Wolak & Team Stumble
Jordon's Team 20 Sticks 76-08 To Lead

Photo: BassFan Kelly Jordon's team walloped a massive 76 1/2 pounds today.

Smith and Vick, who fished together in the morning session, combined for 39-04. Then Jordon and Walker lopped 37-04 on top of that for a 2-day total of 122-12. Notable is that both Jordon and Vick are Lake Fork experts, and Vick is presently a full-time guide on the lake.

The biggest "down" was delivered by Team 10, which includes captain Dave Wolak, plus Mike McClelland, Terry Segraves and Travis Rulle. The team led after day 1, but combined for just 4-08 today and fell to finish well outside the Top 5 cut at 10th.

Team 8, which is composed of captain Terry Scroggins plus Russ Lane, Shaw Grigsby and Craig Dowling, began and ended the day in 2nd. Scroggins is the defending champion captain, and the team's stout 44-pound total today kept them well in contention. They're currently just 7-12 off the lead pace.

Here's a summary of some of the other movements today:

> Team 16 (Morgenthaler): 6th to 3rd
> Team 9 (Bobby Lane): 5th to 4th
> Team 17 (Iaconelli): 7th to 5th
> Team 3 (Hartley): 3rd to 8th
> Team 11 (Kriet): 4th to 6th

As noted, only the Top 5 teams advance to fish tomorrow. And the format does change. All the anglers on the Top 5 teams will fish both sessions tomorrow, which means a team can weigh (score) a total of 40 bass.

That makes things especially wide-open. Remember that Scroggins and his team caught 119 pounds last year on the final day to smoke the field.

Here's a look at the Top 5 teams, with total weight followed by distance from lead team in red.

1. Team 20 (Jordon): 31, 122-12
2. Team 8 (Scroggins): 34, 115-00 (7-12)
3. Team 16 (Morganthaler): 30, 101-04 (20-14)
4. Team 9 (Lane): 20, 97-12 (25-00)
5. Team 17 (Iaconelli): 22, 92-08 (30-04)

The most significant wildcard right now is the spawn. Today was post-frontal – hot and sunny – and the moon has arrived. Most in the field expect a major spawning wave to come in overnight.

If that happens, it's a good bet that Jordon and Vick will be able to find them the quickest.

But don't forget that Scroggins and Grigsby are two of the best sight-fishermen in the game.

Team 20: Jordon Anticipates Bedders

Jordon summed up his team's 76 1/2-pound performance in a single sentence: "We caught what we needed to catch."

But he thinks the team will need to catch more than that tomorrow – at least 100 pounds – to win.

"We could have done a little better," he added. "But the fishing's tough. We've just had crazy weather. We're fishing to try to catch the better average fish we know how to catch. It worked today, and I was kind of surprised, with it being as tough as it is. But it got us to 1st place."

He noted his team repeated its strategy from yesterday. They're fishing both shallow and deep, but they're not on the bank. Although Jordon has been looking at some fish. His biggest yesterday afternoon, a 6-pound male, came from a bed. And he's ready for the gates to bust open tomorrow.

"The major spawn hasn't happened on the lower half of the lake at all. The big ones have not come up. There's got to be some big ones on the bank tomorrow. But there's going to be so much that's going to happen tomorrow, we're still trying to strategize to see what we can do to stay in there and make the right moves at the right times.

"It's going to be really dynamic tomorrow," he added. "You won't know until you get out there, but we'll go with what we've got and see if that's working, then change real quick if it's not. We know it's a different day tomorrow, and it's warm enough that the big fish should be coming in."

He emphasized how difficult it is to change within the 4-hour sessions. "People really don't understand that 4 hours is nothing," he said, especially because Fork isn't known as a numbers lake. Due to the slot limit, it's filled with big fish that are "very educated."

"To catch all those fish in 4 hours during this time of year - the transition time – you wind up just trying to hurry up and slow down and fish," he said.

Photo: BassFan Can Terry Scroggins repeat as a champion captain? 'Absolutely,' he said.

Scroggins sees the tournament as dead-even right now. The fact that he and his teammates caught 119 pounds on day 3 last year makes his 7-12 disadvantage right now seem meaningless.

"I'm tickled to death to be where we're at," he said. "Last year we were 30 or 40 pounds behind going into the last day. So it's nothing, because the weights quadruple (on day 3)."

But he also noted: "On the downside, we're chasing Jordon and Vick, who know the lake better than anybody."

He'll keep the team setup the same tomorrow. He'll stick with Grigsby, while Russ Lane and Dowling will fish together. "The guys are used to fishing with each other," he said. "So instead of starting over, we'll keep it the way we've got it."

The plan this morning was for Lane and Dowling to hit the team's best spot, box a limit, then get out. They only caught eight though, and hung with the spot. Scroggins and Grigsby went there in the afternoon, and Scroggins said "it got tough. We couldn't get it done. We ran some new water, just kind of whacked away, and caught six fish for 18 pounds to keep ourselves in contention.

"We'll probably look at some fish tomorrow," he added. "Shaw's one of the best sight-fishermen in the world, and he can still see very well. The fish should be moving up, so we'll probably be looking at some tomorrow."

About whether he thinks he can captain his way to two consecutive TTBC victories, he said: "Absolutely. We've got a very good team, and we're working well together. Those other (Top 5) teams actually don't need to stumble at all. If we have two good sessions, we can absolutely win the event."

Team 6: Morgenthaler & Gang Offshore

Team 6 made up a lot of ground today – it improved three spots to make the cut in 3rd. And Morgenthaler, the captain, thinks tomorrow presents a huge opportunity to move up even more.

"I feel real good about where we are," he said. "We're a lot closer than we were last year."

He noted that the team did make some adjustments today, "because the fishing's changing every day," but they weren't wholesale changes. His team's still heavily focused on offshore stuff, but he and Matt Reed slipped up shallow and caught some bed-fish in the final 45 minutes.

His team's also focused on the fact that anything could happen tomorrow, given the all-day format.

"The whole key for tomorrow is the number of fish we get to weigh in," he said. "Both boats fish both sessions, so you can (score) 40 bass. That's huge, because if you remember last year, Alton (Jones) was leading by a tremendous amount, and then lost by a tremendous amount."

About his strategy, he said: "It was still for the most part offshore for us today. We did sight-fish a little, but it was a small adjustment. The timeframe just limits you so much.

"We're committed for the most part to staying deep. And I'm going to fish again with Matt tomorrow. We're keeping the teams the way they are."

Team 9: Improvement, But Not Enough

Captain Art Ferguson III and teammates Denny Brauer, David Curtis and John Gray began the day in 16th with 26-12, but a 57-pound day bumped them up to finish 9th.

"We came on strong, moved up from 16th to 9th, and finished in the better money," Ferguson said, who fished the afternoon with Brauer, when the duo sacked about 34 pounds. "The conditions got really right for what Denny and I were doing. We had some big fish in practice together, and when it seemed like everyone else's pattern fell apart, it couldn't have gotten any better for us.

"We were pitching jigs on trees in 8 to 14 feet of water," he added. "We were just covering a half-mile of water with little underwater points. It was bright and sunny and the winds died down. We were listening to the (tournament) radio, and nothing was going on in the afternoon. So it was fun being the ones who had something going."

About what he'll take away from the TTBC, Ferguson said: "It was a good experience. Anytime you can go to a no-entry-fee event and be with some of the best pros in the country and have a team deal – it's such an unusual structure that it's hard to put into words.

"For 4 hours, you have two control freaks who want to run the boat, which is what they're used to doing. It can become a real problem, or benefit if things work out. I got paired with Denny, and obviously he's not going to let me run the boat. When you get on a jig bite and Denny's in the boat, you have to bow down and humble yourself, because it's going to be hard to stop him."

Notable

> Jordon said that 18,000 people attended today's event. "They were turning people away. It's a great crowd, everybody's so fired up, and with the Toyota people making this possible, it's a win-win all the way around. And kudos to the FLW guys who stayed down here. We had a BASS event right on the tail end last year. It's a tough schedule. I just want to extend a big thanks to all those FLW guys who put in the extra effort to be here and be a part of this great event."

> Ferguson was one of those FLW pros who stuck around despite missing critical practice for the upcoming Norman FLW Tour in North Carolina. "Sean Hoernke's going to drive my rod, reel and tackle (to Norman)," Ferguson said. "I didn't even bring my boat. I flew in. I'm missing 2 days of practice over there, but at least I'm coming out of here with a Top 10. That motivates you a bit."

> BassFan noted in its run-up reporting that Team 4 (Kevin VanDam, Dave Lefebre, Paul Elias and Jimmy Mason) looked like a team to watch. Team 4, however, finished last with 11 fish for 24-08.

Weather Forecast

Here's the weather forecast for the final tournament day. For more weather information, including satellite and radar imagery, visit OutdoorsFanWeather.com.

> Sun., April 20 - Partly Cloudy - 81°/64°
- Wind: From the S at 13 mph

Day 2 Standings

1. Team 20 (Jordon, Smith, Vick, Walker) -- 31, 122-12

2. Team 8 (Scroggins, Dowling, Grigsby, Lane) -- 34, 115-00

3. Team 16 (Morganthaler, King, Penso, Reed) -- 30, 101-04

4. Team 9 (Lane, Brauer, Matsubu, Velvick) -- 20, 97-12

5. Team 17 (Iaconelli, Correia, Howell, Pace) -- 22, 92-08

6. Team 11 (Kriet, Niggemeyer, Rose, Short) -- 20, 87-08

7. Team 25 (Martens, Morris, Nixon, Pierce) -- 23, 86-04

8. Team 3 (Hartley, Crews Jr., Fralick, Tyler) -- 22, 82-08

9. Team 13 (Ferguson III, Brauer, Curtis, Gray) -- 24, 78-04

10. Team 10 (Wolak, McClelland, Rulle, Segraves) - 16, 76-12

11. Team 5 (Klein, Cook, Parsons, Schultz) -- 20, 73-00

12. Team 2 (Herren, Knight, Scheide, Sedgwick) -- 24, 72-08

13. Team 18 (Faircloth, Baksay, Grice, Remitz) -- 16, 67-00

14. Team 23 (Wirth, Dearman, Huckaby, Kennedy) -- 20, 63-12

15. Team 19 (Morgan , Hawkes, Thliveros, Thomas) -- 21, 62-12

15. Team 21 (Omori, Davis, Dudley, Green): 15, 62-12

17. Team 1 (Rojas, Blaukat, Chapman, Clausen) -- 23, 58-08

18. Team 26 (Hoernke, Daves, Mize, Ponds) -- 18, 57-00

19. Team 15 (Jones, Browning, Pruitt, Tucker) -- 15, 49-00

20. Team 24 (Biffle, Eaker, Reyes, Rowland) -- 12, 41-12

21. Team 12 (Chapman, Butcher, Campbell, Snowden) -- 11, 33-04

22. Team 7 (Quinn, Lytle, Miyazaki, Monroe) -- 11, 29-12

23. Team 6 (Wurm, Bailey Jr, Gluszek, Hanselman Jr.) -- 10, 26-0

23. Team 14 (Evers, Dove, Menendez, Reynolds) -- 12, 26-00

25. Team 22 (Horton, Auten, Dillard, Martin) -- 8, 25-04

26. Team 4 (VanDam, Elias, Lefebre, Mason) -- 11, 24-08