After four visits to Lake Norman with the FLW Tour, Shinichi Fukae has nearly 1,000 GPS waypoints pegged on the North Carolina reservoir. He stores them the old-fashioned way – in an honest-to-goodness paper notebook.
He forgot to take that notebook onto the water for day 2 of the Norman PAA Tournament Series. His absent-mindedness didn't hurt him too badly, though, as he fished from his memory banks and caught an 11.47 bag to take over the lead with a 26.43 total.
He holds a lead of nearly a pound and a half over Edwin Evers, his day-1 co-leader. The Oklahoman managed just 10.04 today for a 25.00 aggregate.
North Carolinian Chris Baumgardner climbed 10 spots to 3rd today with a 13.36 sack for a 23.51 total. Tennessee's Ott DeFoe made a huge move from 34th to 4th with a 14.39 stringer (the day's best) that included two fish that each topped 4 pounds. He has a 22.77 total.
Virginia's J.T. Palmore remained in the No. 5 slot where he began the day with a 9.24 bag for a 21.57 total.
Here's a look at the Top 10 with 1 day remaining:
1. Shinichi Fukae: 26.43
2. Edwin Evers: 25.00
3. Chris Baumgardner: 23.51
4. Ott DeFoe: 22.77
5. J.T. Palmore: 21.57
6. Dave Wolak: 21.11
7. Aaron Martens: 20.32
8. Anthony Gagliardi: 20.23
9. Mark Menendez: 19.87
10. Casey Ashley: 19.79
The field was reduced to the Top 30 after today's weigh-in and Matt Herren was the last angler in with an 18.19 total. Surprisingly, the cut weight went up today – it you doubled the 30th-place weight from day 1, you'd have gotten 17 1/4 pounds.
First out was FLW Tour Angler of the Year and Norman ace Bryan Thrift.
Nearly 70 fewer competitors will be on the lake tomorrow, but there will be a big increase in recreational traffic as the Saturday crowd comes out to play. That could have a big effect on anglers such as Baumgardner and DeFoe, who are sticking to shallow water.
Edwin Evers got fewer bites today, and the ones he did get weren't as big.
Tomorrow's weather forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms in the Charlotte area. The daytime high temperature should cool down to 86 degrees and the wind will be out of the east to 9 mph.
The winner will be determined by highest 3-day weight.
Fukae Winged It
Like he did on day 1, Fukae ran around a lot – he estimated that he made about 40 stops. But this time they were all from memory.
"He didn't have his notes, but he could still remember them in his brain, so it worked out," said his wife Miyu, who served as a translator. "I've already put the notes in his boat, though, so he won't be forgetting them tomorrow."
One locale was critical for the second straight day – he visited it three times and caught five keepers, including four of the fish he weighed in. That place has produced seven of the 10 fish he's brought to the scale.
His bag contained four largemouths and a spot today, but nothing over 3 pounds (he had a 6-plus on day 1).
"Most of his places he didn't see anybody else," Miyu related. "At one spot there was another guy, but at his best spot there was nobody.
"The only people he's seen are not fishermen. At one place there was a girl swimming."
He has plenty of other options if his key area doesn't produce tomorrow.
"He'll just go to another spot and go fishing."
2nd: Slower for Evers
Evers made it back to the launch in plenty of time today (he was assessed a 1-pound penalty on day 1 for being a minute late), but his cargo was of a lesser quality.
"I didn't get near as many bites or as big of bites," he said. I didn't catch them early like I had been. Some people caught the snot out of them and I kind of feel like I got left behind.
Chris Baumgardner caught a solid mixed bag to move into contention.
"I'll have to cover more water tomorrow because I've got to find some more fish."
He caught seven keepers for the day and his sack was headed up by a 3-pounder. He again fished both deep and shallow and weighed four largemouths and one spot (he brought in largemouths on day 1).
"If I can catch 14 pounds tomorrow, then no doubt I'll have a chance."
3rd: Baumgardner Kept 'em Hooked
Baumgardner, one of several "locals" in the field, visited most of the same spots he did on day 1. But this time he put his best bites in the boat.
"I've got a little milk run I usually fish, and yesterday the quality fish got off. I caught some of them today and that was basically the difference."
He caught about two limits worth of keepers and a 3 1/2-pounder was tops. That one was a largemouth and he had a pair of 3-pound spots.
"They kind of live in there together, but mostly spots is what I'm catching. I'm fishing shallow, running a topwater in the morning and then hitting brushpiles and docks.
"On 2 practice days I had about (the same weight as today), and I think I can get it again as long as I get 10 or so bites. There's going to be a lot of boat traffic tomorrow and some other factors will play into it, but I'm hoping to catch 12 to 13 pounds."
4th: Two Good Ones for DeFoe
DeFoe meant to visit the place where he caught two 4-plus-pounders today on day 1 also. He spent too much time trying to box a limit beforehand, though.
"I only had three when I went up there today – it's up the lake a pretty good ways," he said. "I fished for a while without anything, but then my first one was a 4-pounder, and then I caught another keeper. I caught the other big one about 15 minutes before I had to come in."
He's employing a variety of tactics in shallow water.
"I'm catching some fish on a little bit of everything. My top bait is a shakey-head, but I caught the big ones on something different and I don't want to say what it is just yet."
Ott DeFoe caught a pair of 4-pounders en route to the day's best bag.
He boated seven keepers today after catching only five on day 1. He weighed four largemouths and one spot.
"Catching that again tomorrow is very doable if everything goes right. The only bad thing is I could just as easily not catch anything.
"I think I hit that place at the right time today, so I'll probably start somewhere tomorrow where I haven't fished in the tournament yet. This place fishes a lot like (Ft. Loudoun-Tellico) back home this time of year – wherever you caught them today, you're probably not going to catch them there again tomorrow."
23rd: Duckett's Brush a Bust
Boyd Duckett started the day in 4th place, but caught just three keepers for 5.85 and fell 19 spots in the standings. He said his fish were still around the deep brush where he caught them on day 1, but they wouldn't bite today.
"I hit all that stuff where I caught them yesterday and some new stuff, but I never caught a fish out of it," he said. "They're sitting there 3 or 4 feet off the bottom, but I couldn't catch them.
"I went so far as to take (an unweighted) Senko and drop it all the way to the bottom, 25 feet, and then pull it up 4 or 5 feet and let it sink down again, and it still didn't work. Man, that's like watching paint dry."
He had to go to the shallows to catch the three he brought to the scale.
"I'll go out and throw a topwater in the morning, then I'll go (back to the brush) and see if those fish are still there. If I still can't catch them, I'll go do something else."
Notable
> Day 2 stats – 98 anglers, 35 limits (one fewer than yesterday), 18 zeroes (12 more than yesterday).
The Top 30
1. Shinichi Fukae -- 5, 14.96 -- 5, 11.47 -- 10, 26.43
2. Edwin Evers -- 5, 14.96 -- 5, 10.04 -- 10, 25.00
3. Chris Baumgardner -- 5, 10.15 -- 5, 13.36 -- 10, 23.51
4. Ott DeFoe -- 5, 8.38 -- 5, 14.39 -- 10, 22.77
5. J.T. Palmore -- 5, 12.33 -- 4, 9.24 -- 9, 21.57
6. Dave Wolak -- 5, 11.32 -- 5, 9.79 -- 10, 21.11
7. Aaron Martens -- 5, 10.37 -- 5, 9.95 -- 10, 20.32
8. Anthony Gagliardi -- 5, 10.32 -- 5, 9.91 -- 10, 20.23
9. Mark Menendez -- 5, 9.84 -- 5, 10.03 -- 10, 19.87
10. Casey Ashley -- 5, 8.61 -- 5, 11.18 -- 10, 19.79
11. David Hendrick -- 5, 7.65 -- 5, 12.08 -- 10, 19.73
12. Andy Montgomery -- 5, 8.39 -- 5, 11.24 -- 10, 19.63
13. Dave Lefebre -- 5, 10.11 -- 5, 9.48 -- 10, 19.59
14. Jeff Hager -- 4, 7.74 -- 5, 11.77 -- 9, 19.51
15. Jason Quinn -- 5, 8.86 -- 5, 10.63 -- 10, 19.49
16. Mark Rose -- 5, 11.25 -- 5, 8.12 -- 10, 19.37
17. Zell Rowland -- 5, 10.03 -- 5, 9.12 -- 10, 19.15
18. Steve Kennedy -- 5, 9.78 -- 5, 9.29 -- 10, 19.07
19. Guy Eaker -- 5, 13.79 -- 3, 5.10 -- 8, 18.89
20. Justin Rackley -- 5, 9.49 -- 5, 9.35 -- 10, 18.84
21. Bobby Lane -- 4, 10.56 -- 3, 8.20 -- 7, 18.76
22. Takahiro Omori -- 5, 7.80 -- 5, 10.93 -- 10, 18.73
23. Boyd Duckett -- 5, 12.87 -- 3, 5.85 -- 8, 18.72
24. Tommy Biffle -- 4, 8.12 -- 5, 10.59 -- 9, 18.71
25. Russ Lane -- 4, 8.63 -- 5, 10.07 -- 9, 18.70
26. Mike McClelland -- 5, 8.79 -- 5, 9.85 -- 10, 18.64
27. Craig Dowling -- 5, 9.70 -- 5, 8.78 -- 10, 18.48
28. Shaw Grigsby -- 5, 8.92 -- 5, 9.53 -- 10, 18.45
29. Jeff Kreit -- 5, 10.14 -- 5, 8.09 -- 10, 18.23
30. Matt Herren -- 5, 10.86 -- 3, 7.33 -- 8, 18.19
