Tyler Stewart and Nick Joiner from the University of Louisiana-Monroe managed a solid limit of bass on Day 2 of the 2016 Carhartt College Central Regional on the Atchafalaya Basin, maintaining their 4-pound lead heading into the final day of competition.
Catching less than 10 pounds in a tournament isn’t ideal, but after wrangling 17-9 on Day 1 of competition, Stewart and Joiner only needed 9 pounds, 9 ounces to keep the lead. In fact, the duo only surrendered five ounces to the field as they took a four-pound, one-ounce lead into Championship Saturday. Although they didn’t boast a big bag on Friday, the ULM teammates didn’t explore all of their spots, hoping their spot management will pay off on the final day.
“We did save some areas that we found in practice,” Stewart said. “We don’t know if they will be big fish areas, but we are probably going to start on one of them tomorrow. In 15 minutes during practice we had about 10 pounds in there, so with more time we may be able to catch more.”
Stewart and Joiner seemingly boated bass on whatever baits they threw on Day 2 of competition, but after filling their limit they stuck with a couple key baits hoping to duplicate some of the big bass they caught in practice. They know how crucial a four-pounder can be in this event – especially on the final day – and they have a specific plan in order to boat a kicker bass on Saturday.
“We are hopefully going to start with our key baits and get our quick limit and then we will go head hunting,” Joiner said.
“Hopefully we can get one of those four-pounders and improve our bag.”
The ULM teammates will try to keep their eyes looking forward as the rest of the top five also reside in Louisiana and are hoping to overcome the deficit. Marcus Kliebert and Francis Robichaux from local Nicholls State busted four fish for 12 pounds, 5 ounces on Friday, jumping from sixth to second – within striking distance of the leaders.
The local duo sported a solid 10 pounds, 12 ounces on Day 1 and upgraded even more on Day 2. The only asterisk on their tournament is the fact they brought four fish to the scales on Friday, possibly hurting their chances of pulling off a victory.
“We had some missed opportunities today as we lost a three-pounder at the boat,” Robichaux said.
“We are just going to focus on every bite that we get and make sure we get those in the boat. We will see how it plays out tomorrow.”
Having that three-pound fish in the boat would’ve put Robichaux and Kliebert right behind Stewart and Joiner with a considerably smaller margin to make up.
The Central Regional has featured local favor the entire week as 11 of the Top 20 teams fishing tomorrow are from the state of Louisiana, with six coming from the host school, Nicholls State.
The remainder of the Top 5 lays out with Leblanc/Benoits from Nicholls State in third, Durrett/Watkins from Louisiana Tech in fourth and Authement/Naquin from Nicholls State in fifth.
The Top 20 teams from Day 1 and 2 jumped into position to make the final day cut. After Saturday’s competition day, the Top 13 teams will clinch their berth into the 2016 Carhartt College National Championship. A two-pound margin separates 13th and 20th place, so the battle at the cut promises to be an interesting one.
The final-day weigh-in will be held on Nicholls State’s campus in Thibodaux, La., with the first fish hitting the scales at 3:30 p.m. CT.
Check out Day 2 weigh-in photos here.
To see the complete Day 2 standings, click here.