By BassFan Staff
Two anglers have averaged more than 15 pounds a day through the first 2 days of the Forrest Wood Cup. One is the youngest angler in the field with a seemingly limitless future ahead of him, and the other is a man more than twice the youngster's age whose past accomplishments include every major milestone in the sport – with the notable exception of a victory in this tournament.
Jacob Wheeler, the 21-year-old from Indiana, held onto his lead at the midway point of FLW's signature event with an 11-12 sack today from Georgia's Lake Lanier, pushing his 2-day total to 33-11. He has a 3-03 edge over savvy veteran Jay Yelas, who boxed a day-best 18-04 to move up 9 places in the standings and assume the No. 2 slot.
The two are sharing some water far up the Chattahoochee River – about as far as a boat can travel in that direction. Each has pulled some massive largemouths from the area, and those fish have provided them a bit of a cushion over the remainder of a tightly packed leaderboard.
Defending Cup champion Scott Martin caught 14-11 today (2 ounces more than he brought to the scale on day 1) and moved up three places to 3rd with a 29-04 total. Scott Canterbury, who was 2nd after day 1, dropped 2 positions as his weight fell off more than 4 pounds to 12-07 for a 29-00 aggregate.
Dion Hibdon, another former Cup winner, is tied with Canterbury after bringing in a 14-01 bag today.
Here's a look at the totals for the current Top 10, with red numbers in parentheses indicating deficit margin from the leader:
1. Jacob Wheeler: 33-11
2. Jay Yelas: 30-08 (3-03)
3. Scott Martin: 29-04 (4-07)
4. (tie) Scott Canterbury: 29-00 (4-11)
4. (tie) Dion Hibdon: 29-00 (4-11)
6. Bryan Thrift: 27-07 (6-04)
7. Cody Bird: 27-02 (6-09)
8. Andy Morgan: 25-06 (8-05)
9. (tie) David Dudley: 24-05 (9-06)
9. (tie) Troy Morrow: 24-05 (9-06)
Wheeler, the 2011 BFL All-American champion, brought in just a single largemouth today after weighing all greenbacks on day 1. His bag was barely more than half the size of the one he'd caught the previous day, but it was enough to keep him in front by what amounts to one quality bite at spotted bass-laden Lanier.
It was Yelas who weighed the bruiser largemouths today – his sack was topped by a 6-pounder. The Oregonian, who's won the Bassmaster Classic along with Angler of the Year (AOY) titles on both major circuits, would complete pro bass fishing's grand slam with a victory this weekend.
In addition to Yelas, newcomers to the Top 10 were the ever-steady Morgan (15th to 8th with 14-04 today) and Troy Morrow (17th to 10th, 13-06). The latter is a resident of nearby Eastonollee, Ga. with a wealth of experience on the venue.
Going the other direction were Cody Meyer (3rd to 13th with 8-12 today) Dan Morehead (9th to 11th, 11-02) and Luke Clausen (10th to 12th, 11-14).
One of the big questions now is whether the Chattahoochee largemouth bite is capable of producing one or more big sacks on the weekend. If not, both leaders have proven themselves capable of catching quality spots.
Wheeler did manage a couple keepers this morning while fishing skinny water in the Chattahoochee River.
The 20 anglers still in the hunt for the title (the original 46-angler field was cut to that number after today's weigh-in) will be confronted by the standard weekend crowds at "Atlanta's Playground." That may actually help some of the contenders who are fishing offshore, as several have mentioned that a bit of turbulence seems to fire up the deep fish at times.
The weather forecast for tomorrow calls for mostly cloudy skies with a high temperature of 84 degrees and a north/northwest breeze to 6 mph. The field will be reduced to the Top 10 following the weigh-in.
Spots Carried Wheeler Today
> Day 2: 5, 11-12 (10, 33-11)
Wheeler spent the whole day again picking apart shallow wood and rocky shoreline cover well up the Chattahoochee River. The largemouth didn’t fire for him the way they did on day 1 as he wound up weighing four spots and just one green fish.
If the largemouth bite in the remote stretch of water he’s fishing doesn’t produce on day 3, he may be forced to turn to water he hasn’t looked at since at least Tuesday.
“I definitely have some fish down lake, but I haven’t been down there,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m saving them, I just haven’t ran to them. Who knows, they might not even be there because so many people have been fishing shallow areas that I don’t know what’s been hit and what’s not.
“I’m probably going to start up north and then decide what I’m going to do.”
Still, he’s relishing the position he’s in – leading at the halfway point of one of the sport’s major events just a few weeks shy of his 22nd birthday. A win this week would make him the youngest Cup champ ever, surpassing Michael Bennett, who won it in 2008 at the age of 24.
“You really can’t comprehend what’s happening right now,” he said. “It’s like when I won the All-American – you don’t realize what’s happening during that moment at all. You look back and you’re like, ‘Wow, look at what just happened.’ Right now, you’re just in the moment and you’re fishing and that’s all you have to worry about. It’s really hard with all the distractions with the Forrest Wood Cup. You’re thinking about the money, you’re thinking about the Cup, you’re thinking about the prestige and you’re thinking about what it means. You have to worry about the fish. That’s all you have to worry about.”
His key baits have been a Trigger-X Flippin Tube as well as a Rapala X-Rap Prop topwater bait. He added that when things got tough today, he’d glance down to his console where he’d taped a note his sister had given him. It read, “Give 100 percent and believe in the Lord.”
“When I’d get down, I’d look at my console and it calmed me down,” he said. “I thought about it – I was giving 100 percent and believed I could do it. Every time I looked at it, it calmed me down.”
The tighter leaderboard isn’t a concern of his at this point. His main focus is getting a solid limit and then looking for some difference-maker bites.
“I didn’t actually run a lot of water (today),” he said. “I was more worried about making sure I caught five and being consistent. Yesterday, I caught them early so I could gamble a lot. Today, if I’d have gambled and didn’t hit I couldn’t do that. In the position I’m in, you have to be careful with a lead like that. You can’t be too safe and go catch 9 or 10 pounds. It’ll mess you up.
“If I can get a 14- or 16-pound bag, I feel like it’ll give me enough umph to where I might only need to catch 11 the last day.”
2nd: Yelas' Move Shallow Paid Off
> Day 2: 5, 18-04 (10, 30-8)
It’s decision time for Yelas. Does he go back to his day-1 fish in the mid-lake or head back to where he roused up some shallow-water largemouth on day 2? He said he’d sleep on it and decide in the morning. Either way, he’s confident that possibly a combination of both will help him close the gap on Wheeler.
“The upriver fish are bigger, but there aren’t as many,” he said. “Down the lake, there’s a lot of fish, but you’re not going to catch a 6-pounder like I did today. That’s the $500,000 question – do you go after those big ones or do you play it safe? Yesterday, I had a real conservative first day. I wanted to get my timing down on those main-lake fish and I did, but I only had 12 pounds. Today, I wanted to do something different so I went up the river and flipped all day.”
Whichever he decides to do, his window of opportunity tends to slam shut around 1 p.m. as that’s been about the time his fish show little interest in feeding.
Jay Yelas had a superb day doing what he does best – flipping shallow water structure.
“I’ve got to go back and try for those big ones some, but I’m not going to just go up there and die,” he said. “I only caught six keepers today fishing for those big largemouths. It may be a 1-2 punch that’s highly effective. That could work. The fish down the lake are over with pretty much by 1 p.m. so I’ve got about 6 hours to make it all happen from takeoff to check-in.”
While other anglers are fishing spots more in the main lake or around the mouths of creeks, he was tucked away today well up the Chattahoochee. The areas he and Wheeler were fishing weren’t even registering on the GPS units in some media boats. Spectator traffic tomorrow could be an issue in such a remote locale where the fish tend to spook easily in water that’s no deeper than 2 to 3 feet in many spots and rogue stumps lurk just beneath the surface.
“Where I’m fishing, we’re so far up river you can’t get on plane. I’m not worried about boat traffic up there. The spot down the lake maybe a little because sometimes the fish come up schooling a little bit and a lot of boats run over the top of them and it keeps the (baitfish) down and keeps them down. The boat traffic could make it tougher over the weekend. Everything changes during the second half.”
3rd: Martin Confident at Halfway Mark
> Day 2: 5, 14-11 (10, 29-04)
Despite bringing in another 14-plus pound stringer, Martin feels that in order for him to have a legitimate shot at defending his Cup title, he’s going to need a couple more bags in the 15- to 16-pound range.
“I need to step it up tomorrow,” he said. “I think Jacob Wheeler is going to keep catching good bags and I think Jay Yelas is going to keep catching good bags and I need to keep catching good bags.
“What I visualized for this tournament was consistency winning this one. So far, through 2 days, I’ve been pretty consistent. We’re halfway through this thing and there’s a lot of ball game to be played.”
He isn’t concerned about the anticipated increase in boat traffic on the weekend and its potential impact on the places he’s fishing.
“I think it might even help it,” he added.
He’s caught fish from the shoreline out to 40 feet deep and is constantly making on-the-water adjustments.
Seeing what Wheeler was able to accomplish on day 1 didn’t intimidate him. To the contrary, it energized him to think that kind of weight was possible at a lake many thought would max out around 17 or 18 pounds a day.
“It gave me encouragement that there can be a 20-pound bag caught,” he said. “I’m liable to catch a 20-pound bag the last day. How awesome would that be?”
He noted the areas where the fish tend to school up might produce better with added sun penetration, which is possible tomorrow after mostly cloudy day 2 conditions.
“It’ll help them school up more since they can see the bait better,” he added.
4th (tie): Canterbury Unsure What’s Next
> Day 2: 5, 12-07 (10, 29-00)
Canterbury is accustomed to catching feisty spotted bass back home in Alabama, but nothing compares, he says, to the brute strength displayed by the spots that inhabit Lanier’s depths. He was able to overpower four of them, including a couple bruisers, to keep himself in contention for the win.
“It was a real grind out there,” he said. “I had five keeper bites all day. I was blessed to catch another one of those big ones.
“These spots are so strong. I’m used to catching strong spots from the Coosa River, but the difference is we catch them on 20-pound line and a flipping stick. These fish are stronger than the smallmouth you catch up north. They may give up after you get them up where a smallmouth won’t, but these are the strongest fish I’ve ever caught on a spinning rod for sure.”
He’s dropshotting with a variety of baits and has the segment of the water column dialed in that will get him the most bites. He’s more concerned now with how to trigger the better fish to eat. His stringer today was made up of four spots and a 2-pound largemouth. However, if he can't entice the better spots to react, he may have to target largemouths.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I think I’m going to need to catch a couple largemouth to have a shot at winning, though,” he said. “I’m around some good fish. I just need to keep it in there where those big ones are at and hopefully get two or three of those bites. It was so tough today that I don’t know if I need to make a change.”
4th (tie): Hibdon Done with Dropshot
> Day 2: 5, 14-01 (10, 29-00)
In Hibdon’s mind, there’s a simple reason behind why the shallow-water bite has suddenly become the dominant theme for this event.
“The largemouth have come back,” he said. “The neat thing about it is because they’re coming back, for a couple years everybody’s gotten used to in the summertime getting out there and looking at their depthfinders and getting over those Kentuckys. I think a lot of the locals have quit on them and don’t mess with them so bad.
“We show up and we don’t think about that. We fish for what we think is going to win and 99 percent of us don’t have any preconceived notions when we show up at a lake, especially the old-timers. I don’t want help from anybody else. I don’t want to hear what the locals have to say. I don’t care. If you give me 5 or 6 days on any body of water, I’m going to figure something out.”
It took him all of 10 minutes today to figure out that dropshotting wasn’t going to work for him. Instead, he went to the shallow-water pattern his son, Lawson, helped him uncover in pre-practice. He handled about 10 keepers, he said, and noted that very little changed in the way he fished.
“I had a good day today,” he said. “I had a very fortunate day. I only lost one. It was a good one. That’s pretty lucky doing what I’m doing. I’m tickled to be in the hunt.”
Initially, he had planned to bypass the area that produced a 4- and 6-pounder for him on day 1, but it was close enough to where he was fishing that it was worth at least another peek on day 2.
“I didn’t think they’d replenish, and I caught six more,” he said. “Very seldom do we hit an area like that and then go back and catch them again the next day. It’s crazy to think I might go back there again tomorrow.”
6th: Thrift Moved In
> Day 2: 5, 13-11 (10, 27-07)
The weight of Thrift's bag was within an ounce of his day-1 haul, but it was compiled in a completely different manner. After bringing in five fish from deep water the previous day, he caught everything from less than a foot of water today.
A pair of 4-pound-plus largemouths dominated his bag. He also weighed a much smaller largemouth and two puny spots.
His primary weapons were a propbait and a Damiki topwater.
"They were just stupid fish up shallow," he said. "I only caught six keepers all day, and I only had three for about 3 1/2 pounds at 1:00.
"The possibility's there to catch a giant bag – I saw seven or eight 4-pounders swimming around, but they wouldn't bite. I was very fortunate to catch those two big ones."
7th: Bird Shut Out in Morning
> Day 2: 5, 12-07 (10, 27-02)
Bird put together an impressive afternoon flurry to remain in the Top 10, finishing with three largemouths and a pair of spots.
“I was so spun out at noon and I was praying I’d get that afternoon bite and I did,” he said.
The spots where he is fishing, though, are pretty sensitive to boat traffic and he’s quite concerned that if he has a number of spectator boats on him tomorrow, it could spook the fish or at least muddy the water to the point that it’s unfishable.
“This morning, there was quite a bit of boat traffic,” he said. “Some of the water I’m fishing is real skinny and there’s just not any room for traffic. You don’t want to tell them to leave, but it kind of messes the fishing up. They started scattering later on and I ran to several different places. My best place had muddied up so bad I couldn’t even fish it.”
In some spots, however, a little bit of stain can actually help the bite.
“I was a little concerned about it yesterday because it’s been raining so hard,” he said. “It’s been a little muddy and that’s what makes them bite, but it was the color of the (red carpet on stage). I went in there and made about three casts and didn’t want to waste a bunch of time in there so I turned around and went back to my other area which is where the leaders are fishing. I just fished around until I finally figured it out.”
8th: Morgan Kicking Himself
> Day 2: 5, 14-04 (10, 25-06)
Seeing that the largemouth bite seems to be a legitimate player this week, Morgan wishes he had devoted some more practice time to dialing in a green-fish strategy. Still, the Tennessee pro improved on his day-1 weight by 3-plus pounds to move into the Top 10.
“I didn’t practice but for 4 fours for largemouth,” he said. “I’m kicking myself in the butt over it, too. I should’ve taken a day or a day and a half in practice. I didn’t think it would win or hold up. It darn well may. They’re catching them. Obviously, they’re here and obviously, they’re biting.”
As far as his go-to patterns this week, it’s been a mixed bag, but he’s been focused more on spotted bass. He burned through his day-1 water again today, just in a different rotation.
“I’ve just been flying by the seat of my pants like I always do,” he said. “What you catch today doesn’t mean anything in terms of what you’re going to catch tomorrow. You just have to run around and put it together. I’m doing something a little different every single day. I got my timing down a little better today and hopefully I can click again tomorrow.”
9th (tie): Dudley Struggled
> Day 2: 5, 10-10 (10, 24-05)
Dudley, the two-time reigning AOY, former Cup champion and winner of two regular-season events this year, has had a lot of good days recently. This wasn't one of them.
His livewell contained just a single 14-inch fish at 1 o'clock. He said he had opportunities for a much larger bag than the one he weighed.
"The biggest one I messed up on was a 4- or 5-pounder from a wolfpack," he said. "I hooked it on a horsey-head and some other ones followed it. When I saw them, I tried to horse (the one he had on) into the net so I could get back in there, and it straightened the hook.
"I'm still very confident that I'm around the right fish to do well. If I collide with a couple of the wolfpacks I've seen, then 18 to 20 pounds is possible."
9th (tie): Morrow Improves
> Day 2: 5, 13-06 (10, 24-05)
Troy Morrow had the look of a confident angler today, knowing he’d qualified for day 3 by weighing a much better bag on day 2. He still has loads of water he hasn’t worked on yet to the south.
“I knew it was going to get better for me as I got further south,” he said. “That’s working according to plan so far and I still have a lot of stuff down there.”
He brought a pair of largemouths and three spots to the scale today when the overall bite toughened.
“I had a flurry yesterday morning,” he added. “Today, I didn’t. It was more of a grind all day. I stuck with it and it worked out.”
11th: Some Misjudgments for Morehead
> Day 2: 5, 11-02 (10, 24-03)
Dan Morehead weighed about 2 pounds less than on day 1 and it cost him 2 places in the standings.
"I caught a few more fish than yesterday, but I didn't get the big bite and quite honestly, that was my fault," he said. "The wind blew a little harder and, coming into my waypoints, I wasn't as precise as I should've been. My co-angler caught a 4-pounder and a 3 behind me, so he did his job."
He's completely committed to a brush-pile pattern for spots. He's caught a couple of largemouths, but those were purely incidental.
"I'm going to bleed or blister with those deep spots. If I could catch a 14- to 16-pound bag I think I could get out of this deficit because I think the largemouth guys are going to start to wane."
Both of Scott Martin's bags have exceeded 14 1/2 pounds.
13th: Meyer Caught Nothing Over 2
> Day 2: 5, 8-12 (10, 23-11)
Meyer, who's become a perennial contender in this event, dropped off by more than 6 pounds today and tumbled off the top portion of the leaderboard.
"I think the biggest thing was it was overcast all day," he said. "The fish were still there, but they were roaming around and they wouldn't commit. I tried to adjust by downsizing the line and I caught 15 keepers, but literally no good ones.
"Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow and the traffic will stir up the water a little bit and that will get them hunkered down. It almost couldn't get worse."
The biggest fish in his bag was a 2-pounder.
"I hit about 50 spots today – I'd pull up and throw the Fish Head Spin and then the dropshot, and then go. I could see fish on the graph and they looked like pretty good arches. I think the potential's still there but after today, it's hard to say."
15th: Suggs Elated
> Day 2: 5, 12-01 (10, 23-08)
Scott Suggs’ year was marked by disappointments throughout the Tour Major schedule (his best finish was 43rd at the Potomac River). He’s doing his best to make up for it this week.
The 2007 Cup champion came into the event brimming with confidence and it’s carried over to the competition even though he’s failed to execute on a few key bites.
“I should be right up there where Jacob’s at,” he said. “I had the opportunities to have a really big bag today.
“They’re just not getting the bait good, but that’s part of the game. When you fish this style, to get one lipped and get him to the lip of the net and then lose him, that hurts. That was the fattest, prettiest fish. It looked like she was ready to spawn. It’s exciting. I feel good. I was needing that spark and self-confidence that I seemed to have lost the first part of this year and I needed to get it back. This is really fun.”
16th: Wendlandt Working Shallow
> Day 2: 5, 13-01 (10, 23-00)
Clark Wendlandt is also fishing shallow and has yet to run over the same water twice. He has no plans to do it tomorrow.
“I just executed well today,” he said.
He had thought the weights weren’t going to be as good as they’ve been and he knows he’s going to need to uncover some areas holding quality potential.
“I saw that quality of fish here,” he said. “I just thought it would hard to be put it together (in one bag). I thought maybe a couple good (fish) but an 18-pound bag and a 21-pound bag? That’s like four or five good ones.”
17th: Fewer Bites for Fukae
> Day 2: 5, 11-02 (10, 22-00)
Shinichi Fukae's bag topped the one from the previous day by 4 ounces and he gained 1 place in the standings, but he said his day was tougher overall.
"I didn't get many bites – I only caught six keepers," he said. "When I go out tomorrow, a sunny day would be good for me."
His bag was topped by a 3-pounder. He caught three fish on a spoon and the other two on a dropshot rig.
"I fished deep most of the time and there's probably other people fishing the same spots."
18th: Better Day for Christie
> Day 2: 5, 13-08 (10, 21-06)
Christie rallied from 38th place to make the cut with a bag that was nearly twice the size of the one he caught the first day.
"I had the bites to catch 15 or 16 pounds, but fishing topwater in August, the fish don't commit all the time," he said. "I think one of the things I'm doing wrong is I'm fishing a 5-mile stretch of the lake and just grinding. I think I need to fish the entire lake and just run what I'm looking for.
"I imagine it's what redfishing's like – I'm just going down the bank looking and trying to see them. You might catch one on the main lake and you might get one in the very back of a pocket."
His bag was headed up by a pair of 4-pounders.
"I broke off a 3-pound spot and not only did I lose that fish, but I also lost the only bait I had of that color."
19th: Ehrler Disappointed
> Day 2: 5, 10-02 (10, 21-02)
Brent Ehrler, who's still in a great deal of pain from a major auto accident he was involved in a few weeks before the tournament, is still in the event but sits far out of contention.
"I'm disappointed because I thought I'd have the opportunity to catch some bigger fish," he said. "They're still there, I can see them on my Humminbird, but I can't catch them. If I get lucky I might catch a 14-pound bag, but I don't know if I can do that. It's not easy.
"Spotted bass are all I've fished for all week, so I really don't have anything else to do other than stay with them."
42nd: Baumgardner's Fish Didn't Bite
> Day 2: 2, 2-09 (7, 12-03)
Chris Baumgardner was a popular pick among many of his fellow competitors to fare well this week, but it didn't happen for the shallow-water specialist.
"I came over here a few days before the cutoff and caught them really good," he said. "Then when I came back (for official practice), it wasn't quite as good, but it was still pretty good. I was getting 25 to 30 bites a day and the majority of them were quality fish.
"They're still up there (near the bank), but they just won't bite. They were real aggressive before, but I just couldn't put it together."
Notable
> Day 2 stats – 28 limits (7 fewer than day 1), 5 fours, 6 threes, 7 twos.
Weather Forecast
> Sat., Aug. 11 – Mostly Cloudy - 84°/63°
- Wind: From the N/NW at 6 mph
> Sun., Aug. 12 – Sunny - 87°/65°
- Wind: From the NW at 5 mph
Day 2 Standings
1. Jacob Wheeler -- Indianapolis, In -- 21-15 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 33-11 (10)
2. Jay Yelas -- Corvallis, Or -- 12-04 (5) -- 18-04 (5) -- 30-08 (10)
3. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 14-09 (5) -- 14-11 (5) -- 29-04 (10)
4. Scott Canterbury -- Springville, Al -- 16-09 (5) -- 12-07 (5) -- 29-00 (10)
5. Dion Hibdon -- Sunrise Beach, Mo -- 14-15 (5) -- 14-01 (5) -- 29-00 (10)
6. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 13-12 (5) -- 13-11 (5) -- 27-07 (10)
7. Cody Bird -- Granbury, Tx -- 14-11 (5) -- 12-07 (5) -- 27-02 (10)
8. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 11-02 (5) -- 14-04 (5) -- 25-06 (10)
9. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 13-11 (5) -- 10-10 (5) -- 24-05 (10)
10. Troy Morrow -- Eastanollee, Ga -- 10-15 (5) -- 13-06 (5) -- 24-05 (10)
11. Dan Morehead -- Paducah, Ky -- 13-01 (5) -- 11-02 (5) -- 24-03 (10)
12. Luke Clausen -- Spokane, Wa -- 12-05 (5) -- 11-14 (5) -- 24-03 (10)
13. Cody Meyer -- Auburn, Ca -- 14-15 (5) -- 8-12 (5) -- 23-11 (10)
14. Clent Davis -- Montevallo, Al -- 10-12 (5) -- 12-12 (5) -- 23-08 (10)
15. Scott Suggs -- Bryant, Ar -- 11-07 (5) -- 12-01 (5) -- 23-08 (10)
16. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx -- 9-15 (5) -- 13-01 (5) -- 23-00 (10)
17. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 10-14 (5) -- 11-02 (5) -- 22-00 (10)
18. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, Ok -- 7-14 (5) -- 13-08 (5) -- 21-06 (10)
19. Brent Ehrler -- Redlands, Ca -- 11-00 (5) -- 10-02 (5) -- 21-02 (10)
20. Glenn Browne -- Ocala, Fl -- 10-01 (5) -- 10-14 (5) -- 20-15 (10)
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 3.
21. Ryan Patterson -- Goddard, Ks -- 10-04 (5) -- 10-10 (4) -- 20-14 (9) -- 20-14 (9) -- $12,500
22. Gary Yamamoto -- Palestine, Tx -- 11-10 (5) -- 8-01 (3) -- 19-11 (8) -- 19-11 (8) -- $12,500
23. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 7-15 (4) -- 11-11 (5) -- 19-10 (9) -- 19-10 (9) -- $12,500
24. JT Palmore -- Blackstone, Va -- 8-08 (5) -- 11-01 (4) -- 19-09 (9) -- 19-09 (9) -- $12,500
25. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, Az -- 9-10 (5) -- 9-14 (5) -- 19-08 (10) -- 19-08 (10) -- $12,500
26. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 10-05 (5) -- 8-04 (4) -- 18-09 (9) -- 18-09 (9) -- $12,500
27. Micah Frazier -- Newnan, Ga -- 9-06 (5) -- 9-02 (5) -- 18-08 (10) -- 18-08 (10) -- $12,500
28. Randall Tharp -- Gardendale, Al -- 9-11 (5) -- 8-11 (4) -- 18-06 (9) -- 18-06 (9) -- $12,500
29. Brian Maloney -- Osage Beach, Mo -- 9-07 (5) -- 8-10 (5) -- 18-01 (10) -- 18-01 (10) -- $12,500
30. Jacob Powroznik -- Prince George, Va -- 8-09 (5) -- 9-04 (5) -- 17-13 (10) -- 17-13 (10) -- $12,500
31. Craig Dowling -- Franklin, Tn -- 9-10 (5) -- 7-13 (5) -- 17-07 (10) -- 17-07 (10) -- $10,000
32. Dave Lefebre -- Erie, Pa -- 7-06 (4) -- 9-14 (5) -- 17-04 (9) -- 17-04 (9) -- $10,000
33. Adrian Avena -- Vineland, NJ -- 11-10 (5) -- 4-11 (3) -- 16-05 (8) -- 16-05 (8) -- $10,000
34. Anthony Gagliardi -- Prosperity, SC -- 10-09 (5) -- 5-12 (3) -- 16-05 (8) -- 16-05 (8) -- $10,000
35. Thanh Le -- Lake Havasu City, Az -- 8-14 (5) -- 6-02 (4) -- 15-00 (9) -- 15-00 (9) -- $10,000
36. Todd Hollowell -- Fishers, In -- 4-15 (3) -- 8-14 (5) -- 13-13 (8) -- 13-13 (8) -- $10,000
37. Terry Bolton -- Paducah, Ky -- 7-02 (4) -- 6-07 (3) -- 13-09 (7) -- 13-09 (7) -- $10,000
38. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 8-01 (4) -- 5-04 (2) -- 13-05 (6) -- 13-05 (6) -- $10,000
39. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, Ar -- 8-09 (5) -- 4-06 (2) -- 12-15 (7) -- 12-15 (7) -- $10,000
40. Ron Shuffield -- Bismarck, Ar -- 8-01 (4) -- 4-05 (3) -- 12-06 (7) -- 12-06 (7) -- $10,000
41. Koby Kreiger -- Okeechobee, Fl -- 5-00 (3) -- 7-04 (3) -- 12-04 (6) -- 12-04 (6) -- $10,000
42. Chris Baumgardner -- Gastonia, NC -- 9-10 (5) -- 2-09 (2) -- 12-03 (7) -- 12-03 (7) -- $10,000
43. Blake Nick -- Adger, Al -- 7-01 (4) -- 4-01 (2) -- 11-02 (6) -- 11-02 (6) -- $10,000
44. Jt Kenney -- Palm Bay, Fl -- 7-02 (4) -- 2-15 (2) -- 10-01 (6) -- 10-01 (6) -- $10,000
45. Jim Tutt -- Longview, Tx -- 5-04 (3) -- 3-08 (2) -- 8-12 (5) -- 8-12 (5) -- $10,000
46. Gilbert Gagner -- Highgate Springs, Vt -- 0-00 (0) -- 3-10 (2) -- 3-10 (2) -- 3-10 (2) -- $10,000
