Cody Huff and Dakota Pierce of Bethel University had 19-11 on Day 1 and were in command by 14 ounces. The gap from their leading spot to 12th place was 3-10.
They are having another great day today and it happened much faster than Day 1. They got started yesterday around 11 to 11:30 with a few fish catches. Today they managed 14 pounds in the first 30 minutes. They have been slightly upgrading ever since. I ran down to their area and arrived as they were culling. They were putting a good sized fish in the livewell, which I assume gave them an excellent cull.
About 10 minutes later they landed a 3-14 largemouth and culled out a fish that was 2 and change. Another good upgrade has their total around 17, maybe 18 pounds.
“It’s just starting to get right,” Huff said. “The only place that is working for us is this area. The bait has broken up and disappeared on some spots.”
All of their weight has been from one spot thus far. If there are 5 or 6 more solid keepers here, this tournament could be theirs.
One positive is the fish were there yesterday with cloudy conditions. Today is post-frontal and there is a solid north wind. Blue bird skies could hurt most anglers, but Huff and Pierce were confident no matter if the sun showed up or not.
The Top 12 advance to Championship Saturday to compete for the title. Meanwhile the Top 25 punch their ticket to the National Championship. Huff and Pierce are a lock to qualify, as long as they don’t make an egregious error and weigh their fish on time today.