By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Zack Birge caught seven fish during the second round of qualifying for Group A at the Bass Pro Tour Heavy Hitters event at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Florida. All he really needed was one.

Birge, who began the day with a 17-pound advantage, won the group and advanced directly to the Championship Round with a 74-03 total. His 20-12 tally for the second day left him with approximately the same cushion over 2nd place that he'd started with.

His time on the water was a bit frustrating as he didn't load up early, but he'll now get a shot at a $200,000 payday – there's $100,000 up for grabs in the finals for both the biggest bag and the biggest individual fish.

"Today was a trying day, really from start to finish," he said. "I didn't really get on them the first thing this morning, although I did catch a couple, and I made an early move back up the lake and caught three pretty quick, but I couldn't keep it going. There were more people in the area today – some kayakers and some locals were in and out. I had to leave and clear my mind, so I went and tried another canal.

"When I pulled back into my starting place, there was bait busting and I knew there was some good activity going on. I caught one on my first cast and then I caught 3-pounders on back-to-back casts and I knew it was time to get out of there. Now I'll get a rest day and I'll get my stuff re-rigged and ready to go; hopefully I can catch a giant (in the Championship Round) and catch more than anybody else and make a lot of money."

Bryan Thrift finished a distant 2nd with 55-09 – just 2-02 more than Birge boxed on the first day alone. He caught six scoreable fish (2 pounds or heavier) for 19-02 on the day.

Jordan Lee ended up 3rd with 51-09, followed by Gary Klein with 48-04. Matt Lee completed the top 5 with 43-07. The Lee brothers compiled the day's biggest totals – 26-05 for Matt and 26-04 for Jordan.

Brent Ehrler pocketed the $25,000 bonus for catching the largest fish of the Group A qualifying round. It was an 8-06 bruiser enticed by a worm in shoreline vegetation on Sunday.

"I didn't think this was going to happen – I was scared all day that somebody was going to catch (a bigger) one," he said. "I'm so happy for this and I can't wait for the Knockout Round to have a chance at $50,000."

Six anglers who were outside the elimination line when the day began made the top-20 cut for Thursday's Knockout Round. Anthony Gagliardi made the biggest move, climbing from 34th to 13th with an eight-fish, 25-05 haul. Others who moved in were Dustin Connell (38th to 19th), Randy Howell (35th to 18th), Jared Lintner (24th to 16th), Wesley Strader (22nd to 14th) and Fred Roumbanis (23rd to 20th).

Going the other direction were Boyd Duckett (10th to 27th), Dean Rojas (15th to 26th), Brandon Coulter (17th to 25th), Brent Chapman (18th to 31st), Alton Jones Jr. (19th to 22nd) and Cliff Pace (20th to 34th).

Roumbanis held onto the last cut slot despite going fishless over the final 2 1/2 hours – he boated four for 10-07 on the day. Five guys were just one scoreable catch away from bumping him in the final minutes, but none were able to pull it off.

"What a rush – it was an incredible day," he said. "it was probably the most mentally exhausting day I've ever had in my life. The first period was a total train wreck; a 5- to 6-pounder jumped and came off and I broke one off that left a boil that was just massive.

"I hate to cry the blues, but it was just so stressful. I could hear guys in the distance catching fish and I just kept saying, 'I should have more than I do.'"

Scott Suggs, who zeroed on day 1, was one of the five anglers trying to supplant Roumbanis at the end. His seven-fish, 21-00 effort left him a little less than a half-pound short.

Group B will have its second day on the water on Wednesday. Skeet Reese tops the standings with 4-08 and Mark Rose is the big-bass leader with a 9-02.



Weather Forecast

> Weds., June 10 – P.M. T-Storms - 91°/75°
- Wind: From the ESE at 6 mph

> Thurs., June 11 – P.M. T-Storms - 89°/71°
- Wind: From the E at 10 mph

> Fri., June 12 – Partly Cloudy - 89°/72°
- Wind: From the E at 10 mph

Group A Qualifying Round 2

(Number at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish)

1. Zack Birge -- 17, 53-07 -- 7, 20-12 -- 24, 74-03 -- 5-08

2. Bryan Thrift -- 12, 36-07 -- 6, 19-02 -- 18, 55-09 -- 4-02

3. Jordan Lee -- 6, 25-05 -- 7, 26-04 -- 13, 51-09 -- 6-13

4. Gary Klein -- 11, 31-06 -- 5, 16-14 -- 16, 48-04 -- 5-04

5. Matt Lee -- 7, 17-02 -- 8, 26-05 -- 15, 43-07 -- 5-05

6. Kelly Jordon -- 7, 17-15 -- 6, 21-09 -- 13, 39-08 -- 5-03

7. John Murray -- 6, 29-06 -- 3, 9-03 -- 9, 38-09 -- 7-13

8. Kevin VanDam -- 3, 17-05 -- 6, 19-15 -- 9, 37-04 -- 7-10

9. Michael Neal -- 5, 14-15 -- 6, 18-13 -- 11, 33-12 -- 4-09

10. Gerald Spohrer -- 5, 15-13 -- 7, 16-12 -- 12, 32-09 -- 4-13

11. Casey Ashley -- 5, 19-06 -- 3, 12-11 -- 8, 32-01 -- 6-11

12. Brent Ehrler -- 4, 16-08 -- 4, 13-07 -- 8, 29-15 -- 8-06

13. Anthony Gagliardi -- 2, 4-06 -- 8, 25-05 -- 10, 29-11 -- 5-00

14. Wesley Strader -- 4, 11-01 -- 6, 18-02 -- 10, 29-03 -- 4-05

15. Justin Lucas -- 4, 20-05 -- 2, 7-03 -- 6, 27-08 -- 8-03

16. Jared Lintner -- 2, 9-13 -- 5, 17-06 -- 7, 27-03 -- 6-11

17. Jacob Wheeler -- 5, 19-10 -- 2, 7-07 -- 7, 27-01 -- 5-11

18. Randy Howell -- 1, 3-10 -- 7, 21-01 -- 8, 24-11 -- 4-13

19. Dustin Connell -- 1, 2-10 -- 7, 21-11 -- 8, 24-05 -- 5-08

20. Fred Roumbanis -- 4, 11-00 -- 4, 10-07 -- 8, 21-07 -- 3-10

The following anglers did not make the cut for the Knockout Round.

21. Scott Suggs -- 0, 0-00 -- 7, 21-00 -- 7, 21-00 -- 5-08

22. Alton Jones, Jr. -- 5, 13-09 -- 3, 7-04 -- 8, 20-13 -- 3-06

23. Marty Robinson -- 3, 7-09 -- 4, 13-02 -- 7, 20-11 -- 5-03

24. Jesse Wiggins -- 2, 4-07 -- 7, 16-03 -- 9, 20-10 -- 2-08

25. Brandon Coulter -- 5, 14-10 -- 2, 5-13 -- 7, 20-07 -- 3-14

26. Dean Rojas -- 5, 15-05 -- 1, 3-07 -- 6, 18-12 -- 5-03

27. Boyd Duckett -- 6, 17-11 -- 0, 0-00 -- 6, 17-11 -- 5-00

28. Cliff Crochet -- 3, 7-02 -- 3, 9-15 -- 6, 17-01 -- 4-13

29. Edwin Evers -- 1, 2-14 -- 5, 14-03 -- 6, 17-01 -- 3-11

30. Mike McClelland -- 3, 7-05 -- 2, 9-04 -- 5, 16-09 -- 4-12

31. Brent Chapman -- 6, 13-14 -- 1, 2-01 -- 7, 15-15 -- 2-13

32. Jacob Powroznik -- 4, 11-13 -- 1, 4-01 -- 5, 15-14 -- 4-01

33. Todd Faircloth -- 3, 6-05 -- 3, 9-04 -- 6, 15-09 -- 4-04

34. Cliff Pace -- 3, 12-05 -- 1, 2-01 -- 4, 14-06 -- 7-10

35. Dave Lefebre -- 1, 3-05 -- 3, 9-08 -- 4, 12-13 -- 5-06

36. James Watson -- 2, 4-15 -- 3, 6-16 -- 5, 11-15 -- 2-13

37. Mike Iaconelli -- 2, 6-15 -- 1, 2-07 -- 3, 9-06 -- 4-11

38. Justin Atkins -- 2, 5-00 -- 1, 2-06 -- 3, 7-06 -- 3-00

39. Shaw Grigsby -- 2, 4-14 -- 1, 2-08 -- 3, 7-06 -- 2-09

40. Roy Hawk -- 1, 2-04 -- 1, 3-11 -- 2, 5-15 -- 3-11