Day 2 with Stewart and Joiner

Go on the Atchafalaya Basin on Day 2 with Central College Regional tournament leaders Tyler Stewart and Nick Joiner of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. They came into Day 2 with a comfortable four-pound, six-ounce lead over second-place Tarleton State.

When we arrived they were plugging away and picking apart the ample cover that the basin has to offer.

The ESPN camera was rolling as they looked to improve on their lead from Day 1 of competition.

Soon after we arrived Joiner hooked up on a fish. They already had a small limit in the boat by the time we arrived so this fish will need to cull for them.

Stewart nets the fish and they believe that this will cull one of their earlier fish.

Joiner unhooks his bait and eyes up the fish to see if it will cull.

Time to pull out the balance beam to see which one is bigger. It did indeed cull by just a small margin though.

Meanwhile, Stewart is on the front deck casting away in hopes of putting another fish in the boat quickly.

The duo alternated between spinning and casting rods to attack the cover. Throughout the week they have relied on numerous baits to boat their fish and it seems that whatever they choose to through is working.

They head deeper into this canal and dodge the numerous trees and grass mats that flood the area.

They manage to squeeze through a tight cut that is barely the width of their boat. Through that small cut was another small pond with more grass mats and cypress trees.

Itâs only 8 a.m. and they already have a limit so they canât help but smile while they plug away at culling.

Joiner bows up on another fish.

This one is putting up some resistance as Joiner tries to get it out of the cover and to the boat with his spinning rod.

This one will certainly cull if they manage to land this fish.

Got it! Stewart and Joiner land the fish and eye it up for a cull.

âYou think it wanted that?â- Nick Joiner, probably.
Joiner shows cameraman Ben Oliver how well that bass ate his bait. That is certainly a good problem to have when a bass wants your bait so much it gets it good.

Time to whip out the culling beam to ensure that the correct fish is culled and that every ounce possible goes back to the scales for them later in the day.

This is evidence of the severe high water that has graced this area, which is the reason the Bassmaster Open on the Atchafalaya was rescheduled for the fall. Those are pretty fresh marks on the tree.

After catching seven keepers at their first stop, they head to another area.

They pull into a narrow canal with trees, grass and a couple docks.

Joiner throws a frog in the thick cover to try and entice a Louisiana largemouth into biting.

After switching to a spinning rod, Joiner hooks upâ¦

But this fish is of the tiny variety and will not help the cause at the moment. That fish went back in the water to grow for another day.

They reached the back of the canal and then turn around to head to their next spot.

At their next spot there is a spectator waiting for them. But after getting to close the spectator pelican decides to head out.

Pelicans are some enormous birdsâ¦

Moments later, Joiner hooks up with another bass.

Joiner swings this one in the boat after it chomped on his Senko.

He eyes up this bass to see if it could help them by a few ounces.

Nearby was the team of Tyler Woods and Robert Tweed from Stephen F. Austin University.

They were plugging away with just two keepers in the livewell. They eventually weighed-in four fish for almost eight pounds. They barely missed the cut and finished 28th.

Stewart and Joiner pass by them and begin to pick apart the cover that Woods and Tweed just fished.

No takers so the ULM duo are headed to another area. They ran a couple miles to another canal that they hoped to upgrade in.

Stewart hooks up with a keeper.

This one starts to ski across the waterâ¦

Until it makes one last fight at the boat in hopes of coming offâ¦

Stewart keeps it buttoned up and Joiner nets the fish. This was their 10th fish of the day. Plenty of numbers so far for this team.

Stewart cant help but laugh at the small size of the fish. It is nothing like the size of their Day 1 bag, but with a 4+ pound lead they didnât really have to catch them really good to possibly maintain their lead.

This one doesnât help them, but they are getting bit so that is a positive on Day 2.

Stewart takes a moment to retie before casting into the thick cover again.

He hooks up soon after retying and Joiner heads for the net.

Their 11th fish of the day is another keeper and it could possibly cull for them. Every cull is important in tournament fishing, no matter how small.

Stewart thought it was much bigger than that, but he will take the keeper and make a small cull.

He guesses the weight of the fish and compares it to others in the livewell.

Time to confirm what he believes and put them on the beam. He is correct, a decent cull for the moment.

An armadillo runs through the woods nearby and causes quite a commotion. Enough to make us think there was a deer running around, but nope it was just a small armadillo.

Stewart and Joiner continue to fish down the bank and look to improve their total weight.

There are so many targets to hit on the Atchafalaya Basin and with every turn you could face a different kind of cover. Some canals are filled with grass, while others feature a ton of cypress trees like this one.

After picking apart the cover, Stewart thinks its time to move on and we do to. Time for us to head back to weigh-in and see how it plays out at the scales. The duo maintained their four-pound lead after weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces and they have a decent cushion heading into the final frame of this tournament.