Well I'm here

[djkimmel]

I have 4 alarms set for early tomorrow morning.

My friend Chad Pipkens did not make the top 50 cut, finishing 74th with 26-9. He had found the fish to do well but something happened in a short amount of time.

Kevin VanDam still has a shot at his 8th AOY title but he needs the smoking hot Aaron Martens to stumble a decent amount while whacking his biggest limit of the tournament to pass him. If Aaron puts much over 16 or 17 pounds he will win his 2nd AOY.

I like Martens and I wish him no ill will. If he fails to bring in more than 15 pounds Kevin will still need sack as much as 24 pounds. That weight is in Lake St. Clair though we have seen the pros are having a hard time finding many of the real big bass.

Of course, if Aaron really stumbles KVD could have a stellar day and catch several pounds less and still get his 8th AOY title. Better odds exist for the superstar KVD to sack enough weight to go fishing on Sunday! He is less than 3 pounds out of the top 12 and many, many anglers weights have bounced way more than that each day. I'm expecting KVD to get that part done.

My young friend Jonathon VanDam should make his 2nd Bassmaster Classic in a row. He may already be in just by making the top 50 cut considering one Bassmaster writer thought 445 points was the magic number and JVD should finish no lower than ~479.

If he can put another 15 pounds in the boat Saturday he easily assures a Classic 2014 berth. At less than 4 1/2 pounds out of the top 12 cut JVD could fish Sunday if he can manage to find close to 19 pounds. Maybe even 18 if several above him stumble as much as they have been already.

We will all find out tomorrow - watch the live blogs, leaderboard and live video weigh in at www.bassmaster.com/tournaments/2013-elite-series-lake-st-clair-championship! Still a number of GreatLakesBass.com members heading back out on to the lakes and rivers with Elite Anglers tomorrow too!

[djkimmel]

Make sure you remember to Bassmaster.com/Vote every day through September 6 too!