Day 2 on the water at BASSfest

Many of the anglers in the field talked about fishing in a crowd on Day 1. It was no different at the beginning of Day 2.

Bernie Schultz hooks up with a fish in a small area that included Bobby Lane, Boyd Duckett and Brett Hite.

Lane looks on while Schultz fights his fish to the boatâ¦

â¦and so does Brett Hite.

Schultz takes a seat to finish the fightâ¦

â¦reaches downâ¦

â¦and scoops the fishâ¦

â¦into the boat.

Next stop for this fish was the livewell.

Just south of that group Jared Lintner and Takahiro Omori were sharing a spot.

Lane decides to clear out and find a spot he can have to himself.

Followed quickly by Brett Hite.

Marty Robinson started Day 2 in 17th place with 21 pounds, 2 ounces.

Unlike Day 1, the morning had been tough for Robinsonâ¦

â¦and so far the fish had been small.

Too short to keep.

But this fish feels quite a bit larger.

The fish tries to jump but hit the bottom of the boat.

Robinson takes his time with this fishâ¦

â¦letting it tire.

He begins to reach for the fishâ¦

â¦lips itâ¦

â¦jerks it from the waterâ¦

â¦and into the boat.

His morning just took a turn for the better

He sizes up the fish so his Marshal can enter the weight into his BASSTrakk phone.

There are some mighty big barges that run up and down the Tennessee River.

Shaw Grigsby had company on his fishing spot, too.

The bridge near Paris Landing was being hammered by both Elite Series contenders and recreational fishermen.

Grigsby hooks a small fishâ¦

â¦and quickly puts it in the boat.

Kelley Jaye grimaces from the weight of heaving a big spoon into Kentucky Lake.

We found Kevin VanDam firing a crankbait across a ledgeâ¦

â¦with several spectator boats watching him fish.

In typical KVD fashion he was running and gunning.

Every competitor in the field was looking for the one school they could fire up on Kentucky Lake, including Jason Williamsonâ¦

â¦and Matt Reed.

But it wasnât until we caught back up with Kevin VanDam that we saw it happen.

It seemed the only thing that would slow down the flurry he was about to go on, was the occasional hang upâ¦

â¦or a short fish. But this fish would prove to be key; it was the first fish to fire in the school KVD had found.

On the next cast began a flurry of big fish that Kentucky Lake is known for.

KVD would begin to cull every fish he had in the livewell from this one spot.

He moves to the back of the boat to fight the fishâ¦

â¦and while doing so stops quickly to turn on his GoPro camera.

Even though this fish still had plentyâ¦

â¦of fight left in it.

Finally the heavy keeper begins to wear downâ¦

â¦and he snatches it from the water.

His Day 2 Marshal, the Go Pro and Bassmaster photographer capture the action with photos and video.

At the time BASSTrakk showed KVD with 16 pounds in the livewell, but that was about to change.

He began to cull and add substantially to that 16-pound mark.

On the next cast he was hooked up again.

Another solid fish in the boat.

He moves to the GoPro camera facing the bow of his boatâ¦

â¦then quickly to the livewell. This school was biting and he wanted back in there.

Another castâ¦yet another bite.

He pulls the fish around the trolling motorâ¦

â¦reaches deep from the passenger seat in the boatâ¦

â¦and comes up gripping another big one.

He makes a quick culling decisionâ¦

â¦and hooks another bass on the next cast.

KVD often refers to this kind of fishing location as âthe juice.â

And heâs obviously found it.

A short fish comes off on the next castâ¦

â¦no problem. He hooks up with another fish that would increase his weight on the next cast.