Zaldain ‘making magic’

What’s so cool about our live coverage is that it’s continuous. Before the guys in Little Rock come on with LIVE we can watch raw footage on LIVE Mix. And with the supercharged early bite that’s a good thing. I just tuned in to watch Chris Zaldain put a 5-8 largemouth on the BASSTrakk scoreboard and another.

“We are going to be making magic today,” he said.

Yesterday there was magic too, after Zaldain weighed 24-5 to take the lead. He’s on a roll that began last week with a Top 10 finish at the St. Lawrence River. Yesterday began on a sour note before it got sweeter for the Texas pro.

Like he does every morning, Zaldain was the first angler to arrive at the ramp at 3:45 a.m., or 2 hours and 45 minutes before takeoff. It was a good thing that he did. Upon opening the lid of his rod storage he discovered his starting lineup of rod-and-reel combos gone. The boats at the rental house where Zaldain and others are staying were vandalized. Arriving early allowed him time to regroup, re-rig with other combos and get ready for the day.

On the water, today is evolving into a repeat of yesterday, and mabe even better. Zaldain is using a favorite bait. It’s a 1/2-ounce Santone Lures Z Spin Head with a 3-inch Megabass Hazedong Shad.

“I’m just retrieving it really slow on the bottom and when it hits a rocky spot I give it a pop with the rod tip. That’s when they smoke it.”

Zaldain said without the presence of grass the fish have little underwater structure in which to relate. His Humminbird Solix with MEGA Imaging technology tipped him off on what is working for him now.

“Instead of relating to grass lines they are relating to the bait, to alewife.”