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\t\t\tChad Pipkens\t\t<\/p>\n
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BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2013 When Michigan pro Chad Pipkens joined the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2013, it was effectively a tenured position.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had never cut anyone,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIf you had the money to keep going, you could keep coming back. That\u2019s all changed. Now getting there is a battle and staying there is a bigger battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
He should know.<\/p>\n
Pipkens finished 99th in the Angler of the Year race last season and was relegated off the circuit. This week\u2019s Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Lake Erie presented by Battery Tender will in part determine whether he makes it back.<\/p>\n
This tournament is the final chance for anglers to move their way into the Nitro Boats Elite Qualifiers presented by Bass Pro Shops for the opportunity to claim one of 10 invites to the 2027 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series. This season, 50 anglers took on both divisions, and 35 of them will advance to the Elite Qualifier round. Pipkens is currently 14th in the overall Opens standings.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll compete in a field of 173 that includes local hammers, Opens wunderkinds, eight current Elites, and over a dozen past Elite Series pros. Some of the latter group were similarly ousted, others left for other tours, and still others \u201cretired.\u201d Some won multiple Bassmaster events, and one \u2013 Guy Eaker Sr. \u2013 is already in the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame. More than a handful of others not in those categories have already competed in Bassmaster Classics as recently as this year.<\/p>\n
If it had to be anywhere, Pipkens likes his chances on the Great Lakes, the system where he earned his lone Bassmaster victory, a 2014 Northern Open, albeit a few hundred miles away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet to be here,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether I make it or not, I feel good about what I\u2019ve accomplished in the sport. I\u2019m not satisfied by any means, but I\u2019m happy with what I\u2019m doing and how I\u2019m fishing. I feel like I\u2019m going to make it back. There are probably better ways to make a living, but this is what most of us want to be doing as long as we can take care of our families at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania pro Jonathan Kelley\u2019s Elite status was likely cut short at the end of the 2025 campaign. Like Pipkens, he strongly desires to make it back to the senior circuit, but knows that this week\u2019s event is just one step in that process. He\u2019s 24th in the Division 1 standings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one won\u2019t get me back by itself, but I hope it will gain me some momentum going into the EQs,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to set up the rest of the year to get on a roll and get my confidence up. That\u2019s what it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s had a solid practice, but doesn\u2019t know what to take. Although he\u2019s a northeastern resident and has \u201cfished the Sandusky side a bunch,\u201d this is his first tournament out of Buffalo.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also the first for Elite rookie Matt Messer, who has yet to fish any Opens this year. But with a week in between Elite tournaments at Champlain and the start of practice for the St. Lawrence, he figured he\u2019d jump in an extra derby \u2013 with multiple ulterior motives.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, the biggest reason is that I live 12 hours away,\u201d he said. \u201cI figured I\u2019d come get used to scoping smallmouths before Ontario. This place has \u2018em. It\u2019s loaded with \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s also the Elite Series swagger at play, the belief that any time you can fish for cash is a chance to better your bottom line.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d also like to win about fifty grand or whatever it pays out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This one should be an absolute beatdown if the weather cooperates. It\u2019s been a few months since this division of Opens has hosted a cast, but it\u2019s not like this crew has forgotten how to fish. If anything, the reasons and motivations for pulling out all of the stops have only increased.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s takeoff is scheduled for 6:30 a.m. ET at Buffalo Harbor State Park. The weigh-in will be held at the marina at 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Follow along with all of the action from the Turtlebox Bassmaster Open at Lake Erie presented by Battery Tender on Bassmaster.com.<\/p>\n
The Buffalo Sports Commission is hosting the event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chad Pipkens BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2013 When Michigan pro Chad Pipkens joined the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2013, it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-268640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}