Southern Opens # 1 Day Two morning notes: Rain and clouds

Tournament anglers fishing the second day of the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes were greeted with overcast skies and intermittent rain as the dawn broke on Big Toho Marina.

Severe thunderstorms that rolled through around 4 a.m. on the leading edge of a cold front had tapered off to a drizzling rain as boats were sent on their way. Many of the tournament leaders felt the lack of sunny skies would hurt the sight-fishing game. "I left two 8-pounders on the beds yesterday, one I hooked and lost and one I couldn't get to bite," said Terry Scroggins, in third place after Day One with 25 pounds, 5 ounces. "Those fish are real sensitive to light, and with this front coming through it backs them up.

Even though they don't feel the cold they feel the pressure and it backs them off the beds and into deeper water. They were just starting to come in on the beds yesterday afternoon, and I think this front will be enough to hold them off." Scroggins still has some good offshore stuff, catching 20 pounds on Day One before he moved into the shallows to sight fish late in the day.

The lack of good light will hurt anglers fishing the deeper beds because they can't see the fish. Scroggins drew a late launch time for the Day Two, so he's hoping the sky will clear up and let some sun through by late in the day. Gerald Swindle, in first place after Day One with 30 pounds, 13 ounces, felt the early morning low-light levels could be to his advantage.

Swindle is fishing roughly 800 yards from Scroggins. "The areas we're fishing are offshore and triggered by feeding frenzies, so you get an early low light feeding frenzy," Swindle said. "Then it gets sunny and slick like yesterday and the bite slows down, but with clouds and the rain, it could extend that feeding frenzy. With the clouds and the rain, it might play to our advantage."

Larry Cahan, who sits in fourth place with 24 pounds, 9 ounces, is on bedding fish in Lake Toho and feels the low light is going to make sight fishing in his area extremely difficult. "It's probably going to hurt me a bit," Cahan said. "I caught all my weight fish sight fishing on the beds. I'm hoping I can catch some of these fish just casting in the area, but it's going to be tougher to catch the bigger fish because you can't see them.

Hopefully, drawing a late flight will get me some sunlight in the afternoon."

A teen takes a swing

Sixteen-year-old Dustin Bozeman has been fishing most of his life. Two years ago he decided to pursue his dream of being a tournament fisherman, so he entered some local tournaments to hone his skills.
Now that he's old enough to meet the minimum age requirement to enter a Bassmaster Open event, he decided it was time to improve his fishing by sharing time on the water with the pros by entering as a non-boater.