It's crazy hot for the anglers and the bass aren't real fond of it either. But the Bassmaster Elite Series out of Elizabeth City pushes on

As the field fought for a spot in the top 50 that advances to Saturday’s fishing, they also battled ungodly heat and fish reluctant to venture away from shady cover.

Heading into today’s second day of the Bassmaster Elite Series stop in Elizabeth City to fish the Pasquotank River and surrounding waters, Fort Worth, Texas, pro Chris Zeldain found himself in the lead among the 98 angler field with a five fish limit that went 25 pounds, 8 ounces.

But as of 1 this afternoon - two hours away from check-in - he saw a hard-charging Stetson Blaylock move into the top spot with a live well  of five more fish to give him a tournament total of 41-4.

Zeldain had fallen to a 10-fish tournament limit of 38-3.

An advancing mild cold front with possible showers might turn the fish on for the final couple of hours, but it’s a tough road to travel.

Getting in the top 50 to advance is a challenge.

Last year’s Bassmaster history-breaker Kyle Welcher of Alabama found himself in 49th place late Friday - a far cry from his 100-pound-plus dominance of last year’s event, where he finished with an historical lead of more than 45 pounds.

But this year’s seventh out of nine series stops is later in the year, air and water are a lot warmer and the fish already have spawned.

The catching is tough, the fishing more so.

Starting behind Zeldain this morning were Jason Christie with five fish that went 24-1, Justin Hamner (5) 24-0, Blaylock (5) 23-8 and Jay Prezekurat (5) 23-6.

Anglers are battling for the top spot, with it’s $100,000 paycheck and automatic berth into the Bassmaster Classic.

As usual, there’s more to come.