Yesterday Alton Jones said if the weather went his way today at the Lake Wheeler FLW, he wouldn't let himself catch a big stringer. But he brought 19-03 to the scales -- 2 1/2 pounds better than his limit yesterday.
In doing so, he ended up with 35-13 for the first two days, putting him 9 1/2 pounds ahead of 2nd-place angler Mark Rose of Marion, Ark. In one sense that means nothing because the Top 20 anglers fishing tomorrow start the day at zero. But on the other hand, it puts the rest of the competitors on notice that Jones is onto something. Something big.
Dialed In
When asked if he couldn't resist catching a big stringer today, Jones said that he actually only spent 30 minutes on his money spot.
"I went there and caught two fish -- a 4-pounder and a 3-pounder -- in 30 minutes, and then I left," he said. From that point, and true to his plan that he would only seek 7 pounds today, he fished new water.
"I used my graph to find a new spot, and when I'd find one I'd say, 'Man, they ought to be here,'" Jones said. In fact, he found four spots and a whole lot more bass. Those new areas yielded three more good bass, including a 4 1/2-pound smallmouth.
"I'm so dialed in on what the fish are doing, I can go anywhere and catch fish -- today," Jones said. "It was calm today. I could've caught a huge sack of fish, a mammoth bag. The big ones were in there chewing."
Tomorrow Too?
As to whether he will catch another big limit tomorrow, Jones was characteristically confident and yet prepared for the uncertainty that is fishing.
"Who knows about tomorrow," he said. "I have a lot of water to fish and no one is fishing any of my spots. But if the wind blows more than about 10 or 15 mph, it will be tough on me. I'm very exposed. If it gets really windy, more than 10 mph, I figure I can catch about 12 pounds -- 10-15 pounds if the wind isn't blowing.
"But I may not get a bite. You know how fishing is. But I feel confident. I know the big ones are swimming where I'm fishing."
Rose Helped By Weather Too
Rose, who runs a Mossy Oak-camouflaged Ranger, caught 15-01 today. That was 4 pounds better than day 1, and Rose said that jump was because "conditions were perfect" for what he's doing.
"Yesterday it was a little cloudier and the water was a little higher, but today we had just perfect shallow-water conditions -- for winter," he said. "We had a high sky and the temperature was warm this afternoon. It really heated up the shallow water well.
"They also dropped the water about 1 1/2 feet, which concentrated the fish. They were more scattered yesterday."
Rose said he was "able to capitalize on one small area. I got a few good bites early, and that gave me the confidence to stay there."
Second First Cut
This is Rose's second time making the first cut at an FLW tournament. The first time was in the second FLW he ever fished, on the Mississippi River (Memphis, Tenn.) in May 1999.
"I feel good," he said. "All you can ask for in a big tournament like this is to get yourself in the position to win. You go out and fish as hard as you can, and you take whatever you can get."
He added that he also feels good about having an area he can "get a few bites in every day. That's all you can ask for when the conditions are tough like this."
Nixon Near Rose
Larry Nixon caught 14-04 today -- nearly double his catch from yesterday -- and finished 4th after two days. What changed today?
"I figured out what to do yesterday afternoon, right before I quit," he said. "I was fishing kind of a false pattern in practice. I was dropping a spinnerbait, but they wouldn't bite it. I tied on a Strike King Diamond Shad right before we came in yesterday, and I caught a big one and lost another one. That helped me out and told me what to do today."
Today Nixon said he "kept moving around" and eventually found two schools that enabled him to "put together a good string. I don't know how well it will hold up tomorrow," he said. "Evidently Alton Jones is on something stout. But if it turns on where I am, I could catch a big sack."
If it turns on there, it could also benefit Rose. Nixon and Rose are sharing the same water, though Rose said "it's a big enough area that we should both be able to fish it all right."
VanDam Hunting Around
Among the heavyweights in the Top 20 is Kevin VanDam, who finished the day in 13th. Today he caught 9-14, a 1-01 improvement over his day 1 weight. He said his goal tomorrow will be to improve his weight again, and that if he catches 11-12 pounds he will spend the rest of the day hunting for new water.
"I feel good about tomorrow," he said. "I've been getting a lot of bites. If I can execute and catch the better fish, I'll be fine." Does that mean that he's missed a few? "The fish aren't aggressive and are not taking the bait well," he said. "Today I lost several nice ones. That could be a problem for me. But I'm confident that if I can get some decent bites, I'll land them."
10-11 Pounds Tomorrow?
Given roughly the same conditions tomorrow -- temperature, sun and TVA pulling water -- the pros expect that 10-11 pounds will be needed to make tomorrow's Top 10 cut.
Notable
> After catching nothing on day 1, Alton Jones' amateur partner for today -- Armil Morgan of Mineral Springs, Ark. -- caught four bass weighing an even 16 pounds. That put him in 1st on the co-angler side. And because Jones is in 1st on the pro side, they get to fish together again tomorrow. Morgan no doubt smells a win.
> Florida's Chuck Economou broke his four-day fishless streak today. He caught three bass weighing 8-12 and finished in 83rd.
Weather
According to the Weather Channel, the wind is supposed to blow a little harder tomorrow than it did today, though not as strong as on Wednesday.
> Fri, Feb 15 -- Partly Cloudy -- high 63°F, low 36°F
> Sat, Feb 16 -- Partly Cloudy -- high 53°F, low 28°F
Weigh-In Info
Friday's weigh-in begins at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter at 3100 Hough Road in Florence. Saturday's final takeoff from Joe Wheeler State Park starts at 6:15 a.m. The final weigh-in is at 2 p.m. at Wal-Mart.
Top 20
Following are the anglers fishing tomorrow:
1 Alton Jones Waco, Tx -- 5 16-10 -- 5 19-03 -- 10 35-13
2 Mark Rose Marion, Ar -- 5 11-00 -- 5 15-01 -- 10 26-01
3 Wesley Strader Spring City, Tn -- 5 9-02 -- 5 14-11 -- 10 23-13
4 Larry Nixon Bee Branch, Ar -- 3 7-12 -- 5 14-04 -- 8 22-00
5 Eric Holt Galena, Mo -- 5 11-05 -- 5 10-01 -- 10 21-06
6 Aaron Martens Castaic, Ca -- 5 12-10 -- 5 8-10 -- 10 21-04
7 Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, Az -- 2 4-03 -- 5 16-12 -- 7 20-15
8 Clark Wendlandt Cedar Park, Tx -- 3 6-04 -- 5 14-11 -- 8 20-15
9 Basil Bacon Springfield, Mo -- 5 10-02 -- 5 10-06 -- 10 20-08
10 Gary Yamamoto Mineola, Tx -- 5 10-07 -- 5 9-05 -- 10 19-12
11 Gerald Swindle Hayden, Al -- 4 5-14 -- 5 13-04 -- 9 19-02
12 David Cochran Hot Springs, Ar -- 5 8-12 -- 5 10-04 -- 10 19-00
13 Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mi -- 5 8-13 -- 5 9-14 -- 10 18-11
14 Greg Pugh Cullman, Al -- 5 8-12 -- 5 9-10 -- 10 18-06
15 Andre Moore Scottsdale, Az -- 5 8-15 -- 5 9-07 -- 10 18-06
16 Randy Blaukat Lamar, Mo -- 5 7-03 -- 5 11-02 -- 10 18-05
17 Scott Martin Clewiston, Fl -- 5 6-01 -- 5 12-03 -- 10 18-04
18 Keith Williams Conway, Ar -- 4 10-06 -- 5 7-12 -- 9 18-02
19 Sam Newby Pocola, Ok -- 4 11-10 -- 3 6-01 -- 7 17-11
20 Mike Hawkes Sabinal, Tx -- 4 9-06 -- 4 8-04 -- 8 17-10
For full day 2 standings, click here.
Today it was still cold at Wheeler, but the wind wasn't as strong.
