Shallow-water anglers retaliate on Ozarks

Donham leads EverStart Series Central Division event

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – On Wednesday the deep-water anglers ruled the roost, but Thursday it was the flippers, pitchers and sight-fishing anglers who moved into the lead at the EverStart Series Central Division event on Lake of the Ozarks.

Dave Donham of Highlandville, Mo., leads the tournament with a two-day total of 38 pounds, 2 ounces.

Donham added 17 pounds, 6 ounces to his day-one catch of 20 pounds, 12 ounces to move atop the leaderboard. He said he has been catching 15 to 20 keepers per day, but was hesitant to reveal exactly what he is doing.

“I’m mostly catching them shallow – 1 to 5 feet,” he said. “I’m fishing a pattern and it’s working in both rivers. I have fished completely different waters the last two days. I went up one river yesterday and the other river today.”

Donham said he had a terrific practice and his biggest problem now is deciding which river to fish Friday.

“I’ve caught big fish in both rivers and lost a 6-pounder today,” he said. “But I can’t really fish both rivers in the same day. Once I commit to one, I’ve pretty much got to stay there.”

Brown `sights’ for second

Gene Brown of West Point, Miss., brought in one of the bigger limits of the day, 19 pounds, 7 ounces, to move into second place with a two-day total of 36 pounds, 12 ounces.

Brown anchored his monster catch with the Pro Division big bass of the day, weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

“It took me two and a half hours to catch her,” Brown said of the big bass. “I actually found her yesterday. I caught the buck this morning, then went and finished out my limit, and then came back and spent the rest of the day fishing for her. She bit with six minutes left in my fishing day.”

Brown has been sight-fishing the last two days, but says he is now out of fish.

“I’ve got nothing to go to tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll be starting fresh and covering the bank, looking for new ones.”

Tormanen third

Paul Tormanen of Lees Summit, Mo., kept after his flipping game plan today, and it produced 15 pounds, 9 ounces by 8 a.m. He is now in third place with a two-day total of 35 pounds, 2 ounces.

“I probably could have caught more weight today, but I figured I had what I needed to make the cut this morning,” Tormanen said. “I decided to lay off my fish and go looking for some new stuff.”

Tormanen is hoping for rainy, cloudy weather to keep his fish from going on beds.

“I’m fishing the last places fish stage before they spawn – 4 to 6 feet of water – and they could leave and go on bed,” he said. “But if it’s rainy and cloudy, it will hold them off and give the sight-fishermen a hard time as well.”

Eakins fourth

Troy Eakins of Nixa, Mo., moved into fourth place today with a two-day total of 35 pounds, 2 ounces.

Eakins is pitching his namesake jig to bedding bass.

“I’m kind of sight-fishing with the jig,” he said. “I’m not really working the fish, I’m just pitching to the light spots and covering a lot of water.”

Eakins said he feels more fish are moving up each day and is confident about the next two days.

Ambort sight-fishes for fifth

Eric Ambort of Mabelvale, Ark., weighed in the biggest stringer of the day, 19 pounds, 9 ounces, to move into fifth with a two-day total of 35 pounds, 15 ounces.

Ambort is sight-fishing, and he said the difference between today and yesterday was being able to catch the females.

“Today I noticed that after I caught a few of the buck bass, the bigger females would move onto the nest,” Ambort said. “So instead of catching the bucks and leaving, I stayed around and caught the females.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros are George Jeane of Evans, La., in sixth place with a two-day total of 34 pounds, 2 ounces; Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky., in seventh place with a two-day total of 33 pounds, 14 ounces; David Curtis of Trinity, Texas, in eighth place with a two-day total of 33 pounds, 10 ounces; Kevin Lasyone of Dry Prong, La., in ninth place with a two-day total of 32 pounds, 15 ounces; and Danny Burns of Ozark, Mo., in 10th place with a two-day total of 32 pounds, 10 ounces.

Taylor still leading co-anglers

Mark Taylor of Mansfield, Mo., defended his No. 1 position in the co-angler division by bringing in two bass for 7 pounds, 3 ounces to push his two-day total to 24 pounds, 7 ounces.

Taylor once again threw his Carolina-rigged brush hog behind his sight-fishing partner to hold onto the lead today.

“I’m going to throw it again tomorrow and hope for the best,” he said.

Mark Guin of Crossett, Ark., is in second place with a two-day total of 23 pounds, 1 ounce.

Guin was one of the few co-anglers to bring in a limit today.

“I caught them on a 4-inch finesse worm,” Guin said. “I was pitching up shallow to rocks and logs. I could feel bream pecking at the worm, and then I would bring it over the first drop and a bass would bite it. It was almost as if the bream were creating such a commotion around the worm that it would attract the bass.”

Jim McDevitt of Eldon, Mo., is in third place with a two-day total of 22 pounds.

Tom Medlock of Licking, Mo., is in fourth place with a two-day total of 21 pounds, 1 ounce.

And Brett Pinion of Webb City, Mo., is in fifth place with 19 pounds, 11 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are Ron Seabaugh of Barnhart, Mo., in sixth place with a two-day total of 19 pounds, 4 ounces; Todd Lanning of Springfield, Mo., in seventh place with a two-day total of 19 pounds, 4 ounces; Matt Krekovich of Granite City, Ill., in eighth place with a two-day total of 16 pounds, 9 ounces; Mark King of Gurdon, Ark., in ninth place with a two-day total of 15 pounds, 10 ounces; and Harold Danford of Alba, Texas, in 10th place with a two-day total of 14 pounds, 12 ounces.

Anton Silvester of Benld, Ill., caught the day-two big bass in the Co-angler Division, weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces.

Day-three competition begins tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park Public Beach No. 2 (PBII).