Maryland’s Brad Weese takes lead on Monongahela

Maryland’s Brad Weese brought in 13 pounds, 7 ounces to lead Day 2 of the Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation Mid-Atlantic Divisional.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Brad Weese has a 3-pound lead going into the final day of competition at the Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation Mid-Atlantic Divisional.

Anywhere else but the Monongahela River makes it a shaky lead at best. The Maryland angler added 9 pounds, 7 ounces to his overall weight equaling 13-7.

The Maryland angler merely needs to repeat his Day 2 performance to possibly win the tournament. That won’t be easy to do. Mark Garner, Day 1's leader with 6-11, caught nothing Thursday and dropped to 11th place.

“I’m not sure that I can do this again tomorrow,” acknowledged Weese. “I’m not that confident based on the water conditions.”

Those are just as unpredictable as the leaderboard. The water is getting muddier and higher from the influx of locally heavy rainfall along the river system. The bass also seem to be slow at catching up to those changing conditions.

“I’m only spending 10 minutes on a spot,” said Weese. “For me it’s all about covering water.”

The run-and-gun approach for Weese is using two lure types that he understandably declined to mention. Likely lures are spinnerbaits that can be quickly retrieved through the water to trigger the predatory nature of the bass.

Weese confirmed rising water that shut down unexpectedly in his areas might have impacted his fishing.

“Some current is good but nothing at all stops the bite,” he said.

Weese already has an award to take home, win or lose. As Day 2 leader he won the Livingston Lures Leader Award valued at $250.

The tournament box score demonstrates just how tough is the fishing. Only 2 limits of 5 bass crossed the scales Day 2, besting Day 1's count of 1 limit. Mark Garner has the biggest bass of the tournament weighing 4-9.

Winning the overall tournament is only one of several goals. Another high honor is qualifying for bass club angling’s premier event. The highest finishing angler from each of six competing states advances to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship.

Another goal in this tournament is finishing as the top of six state teams in the competition. Leading that race is Maryland with 61 pounds, 2 ounces. Virginia is next with 57-10 and West Virginia holds down third place with 51-13. Pennsylvania is fourth with 44-1, while New Jersey is fifth with 41-5. Delaware is in sixth place with 28-1.

The winning state team is awarded a Skeeter/Yamaha boat, motor, trailer and accessories package valued at $33,340.

The state scores get a boost with the weights caught by the two-angler high school teams. Each state sent it’s state champions to hone their tournament skills at a higher level.