Combs inches towards AOY lead

Coming into the Toyota Angler of the Year Championship, Keith Combs was in second place and the only other angler in contention for the title besides leader Gerald Swindle. After a tough Day 1 for both anglers, Combs found himself with an opportunity that he wanted to seize.

Gerald Swindle only weighed three fish on Day 1 and left the door open for a magical Keith Combs comeback, but the Texas angler only brought 15+ pounds to the scales and bested Swindle by 8 spots.

He had put a minor dent into the 43-point deficit he trailed by, but he needed to be near the Top 7 to have a shot at overtaking Swindle. On Day 2, Combs sought a bigger bag and another opportunity to walk through a door that was still semi open.

He already had three fish in the boat early on Day 1 and was hooked up in front of us with his fourth keeper.

Keeper number four was one of those acrobatic smallmouth that dance at the boat and make an angler’s heart skip a beat in anticipation.

Even after the first jumping spree, Combs remained calm as he worked the fish closer to the boat.

But the fish would jump another time as it was just an arms length out of reach.

He remains patient and scoops up the solid smallmouth.

He didn’t let his early flurry stop there though. He hooked up moments later with his limit fish as he fought it around his Minn Kota Talons and Yamaha Outboard.

He caps off his limit with a football. This gave Combs a 13 to 14 pound limit and a good starting place just 30 minutes into the day.

After catching his limit in front of the Bassmaster LIVE audience, his bite went cold as he searched for the fish he was just catching.

He hooked up occasionally while he was searching.

But most of the time the end result was a walleye or a small bass.

Andy Montgomery fished around Combs on Day 1 and had made a few stops before making an appearance on Day 2.

The two anglers spoke about their days and Combs told Montgomery that his biggest fish of the day was roughly 3 pounds or so.

Simultaneously Combs hooked up with a pretty solid fish that would threaten his previous statement.

And it would end change Combs’ previous statement. His biggest fish was now pushing four pounds.

It was thick and it was wide. That one went on the big side for Combs and he better have four more like that if he wants to take another chunk out of the AOY deficit.

The two anglers positioned themselves on adjacent waypoints as they worked around the area.

As Combs set the hook the next time he also ran to the boat to get better leverage on the smallmouth.

This one would occupy him and keep him near the back deck for the entire battle.

As the wind and waves begins to rotate him he reaches for the fish…

He landed that one and was on the hunt for another.

This one also had some dancing in its DNA as it goes wild at the boat.

This was another quality fish and another upgrade to his early limit. The last two culls bumped him up to around 15 pounds and change.

To make a significant jump in the standings he would certainly need a few more of those and a kicker or two.

Jordan Lee had a fantastic Day 1 and is a lock for the Geico Bassmaster Classic, but that didn’t stop Lee from having a good time and catching the fire out of some Mille Lacs smallmouth.

Day 1 was tough for Combs from start to finish and he had to weed through small fish, but on Day 2 it was completely different.

He started Day 2 fast and then he would catch a fish every 20 to 30 minutes, but most times it was a good one and would upgrade for him.

Like this one. It wasn’t the biggest, but it made him put a few fish on the culling beam as he checked a couple close fish.

Meanwhile Andy Montgomery was trying to land a keeper of his own a little farther away.

This was a solid smallmouth that helped Montgomery work towards a limit. Andy M. came into the event in 37th in points and after a 25th place finish on Day 1 he was smack dab in the middle of the field and was also inside the Top 39 Classic cutline still.

After a couple more minutes with no bites, Combs made a move to a spot just off in the distance where Boyd Duckett had planted himself for most of the morning.

When we arrived, Duckett was hooked up.

Unlike most of the field he was using a bait caster and he was preparing to swing aboard the smallmouth.

It was a solid fish that would help Duckett some. He was well on his way to close to 20 pounds once again.

Like many other competitors that were sharing spots, Duckett and Combs were parked boat to boat.

Duckett hooked up once again.

Another meaty smallmouth entered Duckett’s boat. There are so many solid smallmouth in Mille Lacs Lake.

This one would slightly help him.

Combs opted to fish this spot with a baitcaster as well, like I had seen him do on Day 1. His bait of choice was a jig.

That turned out to be a good move as he hooked up.

Combs didn’t have to be quite as easy on the smallmouth with the baitcaster setup. He opted to boat flip most of those fish.

As fast as he could get in there he would get bit.

Combs was inching up the leaderboard with his culls.

This was a better one that paused the action and caused him to cull.

Duckett threw a swimbait to change it up and he hooked up with a smallmouth.

He swung this one aboard and went to the livewell to cull.

The anglers were so close they talked as if they were in the same boat.

Once they floated apart, Combs hooked up again.

This one didn’t help him in the weight department so he threw it back.

Combs would end his day with 18-8 and would gain a couple positions and a couple points on Gerald Swindle.