Date: July 29, 2022
Venue: Lake Q, a small flatland reservoir
Water: 92 degrees, moderately clear
Weather: Severe thunderstorms early, gradually clearing; high 84 degrees
Pro: Takumi Ito, 36, Chiba, Japan. A nine-year competitive angling veteran in both Japan and the U.S., this is “Taku’s” third season on the Elite Series. He had three consecutive Top 10 finishes in 2020, then three more Top 10 finishes in 2021, including a win at the St. Lawrence River (N.Y.). He’s qualified for two Classics.
Boat: Skeeter FXR with 250-horsepower Yamaha outboard, MotorGuide trolling motor, Lowrance and Garmin electronics, and twin Power-Pole shallow-water anchors
Series motto is “Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams.” In my view, no angler exemplifies these three ideals better than Takumi “Taku” Ito. Big bass? Ito has caught his share of lunkers in both Japan and America, but arguably his most profound big-fish accomplishment occurred at the 2021 St. Lawrence River Elite, where his winning four-day total of 90 pounds of smallmouth included two 6-pound bronzebacks — these lunkers copped the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award on Days 3 and 4. Bagging 90 pounds of smallmouth is an amazing enough accomplishment, but when you consider that Ito had never even fished for smallmouth before coming to America (these fish do not exist in Japan),
