Story by Ken Duke | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
There are certain phrases that start to pop up at the end of tournaments or tournament seasons. One of the most common is “going for broke,” as in “I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m going for broke at Lake Murray.”
There are variations on this phrase. “Swing for the fences.” “Go big or go home.” They all mean the same thing.
Most of the field is in go-for-broke mode at NPFL Stop 6 on Lake Murray hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country. That’s because it’s the last event of the season and only those anglers in the top 49 or so have any chance of qualifying for the 2025 Championship unless they win here. You see, to get to the 2025 Championship, you need to be the defending champ (Brandon Perkins), in the top 40 of the Progressive Angler of the Year standings at the end of the season or you need to have won an event this year.
With so many anglers out of striking distance of the top 40, it means they’ll be “pulling out all the stops” (I almost forgot that one!) at Lake Murray in South Carolina.
But what does that mean … and does it work?
Most often, going for broke in bass tournament parlance means one of two things. Let’s take them in order of daring.
First, it could mean that the angler is planning a bold run of a great distance or through treacherous conditions to reach an area that may offer great fishing or giant bass. You see this option a lot on river systems or on giant bodies of water that are especially vulnerable to high winds and waves. If the wind or current is coming from the “wrong” direction it generally means the angler won’t be able to reach his destination at all or that he’ll lose so much fishing time that he can’t catch what he needs before it’s time to make the hair-raising run back to the weigh-in.
Second, going for broke could mean that the angler is going to fish a lure or method that is likely to severely reduce the number of bites he will get, but those bites will likely come from larger than average fish. This version of going for broke is far more common than the long run and usually involves traditional “big fish” baits like jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, or large crankbaits. It might also involve a technique known for quality fish like Flippin’ or pitching.
You will never hear of an angler “going for broke” and picking up a spinning rod with a Ned rig or wacky Senko. Those methods are designed to get lots of bites in hopes of culling through a lot of fish and improving your catch mere ounces at a time.
Does “going for broke” work? Sometimes … but in my experience of covering the sport for many decades, the success stories are far, far outnumbered by the failures for a couple of reasons.
The first problem is that “going for broke” is risky by definition. Even the most optimistic angler doesn’t honestly expect it to pay off. It’s a “last ditch” (there’s another one of those phrases!) effort that’s potentially dramatic and exciting, but usually destined to fall short.
The second problem is that most bass tournament formats are games of “incomplete information.” You only know what you have; not what your opponents have. And if you don’t know what the other anglers are catching, you don’t know what you really need. Many times, I’ve watched an angler leave in the morning thinking he needed 20 pounds to win only to find that 15 pounds would have done it because the leaders all stumbled. But, because the going-for-broke angler took a big chance, he failed to catch the more modest bag. In the end, he loses when he might have won by ordinary means.
It’s a little like strategizing in a football game without knowing the score. Do you need a touchdown, a field goal, should you just run out the clock, or do you need a quick score and an onside kick? You have no idea!
Most of the field at Lake Murray this week will be playing some version of “going for broke” either because they’re already certain to qualify for the 2025 Championship and are focused on the trophy and big check or their only way to qualify for the Championship is to win. In between are 20 or 25 anglers currently ranked about 30th through 50th in the AOY standings who are dangerously close to the cut line. A solid tournament gets them in. A bad tournament means they’re out. They’ll almost certainly be playing it straight this week.
All of the anglers know that going for broke usually gets you just that … broke. Swinging for the fences usually results in a strikeout. And if your plan is to go big or go home, you’ll usually wind up back home … empty-handed.
But this week, it’s the only straw to grasp at for a lot of the tournament field.
And that will make things interesting!
