FLW Tour stalwart Wesley Strader took the lead Friday at the Kissimmee Chain Bassmaster Southern Open in Florida with a 15-11 stringer that gave him a 2-day total of 37-04. He'll take a 2 1/2-pound lead over Eric Panzironi into the final day.
“I just have been kind of winging it the whole time,” Strader said. “I seem to do better when I can wing it, just go fishing and not have any preconceived notions of what I'm going to do.”
On Thursday, Strader went to a spot where he expected to catch just keeper-size bass to complete his limit, but the spot produced heavyweight bass for him. Friday, the Spring City, Tenn., angler caught about a 10-pound limit from that spot. Because he knew he had enough weight to make the Top 12 cut, he decided to try another place he found in practice.
After arriving at the new spot, Strader's co-angler threw a “Hail Mary” out into the middle of the lake and caught a quality bass.
“So I threw out there and caught a big one,” he said. “Then I threw out there and caught another big one.
“I kind of figured something out there at the end of the day, so maybe it will pay off tomorrow. It seems like the later in the day it gets, the better the bite gets because Florida bass like it hot. So I could see as the water temperature got up to that 62 to 64 degrees, the fish started getting a little more aggressive.”
Winter Springs Bassmasters club member Panzironi celebrated his son Landen’s 7th birthday today by catching a 16-13 limit that moved him into 2nd place with 34-12.
“It just all came together,” said the 36-year old swimming pool maintenance man. “I found a spot that was holding fish and I caught a limit early and then got a couple of big bites."
“I went to the same exact spot (as Thursday), and I made about 10 casts and caught a decent one,” Panzironi said. “From there on I got a couple more. Then I caught a big one and that was pretty much it. I didn’t cull too much, maybe once or twice, but that was it.”
Brad Knight, the reigning Forrest Wood Cup champion who led after day 1, caught a stringer that weighed just 7-10 and dropped to 11th place.
Here are the totals for the 12 anglers who advanced to the final day:
1. Wesley Strader: 37-04
2. Eric Panzironi: 34-12
3. Cody Detweiler: 34-11
4. Chad Morgenthaler: 34-04
5. Jason Williamson: 33-05
6. Stetson Blaylock: 32-15
7. Kazuki Kitajima: 32-06
8. Mark Rose: 32-02
9. Terry Scroggins: 31-09
10. Ish Monroe: 31-07
11. Brad Knight: 30-05
12. Bobby Lane: 28-15
