Although only two anglers weighed 20-pound bags yesterday, it's probably going to take a 20-pound average to win this tournament. Mike Iaconelli appears to already be there today. He had 20-12 on Day 1, but dropped off to 14-0 yesterday. Kevin Ledoux is getting close today, as BASSTrakk shows him with 18-plus today. He had 20-7 on Day 1 and 17-9 on Day 2.
Everyone is chasing leader Edwin Evers, who has weighed 21-3 and 22-9. Evers started his day with a hiccup – he forgot to charge a battery – but he's worked his way back up to the top of the leaderboard, and he hopes to cull everything he's kept so far.
"It's got to be 20, 21 (pounds) a day, doesn't it?" said Evers when asked what it would take to win this event at the Day 1 weigh-in. "I felt like I had 'the number' today. The last time we were here, there was only one guy that averaged 20-pounds-a-day in the river. That's probably how it's going to shake out."
Evers was referring to the fact that Brandon Palaniuk won in 2013 with 88-12, but caught them in Lake Ontario, which is off-limits this year. Jonathon VanDam stayed in the St. Lawrence River and finished second with 81-4. Ott DeFoe was third with 78-10.
So the contenders probably want to be within reach of an 80-pound total on Sunday, when the field will be cut to the Top 12.