“Chris had some other stuff he was confident in and he obviously made the right decision.”
-John Crews, referring to Day Two leader Chris Lane. They shared an area with Marty Robinson on Day One. Crews returned on Day Two but the others did not.
“It was the perfect setup and he made all of the right decisions. I called where it was going to be and he caught it. It was frustrating but fun to watch.”
-Steve Kennedy, who had a front row ticket for the “Dustin Wilks Show”
“You can’t harp on a bad tournament. If you sat down and thought about all of the things that went wrong, you’d be a sad fella.”
-Casey Ashley
Easy Pickins’
Edwin Evers’ 14-04 limit was bolstered by a 6-04 bass that was the big bass of the day. He caught it sight fishing. Unlike some of the finicky bed bass that have bedeviled anglers this week, this particular fish was relatively easily caught.
“I saw her from a long way away but she never saw me,” he said. “I threw the Power Poles down, got down as low as I could, and she ate it on the first cast.”
Fresh Fashions
Alabama pro Timmy Horton came to the weigh in resplendent in a polyester jumpsuit that appeared to be of a vintage circa 1975 or 1976. It had patches of all of his major sponsors, but also a few odes to old school tackle, like a Hula Popper.
“That’s my dad’s favorite lure,” he said. “I’m going to catch a bass on one in a tournament one of these days.”
He sheepishly admitted that he didn’t wear the jumpsuit all day, donning it only for the weigh in. Deduct two style points for that and two more for the lack of an eight-track player in his boat.
Pool Three Redux
In the 2009 Classic, Ish Monroe made the decision to make a long run to Pool Three. He didn’t repeat that decision on Day One this year, but today, in need of a big day to jump into contention, he ran 85 miles one way to get to a spot where he thought he could make that leap.
“I had no hesitation about going,” he said.
Unfortunately for him, he arrived there and found Greg Hackney camped on his best spot. When he locked back up to Pool Four in the afternoon he sacked a quick limit that weighed 10-13, but a four minute late penalty knocked him back four pounds. Shaw Grigsby, the third angler who made the long run through two locks, suffered even more. He blanked.
Magic Bait?
Dustin Wilks, currently in 6th place, caught several key fish today on a lure that he and Steve Kennedy jokingly referred to as the “blah-blah-blah.”
He’d been planning to tell Shaw Grigsby about it in the boatyard after Grigsby’s tough Day One experience, but first day leader Keith Poche happened by at the pre-disclosure moment and thus was born the nondescript nickname.
Kennedy reported watching WIlks catch fish on at least three different techniques today, but didn’t offer up similar nicknames for any of the others.
Snakebit?
Yesterday Jeff Kriet reported losing several fish on a tube bait, but today his execution struggles continued with other baits. Unlike yesterday, though, when he shared his first spot with Alton Jones, Davy Hite, Kevin VanDam and Aaron Martens, today only Brandon Palaniuk was also there immediately upon takeoff.
Unfortunately for Kriet, he lost his two best bites right off the bat.
“I wanted to fish clean today, but I jacked one on my first pass and it hung me up,” he recalled. “Then I picked up a speed worm and one smoked it, but it hung up on the one little knot in between us. I couldn’t get to him. Then I lost the next one. I was oh-for-three.” He did eventually catch a limit there before leaving and improved upon his first day catch by nearly two pounds but missed the cut by two places and just over a pound.