After writing that Paul Mueller pulled in to third place according to BASSTrakk, he got knocked down to fourth before I could finish and click the publish button.
Mueller started off slow with a fish weighing 1 pound, 8 ounces caught at 8:59 a.m. The action kicked up a notch when he began catching fish in the 3-pound range to fill his limit. That just happened. So did a flurry of 3-pounders caught by other anglers moving them up the leaderboard.
Keith Combs with 13-8, including a 4-pounder caught at 10:15. Alton Jones with 13-4.
A big surprise is Jordan Lee. Jesse Wiggins is rightfully getting the spotlight for his amazing achievements in recent months. Let’s not forget the banner season enjoyed last season by Lee, one of the most consistent young anglers on the tour.
Here he comes again. Lee just moved from 35th on the leaderboard to 12th in BASSTrakk.
Yesterday Lee told me he’d need 16 pounds to make it into Championship Sunday and the Top 12. He’s just a 3-pounder away from that goal.
What does all that mean? We can’t base it on a handful of anglers but the warming, cloudy conditions could be stimulating the bass action, with better fishing to come.