KVD Krushes 19-14 And Leads, Reese Now 2nd

In another show of total, utter power, Kevin VanDam (aka "The Krusher") unleashed his trademark dose of fishing cruelty.

He caught a 19-14 super-sack from ever-changing Lay Lake in Alabama, and moved all the way up from 19th to lead the Bassmaster Classic with 1 day left to fish.

He weighed exactly what day-1 leader Boyd Duckett weighed yesterday, and it pushed his 2-day total to 32-15.

It was a day built for VanDam. Swarms of largemouths are cruising the banks, and the larger females are slowly arriving, but reports say he's a little off the bank, moving fast with power-baits for staging fish.

That may or may not be true, but it's a fact that he fished faster today than he did yesterday, because the fish allowed it. And when that type of bite's on, he's untouchable.

Day 1 leader Duckett, from nearby Demopolis, failed to duplicate his largemouth sack from day 1. He weighed just 10-15 (vs. 19-14 yesterday), and fell to 4th with 30-13.

Instead, Skeet Reese moved into the No. 2 position. His 14-14 limit, caught up the river, bumped his 2-day total to 32-06 and moved him up one spot from yesterday.

Terry "Big Show" Scroggins also moved up (in his case, two spots) doing what he does best – flipping. His 13-15 bag wasn't a head-turner, but this Classic is coming down to averages, and along with his 17-00 yesterday, he now trails the leader by exactly 2 pounds.

Alabaman Tim Horton is still circling in the wings. On the second cast of the day, he caught two spots on an Xcalibur lipless crank, to the tune of 7 pounds. His bag settled out at 12-06, and dropped him one spot to 5th.

Gary Klein was a mover today. He finally connected with the quality he'd seen in practice and pieced together 17-05 (the day's second-best limit), which moved him up from 30th to 6th. He trails VanDam by a little more than 4 pounds.

Steve Kennedy caught 16-07 today and moved up from 25th to 6th.

Tommy Biffle's river bite is dying, and he dropped from 6th to 8th with 11-11 today. He also said there was a problem with encroachment, and accused Reese of starting on his spot (more on that below).

Terry McWilliams, a Federation qualifier, is still hanging out there as a giant wildcard. He caught 12-04 today, and dropped two spots to 9th.

Randy Howell rounds out the Top 10. His river bite's dying too, and with a mild 9-09 today, he fell from 2nd to 10th.

Here's how the Top 10 settles out, with total weights followed by distance from leader in red.

1. Kevin VanDam: 32-15
2. Skeet Reese: 32-06 (0-09)
3. Terry Scroggins: 30-15 (2-00)
4. Boyd Duckett: 30-13 (2-02)
5. Timmy Horton: 29-11 (3-04)
6. Gary Klein: 28-11 (4-04)
7. Steve Kennedy: 28-09 (4-06)
8. Tommy Biffle: 28-06 (4-09)
9. Terry McWilliams: 27-13 (5-02)
10. Randy Howell: 27-08 (5-07)

Gerald Swindle had his day-2 weight DQd for unsafe boating. An initial report was published in Dock Talk (click here to read it). Further comments from Swindle can be found below.

The field cuts to the Top 25 after today for the final day of competition tomorrow.

Factor Analysis

Largemouths were definitely the biggest factor today. That's how VanDam moved up. Scroggins too. And Klein.

So largemouths can move you big-time, but they're highly unpredictable this week at Lay. Today was largemouth weather – cloudy, mild, with some good wind – and that loosened the fish up. But thunderstorms are due to roll through tonight, with 20 mph winds residing through tomorrow.

That might help the largemouth bite, or it could hurt it. But based on the first 2 days, it's very difficult to repeat a weight with largemouths.

The rain could also help the river bite, which was way off today. The biggest problem in the river was boat traffic – it's muddying the banks the same as it has in past Classics.

But in truth, boat traffic's a problem all over. There are a lot of locals on the water – both fishing and watching – and more than a few in the Top 10 had to fish around people on their best spots.

The winning pace right now is 16 1/2 pounds a day. With the weights so close – and Reese within ounces of VanDam – tomorrow's an anybody/everybody scenario.

Yes, the lake bite looks like it's going to win – specifically, the moving bite vs. the flipping bite – but if rain kicks the turbines into gear, the river could become red-hot.

It's a good, old-fashioned pony race – the way a Classic should be.

VanDam Deals out the Hurt

When KVD lopped his 19-14 sack up on the scales, the entire field shuddered.

Either he was mad, or just that darn good, but every BassFan knows he's never truly out of it.

He's won two Bassmaster Classics, and is currently the No. 1 ranked angler in the BassFan World Rankings presented by Tru-Tungsten.

His stunning limit is a mystery at this point. He confirmed that he made some adjustments after yesterday, based on something he'd found late in the afternoon. What's scary is he could have weighed a lot more, and that tomorrow, conditions might be even better for his pattern.

"I knew I was pretty far behind, and I wanted to catch up as much as I could," he said. "I just wish I had more.

"I had a chance for the day to be unbelievable. But you can't get them all."

His bag was all largemouths today, although he's catching the occasional spot. It included two 5-pounders, but he lost a 6-pounder, which hurt him.

"All you can ask for at the Classic is to be going into the final day with a shot," he added.

Also notable is that he has a significant head cold. He's on antibiotics, so he feels it won't get any worse.

2nd: Reese a Little Lighter

Reese went back up the river and caught another solid bag, although it was more than 2 1/2 pounds lighter than his day-1 haul.

"There were some clouds and a little bit of wind, and I think that made the biggest difference," he said. "I've been keying on wood, and the sun positions those fish better. Without any sun, it was a little bit different."

He went to that spot on day 1 primarily because he didn't find a reliable offshore bite during practice. He feels that good fortune has helped get him into this position, and he had sort of a devil-may-care attitude toward the final day of the sport's biggest event.

He caught nine keepers today, and the biggest was a 3-pounder.

"I didn't have anything in the first place, so I have no choice but to go back there," he said. "I'm already ahead of the game.

"There's some other stuff around there that hasn't been touched that looks pretty prime, so I'll explore some of that tomorrow.

"What caliber of fish are in there, I really don't know. I don't know if I can catch a limit or if I can catch 20 pounds."

3rd: Scroggins Buckles Down

Scroggins used several techniques to catch his day-1 bag. His fish were a lot pickier today, so he had to rely on his strong suit – flipping.

"I started out this morning and I couldn't catch the spots, so at about 10:00 I started flipping and I did that the rest of the day," he said.

He ended up with nine or 10 keepers, and the biggest was about 4 pounds. His bag was comprised entirely of largemouths.

"I'm really disappointed in those spotted bass. I thought I could get 12 or 14 pounds of them and then go flip, but it didn't happen."

He would've preferred to have the sun again and hopes to get it tomorrow.

"I can do without the wind, too. It wasn't a good weather day, and if it's the same way tomorrow, I'll probably have to do something different."

For the second straight year, he'll go into the final day of the Classic with a chance to win. The Floridian ended up 4th last year at Toho when he was the hometown favorite.

"It just boils down to who catches them on the last day. Right now, it's anybody's ball game."

4th: Duckett Cranked

Duckett weighed an 8-pounder yesterday, but didn't connect with size today and weighed a little less than 11 pounds. He flipped for a long time without a bite, but that's sort of how the flipping bite's been – on one day, off the next.

"I went out and caught a limit cranking that weighed about 10 pounds, then went flipping and never got a bite," he said. "Or I should say, I never hooked a fish. I had a few short-strikes.

"Then I went back out and cranked a little more. I caught a few more and culled 2 or 3 ounces at a time."

Overall, he said he was disappointed with his weight. "I've been getting two or three big bites flipping each day, but you have to pour the time into it. I got two bites today and missed them both. I don't know what happened."

About how tomorrow will go down, he said: "The guys in the river – I think their stuff will go away. There won't be current. I don't know what the weather will do to the lake, but I think it'll be won out of the lake."

About the boat traffic, he said: "I had a lot of boats with me. And I had quite a few short strikes on my crankbait, and those two flipping. I don't know if that's boat traffic or weather.

"It's cool (to have the fans), but when you get ready to move or leave, several times today there were boats where I was going to fish next. I appreciate the fan base and want them to be there. They don't know where to be either. I'm not very good at handling boat traffic, but I learned a lot today.

"Tomorrow, I'll do something different. I plan to fish down the bank and try to keep the boat traffic behind me."

He's just 2 pounds behind VanDam – a small margin for Lay – and he's counting on his flipping bites to win. He thinks if he gets two or three flipping bites, and converts, it'll be enough to win. He also thinks he can catch 17 pounds cranking, which might be enough too.

"For doing what I do here at Lay Lake, 16 or 17 pounds is usually a normal bag."

5th: Horton Starts with Bang

Horton couldn't have dreamed up a much better start to his day – he had 7 pounds in the livewell after his first two casts.

Actually, all of that weight came on the second cast, as he hung a 3 1/2-pound spotted bass on each treble hook of his lipless crank. That accounted for more than half of his total for the day, but his deficit is less than the weight of one of those fish.

He was on the move for much of the day again. He's tried for 2 days to find a way to catch kicker largemouths, but that's eluded him thus far.

"The largemouths have been disappointing. I'm catching the size and amount of spots that I expected to, but I just don't know about the largemouth bite.

"I haven't really tried the lower end of the lake yet, so I might do that tomorrow."

He hopes to get some nasty weather for the final day.

"If it storms, you could pull into a place and find the fish turned on. Anything can happen, and anybody in the Top 5 or 6 could catch a 7- or 8-pounder and win.

"It's going to be a lot more fun than if I was back somewhere around 20th place."

6th: Klein Climbs

Gary Klein had suffered a disappointing day 1 with just 11-08, but he whacked 17-05 today and moved up 24 spots. He said he's starting to get dialed in on something good.

"Yesterday, I had two missed opportunities. I should have had about 13 1/2 or 14 pounds. I wish I had that right now, but I'll take what I have.

"Everything I'm catching is on a jig," he added. "It's a prototype football head I'm developing for Spro. I fished exactly the same way today as yesterday, but there's one area where I think I went over some fish. I turned around, settled down on it for an hour and had 13 pounds after 45 minutes."

After about 10:00, that pattern goes away, but it's his key deal.

"It's flipping – these are fish are moving shallow. Tomorrow, I'll fish for what I can. This is the Bassmaster Classic, and everybody wants to win. I do too. But I also know that I want to maximize my day, and not overfish.

"If I catch 11 pounds, that's what it's going to be. Kevin will be hard to beat, especially if it's overcast and windy."

7th: Kennedy Reversed

Steve Kennedy, another Alabaman, was sort of like Klein, in that his day 1 was a disappointment, but he rebounded big-time.

"I had a blast," Kennedy said. "I fished the same places, but the timing was different. Yesterday I went fishing for largemouths early and caught one fish in 3 hours. Then I went fishing for spots and it took me 2 or 3 hours to get a limit.

"Today I went for spots early and caught 12 or 15 off one spot. It was every cast, but it took a long time to get them in, because I'd have to get back up in the wind and set up for the next cast.

"With a limit, I had all day to really settle down."

He's 4 pounds behind VanDam, and said he'd be surprised to win. "I'd need a 6- or 8-pounder to be in the game."

8th: Biffle's Bite Dying

So far, Biffle's had two rocky starts. The morning of day 1, he blew a motor. The service crew got him up and running quickly, but he lost a few minutes of fishing time.

Today, he reached his river spot after a long sun and said he found Skeet Reese on his starting spot.

Biffle weighed 11-11 today (vs. 16-11 yesterday) and now trails the leader by 4 1/2 pounds.

"The boat traffic I think is killing it," he said. "I knew that going in, but it was the best thing I had going.

"I'm disappointed. I thought I could catch 15 to 18 pounds every day.

"Skeet started on my first spot this morning, and I'm a little hacked at him," he added. "Yesterday morning, he started a mile up, and fished down to where I was. This morning, he was sitting on my first waypoint."

He said yes, he considered it an encroachment. "I'm going to tell him about it when I see him," he added. "But I'll go back to the same spot tomorrow. The fish are up there to win. The water has to be right, and the boat traffic has to be right.

"If I can catch 20 pounds, I think I can win it."

BassFan asked Reese about Biffle's accusation. Reese said: "I fished the whole bank yesterday. He fished the whole bank. We just took turns."

9th: McWilliams a Wildcard

Federation qualifier Terry McWilliams, from Indiana, is the angler no one's talking about, but should be. He's under the radar in a big way right now, which could be crucial tomorrow, since he won't have as many boats on him.

That alone could be a deciding factor in the event.

With 12-04 today and 27-13 total, he trails VanDam by 5-02.

"I had a limit by 8:30, but my fish just quit," he said. "The bite should have gotten better. We had cloud cover, wind, and everything in the book says that's supposed to help.

"When my fish quit, I tried everything to trigger them. The baitfish are thick against the bank. If you move against the bank, the bait move out and the fish come up. I did that and had a 3 1/2-pounder busting shad. I couldn't make him eat."

He did get a few bites after 8:30, but they didn't help.

He noted: "Yesterday, I left that spot when they were still biting, to save it for today. Today, they left me. Hopefully tomorrow, both of us will hang in there, and I'll come in with a big limit.

"I still think I can win this thing with a couple of big bites," he added. "With the Lord on your side, anything's possible. I'm a Christian, and I believe all things happen for a reason. I'm here for a reason. If He has a win in mind for me, that's the reason I'm here."

10th: Howell Struggled

Randy Howell's river bite wasn't nearly as good as on day 1 and the Alabaman dropped eight places in the stadnings. His 9-09 bag was just a little more than half of his first-day weight (17-15) and it contained only four fish.

"It wasn't good," he said. "I lost a couple of fish I had on and I had several more bites.

"The water dropped, and I think turned the fish off some, and there was a lot of boat traffic. I'm not blaming that for me not catching them, but those fish don't like a lot of noise and traffic."

He knows he's a longshot to win now, staring at a 5 1/2-pound deficit with nine anglers ahead of him."

"I'm a little disappointed because I was looking forward to having a good chance at winning in front of my home crowd."

11th: Ish Still in It

Ish Monroe continued to fish for largemouths today and kept himself within 6 pounds of the lead. He thinks he's got a puncher's chance to win tomorrow.

"I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, and sooner or later I'm going to get one or two big bites," he said. "This is one tournament where if somebody in the Top 15 goes out swinging a catches a couple of 5-pounders, all of a sudden, they're right there."

He caught his best fish on a spinnerbait yesterday, but flipped up his entire 12-05 bag today. His biggest fish was a 3-pounder.

"The spinnerbait bite shut down today, but I was able to catch them flipping. It was just the opposite of yesterday."

He'll fish for nothing except big bites on day 3.

"If I do catch an 8-pounder, then I'm right back in the game. The area I'm fishing has thick, heavy cover and it's got laydowns and deep grass holes. It's just the kind of place that should have some big ones in it."

12th: Wirth Happy

Kevin Wirth is catching his fish "all different ways," one of which is finesse. He didn't get any big bites today, and weighed 12-08 for a 2-day total of 27-01.

"I'm happy," he said. "I haven't had any quality bites – big quality – but I probably caught 30 to 40 keepers today.

"I'm running a lot of different stuff," he added. "On one main pattern, I get a number of bites. And then on a couple of the other deals, I can run and look for them. On the place I started today, I'd never fished it before. I saw it, it looked about right, and in two casts I caught one."

He weighed one largemouth today and four spots, and doesn't think he's out of it.

"Tomorrow, I'm just going fishing. I don't think it would take a 25-pound bag to win. It's so hard to duplicate those quality bags. If I catch a 20-pound bag, it might be all good. I might be able to catch 17 or 18 pounds and win too."

13th: Martens Misfired Early

Aaron Martens would have done better than 13-02 today if he hadn't missed six of his first nine bites.

"I should have had 16 or 17," he said. "I lost three that definitely would have helped me, and one was a 4 1/2-pounder. I also had one break off on a jig."

He caught eight keepers and his bag was headed by a 3 1/2-pounder. He fished for spotted bass on day 1 and caught almost all largemouths, and he went for largemouths on day 2 and came back with nothing but spots.

"I caught all of those spots flipping docks and brushpiles in the backs of creeks."

Little has gone as planned for him, so he's not sure what he can catch tomorrow.

"It's always tougher on Sunday, so I don't know what to predict."

14th: McClelland Slowed Down

Mike McClelland fished a lot of the same areas as day 1, but adjusted his pace. The move resulted in a 14-03 bag that was nearly 2 pounds better than his first-day catch.

"I focused on the places where I really thought I needed to be fishing, and I slowed down and fished them throroughly," he said. "I had one good largemouth bite today, and that helped matters."

That was a 3 3/4-pounder. The remainder of his sack consisted of spots between 2 and 3 pounds, and all five were enticed by a stickbait.

He thinks he can have a strong final day.

"I'm really not fishing areas – I'm just running a pattern. If I get the right conditions, then I think I can fish points and secondary points and catch them pretty good."

15th: Ike in Holding Pattern

Mike Iaconelli's 11-06 bag was a little more than 2 pounds lighter than the one he caught the previous day, but he said the events unfolded in similar fashion.

"It was almost the same day," he said. "I caught 25 to 30 keepers, but I still haven't caught anything over 3 1/2 pounds.

"I'm plagued by small fish here. I don't know what to do to get a big bite, and I don't know how I can catch 50 keepers in 2 days and never get one over 4 pounds."

He said he'll definitely alter his gameplan for day 3.

"I've got one place where I can catch some spots pretty quick. After that, I'll run all new stuff with big baits and shoot for the moon.

"Nobody remembers who comes in 2nd in this tournament."

16th: Jones Will Change Completely

Alton Jones started the day in 23rd with 12-06, but caught 12-03 today and moved up to 16th.

"Even during practice, I wasn't catching big strings, so tomorrow is going to be a completely different type of day," he said. "I'll literally use it as a practice day, and go in search of a big sack.

"There's probably a very low-percentage change that I'll find it, but it's obvious that to continue what I've been doing would be giving up. There's one thing I can promise you – I'll give God my very best from start to finish in this event.

"I'm going to be trying to figure something out all day."

17th: Wurm's Size Down

If Mike Wurm had day 2 to do over again, he'd gamble a little more. He caught 10-08 and made the cut with ease, but he's 8 1/2 pounds out of the lead.

"I think I got into some tunnel vision, where I was too focused on making the cut instead of trying to catch big fish," he said. "I might have fished a little too conservatively."

Each of his fish today was right around the 2-pound mark. He had four spots and a largemouth in his bag.

His bag was 3 1/2 pounds lighter than the one he caught the first day.

"Yesterday I got lucky and caught five nice ones, but today I didn't get those. The bigger fish didn't show up for me today."

18th: Rojas Faced Different Day

Dean Rojas caught 30 keepers today, but nothing of note. He's in an area with 4-pounders – he can see them cruising in packs – but they're not eating.

He limit settled out at 11-03, which was 2 pounds less than he caught yesterday, but he started and ended the day in the same position.

"Something needs to change tomorrow for the bigger ones to bite," he said. "It just wasn't happening. It was a totally different day from yesterday and I had to adjust."

Both days, he caught a finesse limit, then went looking for bigger fish. Today, he decided that was a waste of time and stuck with finesse.

"My weight wasn't that great, but the potential's there. The water's 57 to 58 degrees, and I can see groups of four or five fish – 4-pounders – swimming."

19th: Lintner Moves On

Jared Lintner feared he'd missed the cut after catching a 10-pound limit on day 2 (down 4-06 from day 1), but he made it with more than 2 pounds to spare.

"It was pretty disappointing," he said. "I was just pitching a jig to shallow rocks, docks and wood and I was getting plenty of bites. But for some reason, they weren't eating it good."

He had one scenario play out that he'd never seen before.

"I pitched to a dock and the line went slack, so I set the hook. Nothing.

"When I got back, only the jig itself was left. There was no skirt, no trailer, no nothing."

45th: Swindle Tells his Side

BassFan spoke with Swindle about an hour after the Alabama angler had his day-2 weight disqualified for unsafe boating. He said he made a split-second decision to run through the gap between the camera boat that was filming Howell and a group of other boats.

In a video posted on the BASS site, Swindle can be seen driving between two boats in the river while on pad.

"Randy waved me on, and at that exact moment I did what I thought was best for me to get out of Randy's way. According to (BASS tournament director Trip Weldon), that wasn't the decision I should have made.

"I'm not saying that I'm right – if I was wrong, then I was wrong. But at that split-second, I trusted my ability as a professional boat driver. All I can do is apologize to my fans and to my family."

He said he couldn't have gone around "the flotilla" because of the shallow water and rocks on that side, and that coming down off plane and idling through didn't occur to him. He said if he'd done that, he would have sent more wake in Howell's direction because he'd have been traveling against the current.

He used a baseball analogy to convey his opinion that he was in control of the situation.

"If you stand up to the plate and see a John Smoltz fastball, then it's going to look fast. But to Rafael Furcal, it's just going to look like another pitch.

"To me, that was just another pitch."

Howell confirmed that he signaled for Swindle to come through the gap.

"I really didn't think it was that big of a deal," Howell said. "He had to think on the fly and make a judgment call. As professional fishermen and professional boat drivers, we do that kind of thing all the time.

"A lot of us would have done the same thing, and I feel bad that it had to come down to this."

However, in the video, Howell can be heard saying, "He shouldn't have done that."

Swindle had caught a 5-pounder with just a minute of fishing time remaining and had about 12 1/2 pounds on day 2. Combined with his 14-10 bag from the first day, he would have been inside the Top 15.

"Like I said, if I was wrong, then I was wrong, but is what I did worth taking away all my dreams? It wasn't like I tried to win this thing by cheating."

BASS had Swindle weigh his fish onstage. Emcee Keith Allen proceeded as normal – presumably with the knowledge that Swindle had been DQd.

Swindle put his fish on the scales, then told the crowd he'd been DQd. There were many boos directed at Weldon, and some off-color yells from the crowd in Swindle's support.

Swindle was broken up onstage – he cried at times – and received a standing ovation from his home-state crowd.

Notable

> Day 2 stats – 50 anglers, 39 limits (7 less than yesterday), 4 fours, 4 threes, 1 two, 2 ones, no zeroes.

> VanDam won the Classic in 2001 and 2005. He's won BASS Angler of the Year (AOY) three times and FLW AOY once. He's been ranked No. 1 in the world for the majority of the time since the Rankings were established.

> To read a recent BassFan story about VanDam, in which friends, family and others speak about what makes him such a great competitor, click here.

> Reese, who's currently 2nd, is ranked 8th in the world. Eight of the Top 10 anglers in the world are fishing this Classic, and five of them made the Top 25 cut today.

> Four Alabamans are currently in the Top 10 (Duckett, Horton, Kennedy and Howell). Both Kennedy and Howell are transplants.

> Only once has a Federation angler won the Classic (Bryan Kerchal in 1994).

> Greg Hackney, who finished 30th, continues to struggle at the Classic. "It crushes me emotionally, just because it's never been a very good tournament for me," he said. "Last year was my best finish (19th). At all the rest, I've been 30-something. I can't explain it."

> BassFan Big Stick John Murray caught just 7-11 today and dropped two places to 39th. To read his report, click here to go On Tour With The BassFan Big Sticks.

Weather Forecast

Here's the Weather Channel's forecast for the final tournament day.

> Sun, Feb. 25 – Partly Cloudy/Wind – 64°/38°
- Wind: From the west/southwest at 21 mph

Day 2 Standings

1. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, MI -- 10, 32-15
Day 1: 5, 13-01 -- 2: 5, 19-14

2. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, CA -- 10, 32-06
Day 1: 5, 17-08 -- 2: 5, 14-14

3. Terry Scroggins -- Palatka, FL -- 10, 30-15
Day 1: 5, 17-00 -- 2: 5, 13-15

4. Boyd Duckett -- Demopolis, AL -- 10, 30-13
Day 1: 5, 19-14 -- 2: 5, 10-15

5. Timmy Horton -- Muscle Shoals, AL -- 10, 29-11
Day 1: 5, 17-05 -- 2: 5, 12-06

6. Gary Klein -- Weatherford, TX -- 10, 28-11
Day 1: 5, 11-06 -- 2: 5, 17-05

7. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 10, 28-09
Day 1: 5, 12-02 -- 2: 5, 16-07

8. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, OK -- 10, 28-06
Day 1: 5, 16-11 -- 2: 5, 11-11

9. Terry McWilliams -- Greenfield, IN -- 10, 27-13
Day 1: 5, 15-09 -- 2: 5, 12-04

10. Randy Howell -- Springville, AL -- 9, 27-08
Day 1: 5, 17-15 -- 2: 4, 09-09

11. Ishama Monroe -- Hughson, CA -- 10, 27-05
Day 1: 5, 15-00 -- 2: 5, 12-05

12. Kevin Wirth -- Crestwood, KY -- 10, 27-01
Day 1: 5, 14-09 -- 2: 5, 12-08

13. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, AL -- 10, 26-15
Day 1: 5, 13-13 -- 2: 5, 13-02

14. Mike McClelland -- Bella Vista, AR -- 10, 26-08
Day 1: 5, 12-05 -- 2: 5, 14-03

15. Michael Iaconelli -- Runnemede, NJ -- 10, 24-15
Day 1: 5, 13-09 -- 2: 5, 11-06

16. Alton Jones -- Waco, TX -- 10, 24-09
Day 1: 5, 12-06 -- 2: 5, 12-03

17. Mike Wurm -- Hot Springs, AR -- 10, 24-08
Day 1: 5, 14-00 -- 2: 5, 10-08

18. Dean Rojas -- Lake Havasu, AZ -- 10, 24-07
Day 1: 5, 13-04 -- 2: 5, 11-03

19. Jared Lintner -- Arroyo Grande, CA -- 10, 24-06
Day 1: 5, 14-06 -- 2: 5, 10-00

20. Jeff Kriet -- Ardmore, OK -- 10, 24-00
Day 1: 5, 12-10 -- 2: 5, 11-06

21. James Niggemeyer -- Lindale, TX -- 10, 23-15
Day 1: 5, 13-07 -- 2: 5, 10-08

21. Jason Quinn -- York, SC -- 10, 23-15
Day 1: 5, 11-00 -- 2: 5, 12-15

23. Royce Dennington -- Barnsdall, OK -- 10, 23-12
Day 1: 5, 09-15 -- 2: 5, 13-13

24. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, TX -- 10, 23-00
Day 1: 5, 11-12 -- 2: 5, 11-04

25. Russ Lane -- Prattville, AL -- 10, 22-07
Day 1: 5, 13-13 -- 2: 5, 08-10

The following anglers didn't make the cut and won't be fishing tomorrow:

26. Tom Hamlin -- Lizella, GA -- 10, 22-05 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 09-09 -- 2: 5, 12-12

27. Jeff Reynolds -- PLATTER, OK -- 10, 22-01 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 10-11 -- 2: 5, 11-06

28. James Charlesworth -- Saint Cloud, FL -- 10, 21-10 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-07 -- 2: 5, 09-03

29. Shigeru Tsukiyama -- Tokyo JAPAN -- 10, 21-09 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 10-01 -- 2: 5, 11-08

30. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 10, 21-06 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-02 -- 2: 5, 10-04

31. Edwin Evers -- Talala, OK -- 9, 21-05 -- $10,000
Day 1: 4, 09-14 -- 2: 5, 11-07

32. Lee Bailey -- Boaz, AL -- 10, 20-15 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-11 -- 2: 5, 09-04

33. Bill Lowen -- North Bend, OH -- 10, 20-10 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 09-14 -- 2: 5, 10-12

34. Derek Remitz -- Hemphill, TX -- 10, 20-08 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 09-04 -- 2: 5, 11-04

35. John Crews -- Salem, VA -- 9, 19-15 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-00 -- 2: 4, 08-15

36. Takahiro Omori -- Emory, TX -- 10, 19-11 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 10-10 -- 2: 5, 09-01

37. Peter E Thliveros -- Jacksonville, FL -- 10, 19-02 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 10-15 -- 2: 5, 08-03

38. Rick Clunn -- Ava, MO -- 10, 19-01 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 09-06 -- 2: 5, 09-11

39. John Murray -- Phoenix, AZ -- 10, 17-14 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 10-03 -- 2: 5, 07-11

40. Kevin Waterman -- Laplata, MD -- 8, 17-12 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-14 -- 2: 3, 05-14

41. Mark Tucker -- Saint Louis, MO -- 9, 17-10 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-10 -- 2: 4, 06-00

42. Zell Rowland -- Montgomery, TX -- 8, 17-04 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-09 -- 2: 3, 04-11

43. Matt Reed -- Madisonville, TX -- 6, 16-09 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-15 -- 2: 1, 02-10

44. Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, TX -- 8, 16-05 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 09-08 -- 2: 3, 06-13

45. Gerald Swindle -- Warrioir, AL -- 10, 14-10 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-10 -- 2: 5, 00-00

46. Chris Novack -- Willington, CT -- 10, 13-14 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 07-02 -- 2: 5, 06-12

47. Denny Brauer -- Camdenton, MO -- 8, 13-13 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 08-03 -- 2: 3, 05-10

48. Sam Lashlee -- Camden, TN -- 6, 11-03 -- $10,000
Day 1: 2, 04-15 -- 2: 4, 06-04

49. Brent Long -- Catawba, NC -- 4, 09-00 -- $10,000
Day 1: 2, 04-14 -- 2: 2, 04-02

50. Russell Colwell -- Baltimore, MD -- 4, 07-07 -- $10,000
Day 1: 3, 06-08 -- 2: 1, 00-15

Big Bass

> Day 2 -- Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, MI -- 5-07 -- $1,000
> Day 1 -- Boyd Duckett -- Demopolis, AL -- 8-02 -- $1,000