Kelley Jaye lost about three hours of his eight-hour fishing day Sunday due to his well-documented hook-in-the-hand incident. However, he never lost his sense of humor. He mentioned how the numbness in his hand from the localized painkiller continued to affect his casting and reeling ability after he got back on the water.
“Has the numbness left?” he was asked.
“The dumbness?” Jaye replied. “No, it’s still there. It ain’t going nowhere.”
But I really cracked up when Jaye was asked how the hospital attendants removed the hook from his hand. Did they push the hook through and cut the barb off? Part of the humor was in the matter-of-fact way Jaye answered, saying, “Nah, they just pulled it out, meat and all.”
There’s your catch-phrase for the day: “They just pulled it out, meat and all.”
Getting back to business here, Jaye has a solid chance to win this tournament. It’s a jerkbait kind of day on Lake Guntersville, although every day is a jerkbait kind of day for Kelley Jaye. His 24-pound, 12-ounce limit on Day 2 remains the biggest bag of the tournament.
“If that holds up for this tournament, I’ll be surprised,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody busted 25 or 26 pounds (Monday).”
So far Jaye’s got a limit weighing 13-12. A 4-pounder is his big bass, and he’s got three 2-pounders.
“I still had a chance for a big bag (Sunday),” Jaye said. “I weighed-in a couple of 2 1/4s and jumped a 4 and a 5 off. I could have had a really good day.”