Two more anglers have arrived at the boat service yard – Brandon Lester and Chris Lane. It wasn’t fun on the water today, and both men are concerned about a Friday-morning forecast of single-digit temperatures, somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 or 5 degrees.
“I believe this tournament isn’t going to be so much about the fishing. It’s going to be about the guy who can stand (the weather). Seriously, it becomes a matter of mental toughness.
“I’ve never fished in 5-degree weather. I don’t even know if my reels will function in 5-degree weather.”
Lane was the last to leave the service yard this morning and the third man back, but he was glad he went out.
“I learned everything I could about my equipment in cold weather,” Lane said. “Like getting my (lithium) battery warmed up before I crank my motor, and getting used to my graphs going on and off because the voltage doesn’t shoot through the wire like it’s supposed to when it’s that cold.”
Lane screwed a new propane bottle into his portable Mr. Heater Buddy. Lester said family members had purchased one for him today.
“You’ve got to have something,” Lester said.
Added Lane, “Any questions anybody has about any equipment will be answered Friday morning."
Oh, yeah. He did learn a little something Friday about the bass bite at Hartwell.
“I’m running a pattern, and I ran all new water,” Lane said. “I saw one place that I thought might have a fish on it. I made a cast and caught one that weighed about 3 pounds. The fish are still doing what I thought they’d be doing.”