Stringer comes up huge on Sam Rayburn

Divis overwhelms co-angler competition for second consecutive day as top-20 cut announced

JASPER, Texas – With a name like Bradley Stringer, it’s hard to go wrong when you choose a career as a professional bass angler. However, a name alone doesn’t guarantee that you will become a great angler. The truth is, you have to work at it. And to the delight of the hometown crowd, that’s exactly what Stringer – a resident of Huntington, Texas – did in today’s competition. With the second day of tournament fishing in the books, Stringer bested his nearest rival by almost 6 pounds after turning in a whopping two-day catch weighing 38 pounds, 3 ounces.

But like all good fishermen, Stringer said he wasn’t going to get too excited over his … well, stringer.

“I’m excited, but I’m not going to go ape over it,” said Stringer. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s only halftime. We still have two more days of fishing to go. Tomorrow is going to be a whole new ballgame.”

However, if tomorrow’s ballgame goes anything like today, Stringer will be in good shape.

“Today, my goal was to go out there and catch 10 pounds,” he said. “I thought that would be enough to make the cut. But I wound up catching two fish early and I had a limit by 10 a.m. fishing my secondary spots. I really wasn’t trying to catch 21 pounds today, but it just happened. As soon as I caught my limit though, I pretty much stopped fishing for the rest of the day. I wanted to help my partner out as much as I could. He wound up catching four fish, and, if he didn’t lose one, he would’ve had a limit. So, overall, I felt pretty good.”

According to Stringer, because the weather should remain similar to today’s conditions over the remainder of the tournament, he doesn’t plan on making many changes.

“I really don’t think the fish are going to change over the next two days,” said Stringer, who used a combination of Stanley Wedge Hogs and Stanley Wedge spinnerbaits to land the majority of his catch. “I’m pretty much going to fish the same pattern but in a few different areas.”

Stringer said the key to fishing Sam Rayburn this week is slowing down the presentation.

“I’m fishing very slowly,” he said. “Really, I’m fishing slower than I normally like to fish. But when you’re technique is working, it’s a lot easier to stay focused.”

Although he is calm now, Stringer said the excitement will build as the tournament progresses.

“I hope I catch a good limit tomorrow. And hopefully, it will be enough to make the top-10 cut,” he said. “But if I wind up catching 35 pounds, I’d love it.”

Pickett makes a move

With a 14th-place finish in Wednesday’s competition, Lloyd Pickett knew that he needed a good catch today to guarantee a spot in Friday’s semifinals. As it turned out, he need not have worried. Using a 19-pound, 4-ounce catch on the second day of competition, Pickett recorded an overall two-day catch of 32 pounds, 14 ounces to qualify for the semifinals in second place.

“Everything just went right for me today,” said Pickett, who is fishing his first full season in the EverStart Central Division this year. “It feels great. I felt confident coming into this tournament and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”

Pickett said that he used a combination of Carolina rigs and soft plastics to secure his catch.

“Basically, I’m really a finesse fisherman,” said Pickett, who targeted bushes and points in today’s competition. “And I think the conditions really helped me today because I like to fish slowly.”

According to Pickett, it will take about 15 pounds in the Pro Division to survive tomorrow’s top-10 cut.

Best of the rest

Larry Lovell of Emory, Texas, finished in third place with a two-day catch of 31 pounds, 1 ounce.

Rounding out the top five pros was day-one leader Joe Gundel (fourth) of Seligman, Mo., with a catch of 30 pounds, 4 ounces; and local favorite David Truax (fifth) of Beaumont, Texas, with a catch of 30 pounds, 3 ounces.

Ben Carroll of Kissimmee, Fla., won the day’s $750 big-bass award after landing a 9-pound, 1-ounce largemouth bass.

Divis does it again

With an opening day catch of 23 pounds, 4 ounces, Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark., didn’t even need to get out of bed today to qualify for today’s top-20 cut in the Co-angler Division. However, sleep was apparently the last thing on his mind in today’s competition. Using a two-day catch of 35 pounds, Divis easily bested the remainder of the field to grab the top qualifying spot heading into tomorrow’s semifinals.

“I really didn’t want to relinquish my lead,” said Divis. “But I know it’s really hard to lead the tournament for four consecutive days. Tomorrow, my goal is to catch at least 10 pounds because I think that’s what it’s going to take to make the cut.”

Divis said that his first-place finish was important for another reason.

“The real advantage you get from finishing first is that you get to go out with the first-place pro in tomorrow’s competition,” said Divis. “And if my partner is on fish, which he probably is, I know I can catch them.”

Still targeting the prespawn bite, Divis said that the conditions should gradually improve throughout the remainder of the tournament.

“By Saturday, if it continues to warm up, the bite is really going to be on,” he said. “And that’s going to push the fish closer to the bushes, which is fine with me.”

Best of the rest

For the second day in a row, Daniel Armstrong of Fayetteville, Ark., finished in second place. Using a two-day catch of 30 pounds, 6 ounces, Armstrong continued to nip at the heels of fellow Fayetteville rival Divis.

Brian Branum of Lewisville, Texas, took the third qualifying position after netting a two-day catch weighing 26 pounds, 9 ounces.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Darren Roberts (fourth) of Nacogdoches, Texas, with a catch of 22 pounds, 10 ounces; and Charles Dubroc (fifth) of Hessmer, La., with a catch of 20 pounds, 4 ounces.

R.D. Lewis of Hemphill, Texas, won $250 for landing the day’s big-bass award in the Co-angler Division. Lewis, who recorded a monstrous 10-pound largemouth, netted the largest bass of the tournament to date.

EverStart Central Division action continues at tomorrow’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. Central at the Twin Dikes Marina, located at Highway 255 in Brookeland, Texas.