The bite took a dismal turn on day 2 of the Cherokee PAA Series in Tennessee. Bags in the 7- to 9-pound range were the norm for most pros in the Top 20, and some bottomed out with 2- and 3-pound sacks.
Some of that was certainly due to the weather. After a few weeks of sunny,
hot conditions with little rain, the clouds rolled in this morning and it rained as weigh-in began. All the junk-fisherman who were able to cobble together 9 to 12 pounds fishing shade and ambush spots under bright sun faced wandering, scattered fish today.
Look no further than Andy Morgan's 2 1/2-pound day for evidence.
Bobby Lane might have suffered a similar fate, but he rolled into an area at 2:30 and caught three in the final 45 minutes to finish a limit. Those three gave him 12 pounds on the day and he pulled into an uncontested lead with a 3 1/2-pound advantage.
Bradley Hallman, who was tied with Lane for the lead yesterday, roped a meager 5 pounds and slipped to 3rd.
David Walker, on the other hand, put up a comparatively stout 11-pound limit and improved to 2nd.
Harold Allen's 5-pound day dropped him back a spot to 4th, while a 10-pound bag helped push Todd Auten into the Top 10, where he sits in 5th.
Although the weather was certainly a factor, fishing pressure can't be ignored. Yesterday, the best bags all came shallow, and today there were a heck of a lot more boats on the bank. Cherokee, normally a clear-water fishery, is now gin-clear after 2 weeks of still conditions and the fish are likely spooked by all the traffic.
The field is now cut to the Top 30, who'll fish the final day tomorrow. Three-day cumulative weight determines the winner.
More evidence of the brutal bite: It took just 11 1/2 pounds total over 2 days to make the Top 30. That distinction fell to Stacey King, who was last in to fish tomorrow.
Here's a look at the current Top 10:
1. Bobby Lane: 27.65
2. David Walker: 23.98
3. Bradley Hallman: 20.47
4. Harold Allen: 20.36
5. Todd Auten: 19.79
6. Tommy Biffle: 19.42
7. David Hendrick: 18.91
8. Bryan Thrift: 18.51
9. Lance Vick: 16.74
10. Todd Faircloth: 16.52
Bobby Lane says the cards have been dealt – now it's just a matter of how he plays them tomorrow.
Although Hallman, who's 7 pounds behind Lane, should conceivably be out of it, remember that Lane came dangerously close to weighing only two fish today. And Walker just doesn't know what to expect tomorrow.
Realistically, anyone who's hovering around 20 pounds – Hallman, Allen, Biffle – is still easily within reach. They'd need some help, but Cherokee's unforgiving, and might force one or all of the leaders to stumble.
Late Fish Saved Lane's Day
"On a lake like this, things are hard to predict," Lane said. "A lead's great to have no matter what, especially going into the final day, but there are no guarantees. I had two fish at 2:30."
That's when he decided to go to a fallback area where he caught a single fish yesterday. He watched the area and saw boats going in and out all day. And as he was idling back in, somebody on the bridge shouted down that 21 boats had gone in and out, and the last boat out caught two in there.
Lane didn't have a choice though – he'd already idled for 30 minutes and with such limited time, he had to fish there. He picked up three keepers in the final 45 minutes to fill his limit.
"I'm just grateful to have five fish," he said. "There are no guarantees you can even catch a fish on this pond. It's one tough fishery, but if you stick with it, you can get a couple of bites. And I did miss a couple of key opportunities today. If I can fish clean tomorrow and get five bites, I should have about the same weight."
He'll change his approach tomorrow. With all the traffic in that area today, he's going to skip his morning buzzbait bite and head right there to "milk everything out of it." And he's hoping tonight's rain will pump some color into the ultra-clear water.
He's also oh-so aware of the caliber of pros he's fishing against. "I'm basically fishing against (Bassmaster) Elite Series and FLW Tour pros. This is no walk-in-the-park trail. There's no local traffic. It's not the best in the world according to the World Rankings, but we're dealing with guys who've won (Bassmaster) Classics, (FLW) Championships, AOYs multiple times. Some of the best fishermen in the world are here and a win tomorrow would be great.
"My last win came at Kentucky Lake last year in June," he added. "That's in Tennessee. Heck, we may as well try to win another in Tennessee. You want to win every tournament you fish, but the cards have been dealt, and now it's a matter of how I play them. After the way practice went, if you told me I'd be leading by 4 pounds, I'd say no way. I guess it really is that tough out there."
2nd: Walker Stayed Put
Walker has 15 years of history on Cherokee. Yesterday he hunkered down and concentrated on an area. He did the same thing today, but it wasn't necessarily by choice. It took him so long to catch the few fish he needed to guarantee a check that he didn't have time to run and gun.
David Walker fished the same area both days, and plans to stay there again tomorrow.
He noted that "it was ridiculous how many people didn't have anything" and how "crazy" it was to have 11-plus pounds as the Top-30 mark.
"I didn't expect it to really just fall apart like it did today. I did cull twice – I caught seven keepers – and I caught two pretty good fish close to 3 pounds. But that was it. It was a real grind. You really have to take your time even though you don't have any fish, and that's driving me crazy. I'm basically just trying to catch one, and when I catch that, I try to catch one more. It's really brutal."
As for tomorrow, he'll hit the same place again and continue to pick it apart.
About whether or not he thinks he can win, he said: "I have to catch a good stringer again tomorrow, and right now a good stringer is just double-digits. If I do that, maybe I can catch (Lane). You never know. You see somebody leading and you think it's automatic, but it doesn't happen that way. Guys you thought never had a chance end up winning."
3rd: Hallman Lost 'Em
A 5-pound bag was all Hallman could muster today, and he's now 7 pounds behind Lane.
"It's just getting tougher," Hallman said. "I'm fishing shallow, and some of the fish I caught are obviously gone. I had the opportunity to have a decent day – I had four topwater bites and only put one in the boat. That's what it came down to. And it got cloudy. I'd been flipping and it took all my fish away from where they were positioning."
All his topwater bites came this morning, but if the clouds stay for tomorrow, he thinks he'll stick with topwater a lot further into the day – perhaps all day.
"I don't feel like I'm in it anymore," he said in reference to Lane's 7-pound lead. "Now my goal is to go catch 8 to 10 pounds and stay in the Top 5. But if I go out and have a glory day on the last day, yeah – if I caught 15 I think I'd have a shot."
7th: Hendrick Junking
Among the current Top 10, David Hendrick is the only one to have never fished at the Tour level (9th-place Lance Vick had a cup of coffee with the Bassmaster Tour in 2003). But Vick rubs shoulders with the best of them. The North Carolina pro owns The Great Outdoors tackle shop in Cherryville and is fishing partners with current FLW Tour AOY Bryan Thrift.
Hendrick's junk-fishing, and yesterday weighed 11.11, but he hobbled in today with 7.80. It was enough to preserve his 7th-place standing though.
"It's a pretty tough field," Hendrick said. "So I'm pleased to be where I am, to be honest. I went into the first day hoping to catch two keepers, which is what I caught all of practice. It seemed to work out pretty good for me."
Although he only caught two keepers in practice, he wasn't sticking many fish, so he was on quite a bit more than he thought. The clouds today are what killed him.
"I'm just junk-fishing. I really need the sun to be out and the sun being out yesterday and being gone today was a huge difference. The sun positions the fish and I caught a whole lot more yesterday than I did today. But I caught every bite I had.
"I think tomorrow's going to be cloudy, but I'm going to fish my same stuff, then probably go look at some different areas after that."
Notable
> Biffle on the bite: "It's not tough. It's sorry."
> Water temps are hovering around 90 degrees.
> Three generations of Hibdons fished the event – father Guido, son Dion and grandson Payden.
> Tomorrow's weigh-in takes place at the local Bass Pro Shops.
Day 2 Standings
Due to technical difficulties, the PAA only reported the Top 30 weights for day 2.
> Field = 111 boats
1. Bobby Lane -- Florida -- 15.57 -- 12.08 -- 27.65
2. David Walker -- Tennessee -- 12.88 -- 11.10 -- 23.98
3. Bradley Hallman -- Oklahoma -- 15.57 -- 4.90 -- 20.47
4. Harold Allen -- Texas -- 14.12 -- 6.24 -- 20.36
5. Todd Auten -- South Carolina -- 9.90 -- 9.89 -- 19.79
6. Tommy Biffle -- Oklahoma -- 12.34 -- 7.08 -- 19.42
7. David Hendrick -- North Carolina -- 11.11 -- 7.80 -- 18.91
8. Bryan Thrift -- North Carolina -- 7.95 -- 10.56 -- 18.51
9. Lance Vick -- Texas -- 6.94 -- 9.80 -- 16.74
10. Todd Faircloth -- Texas -- 7.57 -- 8.77 -- 16.52
11. Zell Rowland -- Texas -- 9.21 -- 6.98 -- 16.19
12. Stephen Browning -- Arkansas -- 9.68 -- 6.44 -- 16.12
13. Jason Quinn -- South Carolina -- 7.35 -- 7.94 -- 15.29
14. Brian Holt -- Tennessee -- 8.88 -- 5.88 -- 14.76
15. Dave Wolak -- North Carolina -- 5.89 -- 8.64 -- 14.53
16. Randall Tharp -- Alabama -- 8.74 -- 5.61 -- 14.35
17. Jeff Kriet -- Oklahoma -- 2.54 -- 11.40 -- 13.94
18. Andy Morgan -- Tennessee -- 10.93 -- 2.44 -- 13.37
19. Edwin Evers -- Oklahoma -- 11.04 -- 2.11 -- 13.15
20. Randy Howell -- Alabama -- 10.02 -- 3.12 -- 13.14
21. Aaron Martens -- Alabama -- 7.88 -- 5.10 -- 12.98
22. Dave Lefebre -- Pennsylvania -- 9.62 -- 3.36 -- 12.98
23. Andy Montgomery -- South Carolina -- 6.91 -- 5.94 -- 12.85
24. Pete Ponds -- Mississippi -- 10.25 -- 2.42 -- 12.67
25. Jason Christie -- Oklahoma -- 9.43 -- 3.21 -- 12.64
26. Mike McClelland -- Arkansas -- 8.16 -- 4.40 -- 12.56
27. Charlie Hartley -- Ohio -- 6.89 -- 5.66 -- 12.55
28. Shaw Grigsby -- Florida -- 6.04 -- 6.26 -- 12.30
29. Luke Clausen -- Georgia -- 11.86 -- 0.00 -- 11.86
30. Stacey King 6.36 -- 5.14 -- 11.50
Big Bass
> Day 2 -- Casey Ashley -- South Carolina -- 4.95
> Day 1 -- Jason Seaton -- Indiana -- 4.65
