00a0Big Bass honors with his 8-13.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s takeoff is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET at the Palatka City Boat Ramp. The weigh-in will be held at the Palatka Riverfront Park at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

Bassmaster LIVE will be streaming on\u00a0Bassmaster.com<\/a>\u00a0all four days, and coverage will also be available on FS1 on Saturday from 8 a.m.-noon and Sunday from 8-11 a.m. Stay up-to-date on all tournament coverage at\u00a0Bassmaster.com\/how-to-watch\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s Putnam County Chamber of Commerce<\/a>\u00a0is hosting the event.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Courtesy of BASS, LLC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted on\u00a0February 20, 2025\u00a0by\u00a0Chad Gay PALATKA, Fla. \u2014\u00a0\u00a0Jay Przekurat\u00a0of Plover, Wis., was just happy to finally hit the water, but his winter-weary enthusiasm lead him to a five-bass limit of 24 pounds, 15 ounces that leads Day 1 of the 2025\u00a0FXR Pro Fish Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River. Przekurat, who won the 2022\u00a0Dakota Lithium […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/elite-feb-25.jpg?fit=1290%2C971&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":333,"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions\/333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebasshog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}