Top 5 Patterns from Toho Day 2
Bedding bite drying up for many of the top pros
At halftime in the Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Toho presented by Mercury, it’s looking like it could be a runaway by tournament leader JT Kenney. Of course, it’s bass fishing and anything can happen, but the latest frontal system rolling through Florida seems to have certainly stymied the bed-fish bonanza that many expected. As a result, the most productive areas from the last two days have been beat down by fishing pressure and are not recovering or replenishing very well.
Here’s a look at how the rest of the top finishers managed to overcome challenging conditions on day two to stay at least within striking range of the leader.
Click here to read about the unique system that Kenney has been employing this week.
2nd Place – Stacey King – 39 pounds, 13 ounces
Yesterday it looked as if Stacey King might be the only angler that could rival Kenney. But today, King fell off Kenney’s blistering pace with an 11-pound, 12-ounce limit, leaving him more than 12 pounds behind.
Like many, King fell victim to fishing pressure and weather that does not favor replenishment in bedding areas.
“I had a late boat number today, and there was already someone on the best sweet spot when I got there,” King says. “I went to another place and caught a couple pretty quick, but after that front rolled in, it just shut down my bite. I’ve got some other areas and ways to catch fish, but I just don’t think it can produce the quality that those bedding areas have.”
King says his big bag yesterday came on Texas-rigged Bass Pro Shops Stick-O Worm and a Zoom Mag Speed Worm.
3rd Place – Scott Canterbury – 38 pounds, 14 ounces
Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury rose to the third spot today after adding 19 pounds, 13 ounces to the 19-1 that he caught the first day.
Normally a runner and gunner, Canterbury admits that he has had to slow way down in the Sunshine State to get bit.
“I power-fished most of practice and didn’t do any good,” Canterbury says. “So I’ve had to settle down in the areas I feel have the most potential and grind it out.”
But instead of strictly dragging a Texas-rigged plastic around on pad stems like so many other anglers are doing, Canterbury has been mixing it up to “keep the fish honest.”
“I’m fishing pads with plastics, but I’m also doing some punching and throwing a topwater some,” he says. “I’ve caught a few of my fish doing those things. I know some of these fish have already spawned, so I’m really just trying to connect with some postspawners. I figure it’s the only way I have a chance to move up. I don’t think there is a big wave of prespawners coming up, and most of what’s been on bed has already left or been caught. So my only option is a possible postspawn bite.”
4th Place – Alex Davis – 34 pounds, 14 ounces
Alex Davis, who is well known for his guide business on Lake Guntersville, is showing us this week that he has learned a thing or two about Florida bass as well.
Davis moved up into fourth place today, thanks in large part to an 8-pound, 15-ounce bass that he caught with just five minutes remaining in his tournament day.
“It was a lot tougher on me today,” Davis says. “I caught 17 bass yesterday and only five today. I don’t really know what I’m going to do tomorrow. I’ve been catching them on pad stems, too, but that deal is going away. Plus the wind makes fishing that way almost impossible because you just can’t present the bait correctly in those pads. So I guess I’m just going fishing tomorrow. Maybe I’ll catch another 9-pounder to keep me in for Sunday.”
5th Place – Luke Clausen – 34 pounds, 7 ounces
Bridgford pro Luke Clausen ground out 14 pounds, 7 ounces today to gain two spots in the standings.
Clausen agrees that between the weather and the fishing pressure, things are going downhill for him unless he changes.
“There are just a few key bedding areas down there in Kissimmee right now,” Clausen says. “They’re the places where there are sparse, scattered pads, and where you can really fish all the big roots on the corners. And they’ve all gone stagnant with no new fish to freshen them up.
“Tomorrow I’m just going practicing again, fishing all new water,” he adds. “I really should have done that today, but I kind of suckered into memory fishing.”
Behemoth Bass Rockets Colson to 6th
Ramie Colson wowed the weigh-in crowd at Big Toho Marina this afternoon with an 11-pound brute, a perfect specimen of what makes Lake Toho and the entire Kissimmee Chain so famous.
“I caught her at 12:35 this afternoon,” Colson says. “She bit a Zoom Fluke Stick in junebug color, with a 1/8-ounce weight on 16-pound-test Sunline. I cast over to a group of pads, got the bite, set the hook and thankfully she was headed out into open water. I literally had to chase her down, and once she rolled up and I saw how big she was, I started shaking – and I’ve been shaking ever since!”
The bass ties for third heaviest to ever be caught in a Walmart FLW Tour event. Colson finished the day with 16-11, upping his two-day total to 34-1. He’s in sixth place.