Snowden Moves Into Lead, But Many Are Close

By BassFan Staff

Brian Snowden had a rough time on the 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series – no Top-25 finishes and a 65th-place standing on the final points list. If he can achieve his second Toyota Texas Bass Classic triumph in 3 years, it could wash a lot of that foul taste from his mouth.

The Missourian caught an 18-12 sack today to climb six places and into the lead in the three-circuit all-star event at Lake Conroe. His 33-00 total will give him a half-pound edge heading into the final day.

A lot of guys who worked him over on the Elite trail all year are very close in his rear-view mirror.

Edwin Evers jumped from a tie for 9th to 2nd with an 18-08 bag that gave him a 32-08 total. Fred Roumbanis and Terry Scroggins both boxed 18-04 and they sit 3rd and 4th, respectively, with 31-00 and 30-04 aggregates.

Day-1 co-leader Todd Faircloth rounded out the Top 5 with 30-00 after catching 13 pounds today.

Here are the totals for the 10 anglers who'll return to the water tomorrow, with red numbers in parentheses indicating deficit margin from the leader:

1. Brian Snowden: 33-00
2. Edwin Evers: 32-08 (0-08)
3. Fred Roumbanis: 31-00 (2-00)
4. Terry Scroggins: 30-04 (2-12)
5. Todd Faircloth: 30-00 (3-00)
6. (tie) Russ Lane: 29-08 (3-08)
6. (tie) Bobby Lane: 29-08 (3-08)
8. Brandon Card: 29-00 (4-00)
9. Bryan Thrift: 28-04 (4-12)
10. (tie) Luke Clausen: 26-12 (6-04)
10. (tie) Keith Combs: 26-12 (6-04)

As expected, the weights went up as the weather switched from partly cloudy and mostly calm on day 1 to stormy today. There were seven bags caught that exceeded the 17 pounds that Faircloth and Jim Moynagh led with the previous day, and Russ Lane became the first competitor to crack the 20-pound barrier.

Roumbanis, Scroggins, both Lanes and Clausen were all newcomers to the Top 10. Moving out were previous co-leader Moynagh (who caught 8 pounds and fell to 14th), Clifford Pirch (tie for 5th to 21st, 8-00), Chris Baumgardner (tie for 5th to 12th, 11-08) and Matt Herren (tie for 7th to 15th, 10-04).

Conditions are expected to change again for the final day – some rain might hang on through the morning hours, eventually giving way to a post-frontal scenario. Most competitors will likely need to alter their strategies and presentations accordingly.

Different Tack for Snowden

> Day 2: 5, 18-12 (10, 33-00)

Snowden made lots of adjustments from day 1, and they paid off nicely.

"I caught them on structure the first day with a Carolina rig, and today I caught them suspended around docks with a 3/8-ounce (Pig Sticker) Snowden Jig," he said. "I got a limit doing that, and then I got one more on a buzzbait.

"It was 2 totally different days. Conroe is notorious for not letting you catch fish from the same spot 2 days in a row, so I'll run some different water tomorrow and I have a few structure areas I haven't hit. My areas have some good quality fish, but just not a lot of them."

His sack was topped by a pair of 5-pounders that bit within 15 minutes of each other at mid-day. He lost a 3-pounder and broke off a solid specimen that he didn't see.

"(In 2010) I had one specific spot that I caught a few fish on, but this time it's one here and one there. I don't have one spot where I think I can catch more than one fish. I'm just fishing as many spots as I can and praying that by the end of the day I've caught five nice ones.

"I'll just go back to the structure with the Carolina rig if it gets sunny tomorrow, or I might throw a shaky-head or a dropshot."

2nd: Variety for Evers

> Day 2: 5, 18-08 (10, 32-08)

Evers used a boxing term to describe how he's fishing in this event.

"I didn't really capitalize on the conditions today, I'm just bobbing and weaving," he said. "I'm covering a lot of water and I'm not really dialed in on any one thing. I've fished here a lot, and I'm going around fishing a lot of stuff that I haven't fished before.

"I haven't caught two fish from one spot since I've been here."

He threw five different baits and caught just six keepers, topped by a 6 1/4-pounder. He had a 4 get away just a few feet from the boat.

"It seemed like a lot of fish were short-striking the bait."

3rd: Roumbanis Picked Up Pace

> Day 2: 5, 18-04 (10, 31-00)

After fishing slow-moving baits throughout day 1, Roumbanis went the reaction route today.

"They bit like fire this morning – it was pretty awesome," he said. "I had one little spot where I'd caught a 6 1/2 in practice, but I didn't fish it yesterday because I felt like I needed to save something. I went there today and got a 3 and a 3 1/2 right off the get-go, then I got a 5 just a little farther down. The rest of the day was kind of hit and miss.

"I'm really doing a lot of junk-fishing. My philosophy is that there are fish everywhere, but I just need to fish each spot right and throw certain things in certain areas."

He said he has four rods on his deck – two rigged with reaction baits, one set up for extremely shallow water and one for offshore structure.

"I want it to be tough tomorrow because I think I can still catch fish. I don't know if I can catch a big bag, but I feel like I can get bit.

"When it's like it was today, a lot of people are going to catch 18 to 20 pounds."

4th: Bruiser for Scroggins

> Day 2: 5, 18-04 (10, 30-04)

Scroggins' day got a big boost at about 9:00, when he sacked a 7 1/2-pounder. He said it bit in open water and came to hand pretty easily.

"I think the conditions helped – with the low pressure and the wind blowing around, they bit a little bit better," he said. "I'm just fishing docks and just about anything else I see, and I had most of my weight by 10 o'clock."

He won't spend any time worrying about what the weather might do to the bite tomorrow.

"If it's tough, it should be tough on everybody. When it's like that, anybody can win."

6th: Lane had Good Day

> Day 2: 5, 20-04 (10, 29-08)

Russ Lane's bag was more than twice as heavy as the one he weighed the previous day.

"All I did was take advantage of the weather," he said. "I'm pretty sure the way I caught them today won't work when the sun comes back out. It was just a really good fishing day.

A 6 1/2-pounder headed up his stringer and he also had a 4 1/2. He lost one in the 3-pound range, but doesn't know whether he could've used it.

"When I back the boat in tomorrow, I'll look at the sky and the water and do whatever the conditions tell me to. I'll run around and junk-fish, and I've got one hump that I hope will pay off again."

14th: Moynagh didn't Adjust

> Day 2: 5, 8-00 (10, 25-00)

Moynagh's day-2 experience was the opposite of Lane's – his haul was less than half of what he caught on day 1.

"My story is I didn't really figure out a whole lot in practice other than what I was doing, and with the change in the weather today, I didn't know what adjustment to make," he said. "I fished docks for a little while and threw a crankbait more than I did yesterday, but none of it mattered.

"I caught my fish in the same places and in the same way I did the day before – they were just smaller fish. Yesterday all I could get was quality."

He threw a worm on a dropshot rig around cover that was 10 feet deep or less.

"I haven't fished this type of lake very often at this time of year, and I don't have the background to make the adjustments when the conditions change," the Minnesotan said. "Every time I'd catch one today, that'd make me keep at it, thinking maybe I'd get some bigger bites eventually.

"I never did."

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