Colson’s 5-14 Kicker Catapults Him Into Lead

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Ramie Colson Jr. has heard all the talk about how most of his competitors are burning up and down the banks of Lake Ouachita, trying to collide with five good bites per day. Colson is taking a different tack and so far, it’s working.

Of course, it always helps when you catch a 5-14 kicker on a lake where a 3-pounder right now is like a bar of gold. Colson tangled with his big fish – the biggest of the tournament so far – around 2:30 and took what would’ve been a solid 12- to 13-pound stringer and made it a tournament-best 17-14 bag that gave the Kentucky pro nearly a 3-pound lead entering the weekend.

Colson’s 31-01 total is way ahead of what many thought would be the winning pace, and he seemed confident that he’s in an area with a healthy population of fish that could last him 2 more days. Fishing brush piles has been his most productive technique so far.

“I’m just fishing the way I like to fish, which is slow,” he said. “I don’t like to cover a lot of water fast and everybody else is. That’s paying off for them, but that’s not my cup of tea. I try to spend my time going slow and catch a fish and then I move on to another spot.

“I told my partner after I had what I had that one big fish could be a game-changer for these next 2 days. The Good Lord blessed me and I caught that one and I get to fish another day.”

Brad Knight started the day less than 2 pounds out of the lead in 5th place, but he’ll go into day 3 in 2nd after bagging 14-00 for a 28-04 total so far. He’s sharing an area with Mark Daniels Jr., who also made the cut in 8th with 23-04.

Day-1 leader Jacob Wheeler didn’t have a kicker today, but his 10-15 kept him in hunt in 3rd with 27-01. Brandon Cobb slipped one spot to 4th with an 11-02 stringer to bolster his total to 25-12.

Chris Baumgardner is 5th with 25-10 after sacking 12-02. He’s one of three anglers to crack the 12-pound mark each of the first 2 days (Colson and Knight are the others).

Here's a look at the Top 10 after 2 days of competition, with deficit margin from Colson indicated by red numbers in parentheses:

1. Ramie Colson, Jr.: 31-01
2. Brad Knight: 28-04 (2-13)
3. Jacob Wheeler: 27-01 (4-00)
4. Brandon Cobb: 25-12 (5-05)
5. Chris Baumgardner: 25-10 (5-07)
6. Todd Auten: 24-13 (6-04)
7. Scott Martin: 24-09 (6-08)
8. Mark Daniels, Jr.: 23-04 (7-13)
9. David Dudley: 21-11 (9-06)
10. Bryan Thrift: 21-10 (9-07)

Todd Auten’s four-fish, 15-14 stringer trailed only Colson’s in size today and it carried him up 19 spots to 6th with 24-13. Several other veterans made double-digit jumps in the standings to qualify for the weekend, including David Dudley (21st to 9th), Dave Lefebre (26th to 14th), Larry Nixon (23rd to 12th) and Wesley Strader (29th to 18th).

Ish Monroe, who was in 2nd after day 1, weighed in two fish today for 4-12, but held onto 19th place and will compete Saturday.

John Cox dropped from 10th to 22nd after not catching a limit on either day. Matt Stefan fell from 11th to 24th with two fish for 4-15 and college champion Patrick Walters weighed just one today and slipped from 13th to 36th.

Andy Morgan’s five-year run of Top-20 cuts at the Cup came to an end with a 25th-place finish this week. The two-time Angler of the Year caught 16-10.

A thick layer of clouds and cooler, comfortable temperatures were persistent throughout the morning and early afternoon. Some felt their areas were unaffected by the lack of sunlight while others prefer it bright. Catching fish feeding on the surface either tight to the bank or in the middle of pockets continues to be one of the dominant tactics so far, but others are mixing in brush piles and standing timber.

Another front is expected to bring rain and potential thunderstorms to the area around the lake Saturday with temperatures approaching 90. The wind will be a light, southerly breeze.

Colson Sticking to his Strengths

> Day 2: 5, 17-14 (10, 31-01)

Colson said he tried to get a grass bite working in pre-practice, but eventually scratched it off his list of potential ways to fish this week.

“Like Andy (Morgan) said, that just gives them more places to hide,” Colson joked, “so I just stayed with what I know to do from home – fish slow.”

It’s been a solid game plan so far and contrasts the way many others have been fishing – with their trolling motors on high and speeding down the bank, looking for surface feeders. Colson said he’s been moving around in a big area that’s made up of three different arms or pockets. He sees no reason to go anywhere else.

“I’ll just stay in the same areas I’m in,” he said. “I feel like there are fish around all of the areas I found. You just have to be a little slower fishing what you’re fishing than what everybody else is.”

He caught 12 keepers today and caught them pretty steady after bagging a limit in the first 45 minutes. Garmin’s new Pantopix forward-shooting sonar has been a key element to his program this week as he’s able to be very efficient on which brush piles he chooses to fish.

“I’ll make eight or 10 casts at one brush pile,” he said. “I think the fish are there and you have to keep pulling it through there to get them to bite.”

He estimated he’s caught fish out of 15 piles so far and has 40 marked.

“I hit today what I didn’t hit yesterday and maybe overlapped one or two from yesterday,” he added.

2nd: Knight Sharing, But Satisfied

> Day 2: 5, 14-00 (10, 28-04)

Knight gets the award for most unique fish catch of the day. Shortly after cracking open a can of soda this morning, he hooked into a fish with a spinning rod. Rather than put the can down or drop it, he clenched the rim of the can between his teeth and played the fish – a 3-pounder – into the boat.

“When it’s going good, it’s going good,” he said. “I had a pretty good day. Not as good as yesterday, but still pretty decent. I’m happy with it.”

He’s shared the area he’s fishing with Daniels through 2 days and neither has any plans to abandon it any time soon. Both say their interaction has been cordial and respectful on the water.

“I feel like if I had it to myself, I could do alright,” Knight said.

His best fish on Thursday came on a topwater bait, but today’s better bites were off wood with a finesse technique.

“There’s a main creek channel flat and with the clouds out, the logs are better,” he said. “It’s weird. It’s like conventional wisdom is out the window. I’m just going with it. The thing is we could run out tomorrow. I think there are plenty in there and I think they’re replenishing. I think I can get some bites, but I don’t know if I can catch 13 or 14 again.”

3rd: Wheeler Had His Chances

> Day 2: 5, 10-15 (10, 27-01)

Wheeler didn’t miss many opportunities on day 1 and he wound up in the lead. Today, he had a multiple good fish come unbuttoned and the result was a backward slide on the leaderboard.

“The difference today was I didn’t capitalize on the bites I had,” he said. “I had four 3- to 4-pound fish bite me and I had them on and coming to the boat and they came off. It’s part of it. It was definitely frustrating. I have to go out with an open mind. You can’t control those things.”

The most important aspect of tomorrow will be tapping into an area that can kick out five keepers and execute on them.

“The biggest thing for me is trying to figure out how to catch a limit in the morning and let myself calm down and then go do what I love to do, which is run the bank and mix in some deep stuff,” he said. “I haven’t lived on the bank, but I’ll be running down a stretch and see an area and run over to graph it and maybe make a few casts.”

What’s been difficult to figure out, Wheeler added, is any kind of pattern for the schooling fish.

“I think they’re coming back out,” he said. “Two weeks ago, it was different. They were up there. And now we’re on the backside of the new moon and the bluegill are starting to leave. They’re starting to set up on places that aren’t bluegill spawn places. They’re getting on places that they would in the fall for shad.”

4th: No Big Ones For Cobb

> Day 2: 5, 11-02 (10, 25-12)

Cobb said he caught basically the same number of fish today, but the better quality fish that he saw Thursday did not show up today.

“I had two decent ones, but it seemed like more of a grind for me today,” he said. “I didn’t get bit on a lot of places where I thought I would. It’s definitely getting tougher, but the way the lake’s fishing some of those areas where it was tough to catch them, I might go catch a big one tomorrow.”

One of Cobb’s better fish from day 1 was caught deep and he tried to duplicate that success today, but came up empty. All of his weigh-in fish were caught shallow.

“I don’t know where the school went,” he said. “It was a big school, but I didn’t get any bites deep today.”

5th: Baumgardner Hoping for Sun

> Day 2: 5, 12-02 (10, 25-10)

This morning was a struggle for Baumgardner, who’s been covering water with topwater baits.

“I’m hanging in there so far,” he said as he tries to surpass his career-best Cup finish of 4th from 2008. “It’s getting a little tougher. I didn’t get any of my easy fish this morning so I had to grind them out one at a time.

“The shallow bite is pretty tough, but I was able to find one little area that was a little better than the rest of the areas. I have it all to myself, which is nice because there’s not a whole lot of water in there for two or three boats.”

When asked is he felt the cloudy conditions today impacted how he fished, he expressed his contempt for overcast skies.

“Clouds always screw me up,” he said. “I’d rather there be sunshine. That way I know where they’re at. When it gets cloudy, I struggle.”

6th: Fifth Proved Elusive for Auten

> Day 2: 4, 15-14 (9, 24-13)

Auten said he had a potential fifth keeper on his line on two different occasions today, but couldn’t get it to the boat.

“It was the same fish and it was a 2-pounder on a dropshot and I was like, ‘Oh well,’” he said.

He said he’s fishing a big area and trying to cover new water every day. A topwater and dropshot have been productive.

“Today, I hit a place that I hit yesterday and didn’t get a bite and went in there and caught two,” he said. “A lot of those fish are just cruising down the bank and they’ll find a little place and move up and if you get through there and your timing’s right, you’ll catch one. If not, I might go out tomorrow and not catch a fish.

Auten finished 6th in the 2011 Cup at Ouachita and says the lake is setting up very similar to 4 years ago.

“The fish aren’t really grouped up real good,” he said. “With the water being pulled down, I think they’re afraid to go to the bank. If it stabilizes, I think they’ll go there big time.”

8th: Daniels Still Confident

> Day 2: 5, 10-05 (10, 23-04)

Daniels is thrilled to have made the Top-20 cut, but his sights are set on Sunday.

“I want to make that Top 10, but you have to crawl before you walk so the Top 20 is good,” he said.

He jokingly asked if he and Knight could just share a boat Saturday since they’re fishing the same flat in the back of a creek. He said the situation has been professional and he’s confident the area will continue to produce for both of them.

“We talked three or four times during the day and it’s been total respect,” he said. “We haven’t had any issues. It’s so crazy because I never saw Brad one time in practice. Not only are we fishing the same area, but we’re fishing the same way. He’s just catching bigger fish than me.”

He went through 10 keeper bites today and a “ton of short fish” to get his weight.

“We’ve definitely put a dent in the area, but this afternoon I noticed they started schooling in there,” he added. “That just reinforced that there is a lot of fish in there and tons of bait. You have those schooling in the low-light, morning conditions and when the sun gets up, they start stetting up on the little stick ups.”

9th: Dudley Stalking Big Ones

> Day 2: 5, 11-12 (10, 21-11)

Dudley has averaged just under 11 pounds so far, but he doesn’t think the areas he’s fishing has anything other than cookie-cutter 2-pounders.

“I know in my heart I’m not on the fish it takes to win,” he said. “I don’t think there are any big ones where I’m at. What I’m doing, I’m not catching any big ones so I need to change up and go to a totally different area of the lake and try to catch some big ones.

“I have to do something different to catch big ones. I haven’t had a big bite in 5 days of fishing. I’m not doing the right thing to win, but I’m doing the right thing to be consistent. Tomorrow, I’m going to change up and try to do the right thing to win.”

10th: Plenty of Bites for Thrift

> Day 2: 5, 10-06 (10, 21-10)

Thrift is having no trouble catching fish. His problem arises when he tries to target bigger fish with a topwater bait. Today, he caught 30 keeper-sized fish.

“I’ve got a couple little places that have a lot of fish, but there’s a lot of small fish in there, too,” he noted. “Everything I’ve weighed in have come off those places and each day I’ve weighed in a couple 2-pounders.

“That was my game plan was to find a limit hole and then fish shallow and throw a topwater all day to catch a big one. Everything has gone according to plan except for getting big bites on a topwater.”

He’s hopeful the law of averages will swing in his favor Saturday as he looks to close the gap on Colson.

“After covering like 47 miles of shoreline in two days on my trolling motor, you’d think I’d run into one,” he said. “It’s not like I’m running the same places with a topwater. I’m just fishing stuff I didn’t fish in practice because I’m trying to luck into them.”

11th: Clausen’s Bites Have Been Random

> Day 2: 4, 8-07 (9, 21-08)

Luke Clausen slipped out of the Top 10 with four fish today as he’s still trying to figure out the rhyme and reason to what makes the shallow fish eat at Ouachita.

“It’s been different from what I expected,” he said. “It’s been a lot of running around and not knowing where you’re going to get a bite. I’m not getting enough bites to have anything figured out. It’s been a lot of flailing down banks and hoping something jumps on it and pulls back.”

He plans to change things up Saturday and possibly add a crankbait to his bait rotation.

“I have a couple brush piles that I’ve fished, but otherwise I’m dedicated to the bank,” he said. “I’m probably going to try cranking a little bit just for something different.

“Every thing I’ve caught has been on the surface, but it’s like throwing a dart at a wall. They’re not around bream beds and when you do catch one, you think, ‘Ok, maybe they’re on these steeper banks leading into pockets. Then the next bite you get is in the very back of a flat pocket. It’s really all over the board for me.”

15th: Late Mishap Costs Birge

> Day 2: 5, 9-11 (10, 20-09)

Zack Birge made the Top-20 cut in his first Cup, but he could’ve been in much better shape weight-wise had he landed a 5-pounder that ate his topwater bait late in the day.

“I had my five and I was hunting big fish,” he said. “I went into my favorite little cut and made about 10 casts. I get to the back of the pocket and made a long cast and started bringing it out. It ran by a big tree and when it did a giant came up and missed it. I twitched it again and the fish came back up and ate it again so I set the hook and just as I bowed up, the knot slipped. I caught fish on that same knot earlier. I’m glad I didn’t have a camera guy with me because I said some words I shouldn’t have.”

Overall, he said the fishing’s been slower than expected due to the lack of quality bites.

“I’m happy with how I did, but I’d still like to have some of those quality bites,” he added.

He said once the sun started to burn through the clouds, he made a move, but it didn’t lead to much of anything.

“I started getting nervous so I started running around before all of the clouds disappeared and I could never get the same bite going that I had yesterday afternoon,” he said. “I went back to my big-fish deal, but only got one bite doing that.”

19th: Struggle for Monroe

> Day 2: 2, 4-12 (7, 19-12)

Monroe is part of the topwater brigade, but that tactic slowed way down for him today. He missed several fish and had a couple others come off on their way to the boat.

“I had one big one that came unglued on the bait and it just sat there,” he said. “I ran up to a different spot and caught one a swimbait and thought that maybe that would be it and it just didn’t happen.”

He caught one on a walking bait and his other keeper was caught on the swimbait out of brush.

“I know boat pressure gets to these fish a little bit and that’s what I think happened today along with the cloud cover, which I thought would make it better,” he added.

Notable

> Day 2 stats – 50 anglers, 28 limits (1 fewer than Thursday), 3 fours, 7 threes, 9 twos, 2 ones, 1 zero.

> Sunny Hawk, son of Cup qualifier Roy Hawk, captured the co-angler title with a 19-11 total over 2 days to claim the $50,000 top prize. Co-anglers will not compete at the 2016 Cup.

Weather Forecast

> Sat., Aug. 22 – Scattered Showers/Thunderstorms - 90°/69°
- Wind: From the S at 5 to 10 mph

> Sun., Aug. 23 – Scattered Showers/Thunderstorms - 91°/66°
- Wind: From the WNW at 7 to 12 mph

Day 2 Standings

1. Ramie Colson Jr -- Cadiz, Ky -- 13-3 (5) -- 17-14 (5) -- 31-1 (10)

2. Brad Knight -- Lancing, Tn -- 14-4 (5) -- 14-0 (5) -- 28-4 (10)

3. Jacob Wheeler -- Indianapolis, In -- 16-2 (5) -- 10-15 (5) -- 27-1 (10)

4. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 14-10 (5) -- 11-2 (5) -- 25-12 (10)

5. Chris Baumgardner -- Gastonia, NC -- 13-8 (5) -- 12-2 (5) -- 25-10 (10)

6. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 8-15 (5) -- 15-14 (4) -- 24-13 (9)

7. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 14-6 (5) -- 10-3 (5) -- 24-9 (10)

8. Mark Daniels Jr -- Tuskegee, Al -- 12-15 (5) -- 10-5 (5) -- 23-4 (10)

9. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 9-15 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 21-11 (10)

10. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 11-4 (5) -- 10-6 (5) -- 21-10 (10)

11. Luke Clausen -- Spokane, Wa -- 13-1 (5) -- 8-7 (4) -- 21-8 (9)

12. Larry Nixon -- Bee Branch, Ar -- 9-5 (5) -- 12-2 (5) -- 21-7 (10)

13. Zack Birge -- Blanchard, Ok -- 10-14 (5) -- 9-11 (5) -- 20-9 (10)

14. Dave Lefebre -- Erie, Pa -- 8-14 (5) -- 11-8 (5) -- 20-6 (10)

15. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 10-4 (5) -- 9-13 (5) -- 20-1 (10)

16. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, Ar -- 10-9 (5) -- 9-7 (5) -- 20-0 (10)

17. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx -- 10-10 (5) -- 9-5 (4) -- 19-15 (9)

18. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 8-8 (5) -- 11-5 (5) -- 19-13 (10)

19. Ishama Monroe -- Hughson, Ca -- 15-0 (5) -- 4-12 (2) -- 19-12 (7)

20. James Biggs -- Euless, Tx -- 10-1 (4) -- 9-3 (5) -- 19-4 (9)

The following anglers missed the cut and will not fish on day 3.

21. Chris McCall -- Brookeland, Tx -- 11-8 (5) -- 7-10 (5) -- 19-2 (10) -- $10,000

22. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 12-0 (4) -- 6-4 (3) -- 18-4 (7) -- $10,000

23. Anthony Gagliardi -- Prosperity, SC -- 9-9 (5) -- 7-11 (5) -- 17-4 (10) -- $10,000

24. Matthew Stefan -- Junction City, Wi -- 11-12 (5) -- 4-15 (2) -- 16-11 (7) -- $10,000

25. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 10-5 (4) -- 6-5 (3) -- 16-10 (7) -- $10,000

26. Scott Canterbury -- Springville, Al -- 8-12 (5) -- 7-13 (5) -- 16-9 (10) -- $10,000

27. Adrian Avena -- Vineland, NJ -- 9-0 (5) -- 7-0 (5) -- 16-0 (10) -- $10,000

28. Shane Lehew -- Mooresville, NC -- 6-6 (3) -- 9-9 (5) -- 15-15 (8) -- $10,000

29. Michael Neal -- Dayton, Tn -- 6-2 (2) -- 9-7 (5) -- 15-9 (7) -- $10,000

30. Jay Yelas -- Corvallis, Or -- 6-14 (5) -- 8-7 (5) -- 15-5 (10) -- $10,000

31. Cody Meyer -- Auburn, Ca -- 8-6 (5) -- 6-7 (3) -- 14-13 (8) -- $10,000

32. Clent Davis -- Montevallo, Al -- 7-10 (5) -- 6-10 (5) -- 14-4 (10) -- $10,000

33. Scott Wiley -- Bay Minette, Al -- 5-1 (3) -- 9-1 (5) -- 14-2 (8) -- $10,000

34. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 4-10 (2) -- 8-5 (5) -- 12-15 (7) -- $10,000

35. Richard Peek -- Centre, Al -- 4-14 (3) -- 7-11 (5) -- 12-9 (8) -- $10,000

36. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- 11-4 (5) -- 1-3 (1) -- 12-7 (6) -- $10,000

37. Roy Hawk -- Lake Havasu City, Az -- 8-13 (5) -- 2-13 (2) -- 11-10 (7) -- $10,000

38. Tracy Adams -- Wilkesboro, NC -- 1-14 (1) -- 9-9 (5) -- 11-7 (6) -- $10,000

39. Jason Reyes -- Huffman, Tx -- 4-5 (3) -- 6-6 (3) -- 10-11 (6) -- $10,000

40. Clark Reehm -- Huntington, Tx -- 6-8 (3) -- 2-12 (2) -- 9-4 (5) -- $10,000

41. Shad Schenck -- Waynetown, In -- 2-5 (2) -- 6-5 (3) -- 8-10 (5) -- $10,000

42. Darrell Davis -- Dover, Fl -- 5-8 (2) -- 2-15 (2) -- 8-7 (4) -- $10,000

43. Jason Meninger -- Gainesville, Ga -- 4-0 (2) -- 3-15 (3) -- 7-15 (5) -- $10,000

44. Curtis Richardson -- Belleville, On -- 2-2 (1) -- 5-11 (2) -- 7-13 (3) -- $10,000

45. Shawn Gordon -- Russellville, Ar -- 6-5 (3) -- 1-2 (1) -- 7-7 (4) -- $10,000

46. Troy Morrow -- Eastanollee, Ga -- 4-3 (3) -- 3-4 (3) -- 7-7 (6) -- $10,000

47. Peter Thliveros -- Saint Augustine, Fl -- 4-14 (3) -- 2-7 (2) -- 7-5 (5) -- $10,000

48. Casey Gallagher -- Pulaski, Wi -- 4-2 (2) -- 2-12 (2) -- 6-14 (4) -- $10,000

49. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 3-5 (2) -- 3-2 (2) -- 6-7 (4) -- $10,000

50. George Kapiton -- Inverness, Fl -- 0-0 (0) -- 0-0 (0) -- 0-0 (0) -- $10,000