Tindall takes Stren Series lead by 1 ounce

Shallow bite outweighing deep bite in Northeast Division event at Kerr Lake

HENDERSON, N.C. – The sun shone brightly on Kerr Lake Thursday, drying out the Stren Series Northeast anglers who endured soaking rains yesterday.

Anglers reported that the lake is now coming up and yesterday’s rains have stained up certain portions of the lake, which some anglers are using to their advantage.

Leading the event with a two-day total of 31 pounds, 8 ounces is Curt Tindall of Brandon, Vt.

Today, Tindall sacked one of the biggest catches of the tournament, 17 pounds, 4 ounces, to take the lead by 1 ounce.

Tindall is fishing in the Nutbush Creek area and noted that his area is a key part of his pattern. He is Carolina rigging what he calls “mid-depths” for his fish.

“I’m not shallow, but I’m not really deep, either,” he said. “It’s very `in between’ water is the best way to describe it. I had what I needed to make the cut today by about 11:30, and then I went looking for more of the specific kind of structure that the fish seem to be relating to.”

Burgess second

Mark Burgess of Norton, Mass., brought in 17 pounds, 2 ounces today for a two-day total of 31 pounds, 7 ounces, enough weight for second.

Burgess is fishing “extremely shallow” and has defined a specific pattern that he can run over a larger portion of the lake, thanks to the stained water.

“The rising water and increased stain have really helped me,” Burgess said. “I’m fishing so shallow that if the water was clear, you’d be able to see the fish, and they’d spook too easy. Originally, I only had a small area of stained water where this technique would work. But since more water has stained up, it’s opened up a lot more water for me to incorporate into my pattern.”

Montgomery goes shallow to grab third

Day-one leader Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., is in third place with a two-day total of 30 pounds, 1 ounce.

Montgomery has located two schools of deep fish, but could not get them to bite today.

“I started out deep, and for some reason, I couldn’t get those deep fish to fire up like I did yesterday,” he said. “I figured the sun would help that bite today, but it didn’t. Usually if you can get one fish to eat, the rest of them will start feeding, but it never happened today.

“I had to go shallow to salvage my day. I caught three pretty quick in the shallows on a jig and then picked up a couple more keepers during the day.”

Even though Montgomery has caught a lot of shallow-water fish over the last two days, he still feels the winning ticket is deep.

“Yesterday, on one deep spot, I caught a 3 1/2- and a 4 1/2-(pounder) on back-to-back casts,” he added. “On the third cast, I hung a huge fish that pulled off. And once it pulled off, the whole school quit biting.”

McDonald fishing docks for fourth

Tim McDonald of Hagerhill, Ky., sits in fourth with a two-day total of 29 pounds, 9 ounces.

McDonald has primarily fished shallow the last two days, working what he calls “a unique pattern around docks.”

“The sun really helped me today,” he said. “It helped position the fish a little better than yesterday. I caught eight or nine keepers and probably could have caught more, but I knew I didn’t need them today, so I laid off.”

Baumgardner stays shallow for fifth

Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., also beat the banks today to stay in the top five with a two-day total of 28 pounds, 11 ounces.

After catching his fish on a spinnerbait yesterday, Baumgardner had to adjust today to topwaters, jigs and Zoom Superflukes.

“I’m just fishing, running and gunning, pulling over and throwing at anything that looks good,” he said. “I caught some off docks today and a few off visible breaks from 3 to about 8 feet of water.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros in Stren Series Northeast competition on Kerr Lake after day two:

6th: Tracy Watkins of Williamston, S.C., 27-14

7th: Henry Zienwicz of Bud Lake, N.J., 27-7

8th: Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va., 26-13

9th: Christopher Sumansky of Renfrew, Pa., 26-0

10th: Ray Griffin of Poland, N.Y., 25-15

Love leads co-anglers

Gary Love of Roanoke Rapids, N.C., leads the Co-angler Division of the Stren Series Northeast with a two-day total of 23 pounds, 3 ounces.

“I owe it all to my partners,” Love said of being in the lead. “Both were great guys that were around fish. Each day my partners and I have caught limits, and it just makes for a great time when that happens two days in a row.”

Love reported catching his day-two limit, weighing 13 pounds, 3 ounces, on a spinnerbait from deep water.

Chet Beam of Apex, N.C., dragged a Carolina rig yesterday and used a Shaky Head today to catch two limits, totaling 22 pounds, 14 ounces, for second place.

Brent Nelson of Acworth, Ga., relied on his home-lake knowledge of skipping docks on Lake Lanier to help at Kerr Lake today, catching 15 pounds, 4 ounces for a two-day total of 20 pounds and third place.

Yesterday’s leader, Phillip Eakes of Bahama, N.C., is now in fourth with a two-day total of 19 pounds, 8 ounces.

Greg Lineberry of Galax, Va., holds down fifth place with a two-day total of 19 pounds, 8 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the Stren Northeast on Kerr Lake after day two:

6th: Marc Wagy of Dewitt, Va., 19-2

7th: Daniel Peterman of Hollidaysburg, Pa., 18-12

8th: William Henning of Kernersville, N.C., 17-2

9th: Michael McMahon of Hackettstown, N.J., 17-0

10th: Moo Bae of West Friendship, Md., 16-5

The top-20 cut has been made on the pro and co-angler side. The semifinal round begins tomorrow from Satterwhite Point Marina at 6 a.m.