Coulter Wins Group B After Topping 50 Pounds Again

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Brandon Coulter felt like he'd burned up all of his offshore fish during two days on the water at the Lake Fork MLF Bass Pro Tour. That's irrelevant, since he won't need to catch any more from that particular impoundment.

The Tennesseean logged 11 fish for 52-06 in his second qualifying round to top the Group B standings and advance directly to Wednesday's Championship Round at nearby Lake Athens. He'll be joined by Group A winner Mark Daniels Jr. and the eight competitors who survive Tuesday's Knockout Round, which will consist of 38 anglers.

Coulter's haul was the biggest of the day as he surpassed the 50-pound barrier for the second time in the event. Running a cranking program away from the bank, he caught three fish that exceeded 5 pounds – and 8-01 bruiser in the first 2 1/2-hour period, a 5-07 in the second and a 7-02 in the third.

It'll be just his second appearance in the Championship Round – he was the 5th-place finisher last year at Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. He's finished 70th or below five times, including the previous event at Lake Okeechobee (71st).

He relied on two different crankbaits – one that reached a depth of about 10 feet and another that ran to 16.

"It was a fun two days, but I'm exhausted," he said. "Somehow I was blessed enough to come out on top. I thought I'd catch some fish, but I wasn't expecting to do what I did."

Justin Atkins ended up 2nd with 98-01 (47-01 on 11 fish or the day). After that, there was nearly 20 pounds of separation down to 3rd-place Wesley Strader (78-02).

Michael Neal, who led the group after the initial day, dropped to 4th with 77-06 in the wake of a six-fish, 20-06 haul. Jacob Powroznik, the winner of the previous event at Lake Eufaula, completed the top 5 with 68-06.

The lower half of the top 10 consisted of James Watson (65-11), Dustin Connell (64-15), Bryan Thrift (64-00), Todd Faircloth (62-01) and Brent Chapman (61-05).

Group B continued to lag behind Group A in terms of overall weight. Randy Howell grabbed the 20th-place cut position with 50-10 a day after Aaron Martens claimed the same slot for Group A with 69-00.

After 4 days of competition, the field has worked its way through a substantial number of visible bedding fish, but more seem to be moving in as the tournament progresses. Also, Coulter has proven that looking at spawners isn't the only way to rack up big numbers.

Mike Iaconelli (18th with 54-09) and Anthony Gagliardi (19th, 51-08) both sat outside the top 20 with less than 20 minutes remaining, but each got a big bite that allowed him to advance to the Knockout Round. Iaconelli caught a 7-13 – a fish that snapped his rod in half on the hookset – and Gagliardi boated a 6-01.

Angler of the Year points leader Jacob Wheeler was hovering around the cut line at the end of the day, but ended up 22nd. Kelly Jordon, fishing his home lake, was 6th after the group's first round, but managed just a single scoreable fish today and plummeted to 24th.

Connell, who started the day in the place that Jordon finished and made a 17-place jump, caught the biggest fish of the day – a 9-pounder.

Atkins managed just three fish in the first period, but they combined to weigh 18-14. The trio consisted of an 8-04, a 5-15 and a 4-10.

Final Group B Qualifying

1. Brandon Coulter -- 14, 56-00 -- 11, 52-06 -- 25, 108-06

2. Justin Atkins -- 9, 51-00 -- 11, 47-01 -- 20, 98-01

3. Wesley Strader -- 14, 43-03 -- 12, 34-15 -- 26, 78-02

4. Michael Neal -- 16, 57-00 -- 6, 20-06 -- 22, 77-06

5. Jacob Powroznik -- 11, 36-04 -- 9, 32-02 -- 20, 68-06

6. James Watson -- 14, 49-12 -- 5, 15-14 -- 19, 65-10

7. Dustin Connell -- 8, 24-01 -- 10, 40-14 -- 18, 64-15

8. Bryan Thrift -- 11, 38-14 -- 8, 25-02 -- 19, 64-00

9. Todd Faircloth -- 10, 39-08 -- 7, 22-09 -- 17, 62-01

10. Brent Chapman -- 10, 37-09 -- 7, 23-12 -- 17, 61-05

11. Edwin Evers -- 8, 26-09 -- 9, 32-13 -- 17, 59-06

12. Casey Ashley -- 11, 35-02 -- 7, 24-00 -- 18, 59-02

13. Alton Jones Jr. -- 8, 31-05 -- 6, 27-03 -- 14, 58-08

14. Jordan Lee -- 6, 19-12 -- 10, 38-08 -- 16, 58-04

15. Jared Lintner -- 7, 23-15 -- 9, 32-11 -- 16, 56-10

16. Shaw Grigsby -- 10, 34-05 -- 6, 21-04 -- 16, 55-09

17. Zack Birge -- 9, 30-13 -- 7, 24-04 -- 16, 55-01

18. Mike Iaconelli -- 5, 17-06 -- 9, 37-03 -- 14, 54-09

19. Anthony Gagliardi -- 8, 27-13 -- 7, 23-11 -- 15, 51-08

20. Randy Howell -- 8, 33-14 -- 6, 16-12 -- 14, 50-10

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Knockout Round.

21. Dave Lefebre -- 10, 36-00 -- 3, 12-10 -- 13, 48-10

22. Jacob Wheeler -- 10, 32-08 -- 6, 14-11 -- 16, 47-03

23. Kevin VanDam -- 12, 39-12 -- 2, 6-12 -- 14, 46-08

24. Kelly Jordon -- 13, 42-00 -- 1, 3-10 -- 14, 45-10

25. Marty Robinson -- 6, 17-05 -- 7, 22-15 -- 13, 40-04

26. Gary Klein -- 5, 21-12 -- 5, 14-04 -- 10, 36-00

27. Gerald Spohrer -- 6, 21-02 -- 4, 13-06 -- 10, 34-08

28. Matt Lee -- 7, 22-09 -- 3, 10-11 -- 10, 33-04

29. Fred Roumbanis -- 8, 28-01 -- 2, 5-01 -- 10, 33-02

30. Brent Ehrler -- 8, 23-12 -- 4, 9-05 -- 12, 33-01

31. Dean Rojas -- 7, 22-05 -- 2, 9-05 -- 9, 31-10

32. Scott Suggs -- 2, 5-14 -- 9, 24-11 -- 11, 30-09

33. Mike McClelland -- 7, 24-08 -- 2, 5-08 -- 9, 30-00

34. Boyd Duckett -- 6, 26-03 -- 1, 2-05 -- 7, 28-08

35. Cliff Pace -- 1, 2-02 -- 8, 23-00 -- 9, 25-02

36. John Murray -- 5, 16-05 -- 3, 8-03 -- 8, 24-08

37. Justin Lucas -- 5, 15-11 -- 3, 7-07 -- 8, 23-02

38. Roy Hawk -- 2, 12-12 -- 2, 7-12 -- 4, 20-08

39. Jesse Wiggins -- 3, 14-01 -- 1, 2-16 -- 4, 17-01

40. Cliff Crochet -- 3, 8-04 -- 1, 2-11 -- 4, 10-15