Chad Pipkens continues to master his injury-forced one-armed fishing style. Pipkens caught a 3-4 at 1:02, giving him 15 pounds on the day and putting him in 7th place, according to BASSTrakk.
It was four weeks ago Thursday when the broken left collarbone was surgically repaired. His doctors said it would take 8 to 12 weeks before it was completely healed.
“They knew what I did for a living and said I just need to be cautious casting and landing a fish and driving the boat,” Pipkens said yesterday.
Injury free for the first two tournaments this season, Pipkens came into this event ranked 59th in Angler of the Year standings. Playing hurt is paying off for him this week.
“You learn from everything,” said Pipkens, who is giving new meaning to the term “learning the hard way” this week.