Meyer sacks 34-5, East takes overall lead
Several brackets flip-flop as conditions change
DEL RIO, Texas – The action at the inaugural Wal-Mart FLW Series East-West Fish-Off heated up on day two – literally and figuratively. Friday’s high temperature rose nearly 10 degrees and there was virtually no wind. The change in conditions led to major flip-flopping. For the second consecutive day, a National Guard Western Division pro is at the top of the leaderboard, but the BP Eastern Division leads overall 16-14.
Although the East owns the overall lead, seven of the top 10 pros are Western anglers. The biggest bag of the tournament now belongs to pro Clayton Meyer, who also owns the lead in the Pro Division. His five bass Friday weighed an astonishing 34 pounds, 5 ounces. In fact, Meyer’s 34-5 is the second-heaviest day-two catch in the history of FLW Outdoors. On day one he caught only 12-5, but he proved you’re never out of contention on Lake Amistad.
“I don’t really know how I did it,” Meyer said. “They just ate all day, I couldn’t do anything wrong.”
The Las Vegas pro said he caught a dozen keepers on the day. His best action was in the morning, but he was surprised at how good the fishing was in the afternoon.
“The serious lack of wind helped a bunch, especially later in the day.”
Meyer used the same jigs he did on day one, but he presented them slower. His jig of choice was a 5/8-ounce football-head with a single-tail Yamamoto grub in green-pumpkin color.
“I’m fishing in 20 feet or less and I’m looking for as little vegetation as possible. I’m basically trying to find open areas.”
At one point in the afternoon, he picked up a swimbait. He had a giant hooked, but it shook off. He immediately threw back with the jig and caught it. The fish weighed 7 pounds and was the third-heaviest in his stringer behind a 10-6 and an 8.
“I threw four 4-pound fish back that I didn’t even cull. So I probably threw 20 pounds back altogether.”
At the end of the day-one weigh-in, Meyer trailed his bracketmate, Mark Rose, by 14 pounds. At the end of day two, he leads Rose by nearly 8 pounds and the overall competition by 7 ounces.
“Right now, since I’m leading it, my goal is to win it. After yesterday, I was just trying to find a way to catch a good limit and close some ground on Mark.”
Russell consistent, saves some for later
Coming in with the second-heaviest two-day total was Neil Russell of Nampa, Idaho. His 19 pounds, 10 ounces Friday combined with his Thursday catch of 26-9 for a total of 46-3 gives him a 21-pound lead over Snickers pro Chris Baumgardner.
“I didn’t get the big fish today, but I had a couple that were over 5 pounds,” he said. “My key spot was good to me again. I left there at 8:30 this morning because I’m trying to manage my fish.”
Like many others, Russell is dragging a 3/4-ounce football-head jig. He’s also using a 1-ounce Carolina Rig with kudzu-colored Zoom Brush Hog. Both baits are being presented in 15-28 feet of water. The bottom of the water column where Russell is targeting his bass is covered with six inches of hydrilla. It is also adjacent to a spawning flat, which is why he believes it has the ability to replenish.
“I did the same thing as I did yesterday. I actually missed one fish on a jig and came back at it with spinnerbait. I also tried a swimbait and a spoon with no luck.
“Tomorrow I’m going to milk it (his primary area) and see what’s there. The first priority is a limit, but if I can catch those big fish tomorrow morning I could possibly win it.”
Lefebre enjoying his swimbait education
The 2004 FLW Tour champion at Old Hickory Lake, Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., is adding to his angling repertoire this week at Lake Amistad. With several victories and Angler of the Year titles across the FLW Outdoors circuit spectrum, it’s hard to imagine that the Kellogg’s pro could get any better.
“I’m still swinging and having a lot of fun,” said Lefebre. “I’m doing something here that I’ve never done before. I’m not real familiar with the finer points of it either. As a result, I’m losing a lot of fish. I lost a 9-pounder today, but I’m getting better.”
Despite losing the monster, he still managed a 20-pound limit. His two-day total weight is now 44 pounds, 15 ounces, which gives him a 12-pound, 15-ounce lead over Western pro Rusty Salewske.
“I’ve got a little-fish spot that I’m going to hit first thing in the morning,” Lefebre added. “I’m hoping to get 12 pounds there and then I can go searching for big fish again.”
Wick whacks 24-15, leads Herren by nearly 20 pounds
Ken Wick improved his catch considerably on day two. The Star, Idaho, native managed a respectable 
18-13 Thursday and enhanced that to 24-15 today. While it looks good on paper, Wick only had 8 pounds in his livewell at 2 p.m.
“My next two fish were over 8 pounds and I caught them on back-to-back casts,” he said.
Wick, who finished fourth at the 2007 FLW Tour event on the Potomac River, is hopping a 1/2-ounce, green-pumpkin jig down a bluff. His bait starts in 10 feet of water and he works it down to 40 feet. The technique is netting him an average of 20 fish per day, but it really turns on in earnest at noon.
“There has to be trees for it to work. It’s weird because there are no 3- or 4-pounders. It is either 2 1/2 or its 5 pounds or better.”
Although Wick has nearly a 20-pound lead, he feels his bracket is far from over.
“Matt Herren had 40 pounds one day in practice. I better catch them again tomorrow.”
King Kenney looking to go back to back
J.T. Kenney of Port Charlotte, Fla., caught the fifth-heaviest weight in the opening round – 42 pounds, 12 ounces – and still has his hands full with Benton City, Wash., pro Clint Johanson. Yesterday, Johanson caught an 11-pounder, but he only managed 12-15 for five on Friday. With one day remaining, Kenney has an 8-pound lead.
“I went back to my big-fish area and fished it differently,” he said. “It wasn’t fast and furious, but we caught fish pretty consistently.”
Between him and his co-angler partner, Kenney estimates 40 keeper bass were brought into the BP boat. Kenney’s five biggest bass weighed 27-4, which is the second-heaviest catch of the tournament thus far. His kicker fish weighed over 8 pounds and he had several others over 6.
“I’m fishing deep with a creature bait,” added Kenney, who is looking for back-to-back FLW Series victories.
For more bracket racket, see Quick Bites. For the complete pro standings, click here.
Bjorklund takes co-angler lead
Bob Bjorklund, the 2007 Co-angler of the Year in the Eastern Division is leading the co-anglers on Lake Amistad with a two-day total of 34 pounds, 14 ounces.
“I haven’t had to find fish all week, it’s been great,” said Bjorklund, who is fishing both the FLW Tour and the FLW Series Eastern Division as a professional in 2008. “My partners, Brett Hite and Rusty Salewske, they’ve had me on an awful lot of fish. I can catch fish, but finding fish is what it’s all about as a pro.”
The Centennial, Colo., angler had nearly all his weight in the boat by 8:30 this morning. He caught 10 keepers in the 30-40 foot range with finesse jigs and football-head jigs.
This is likely Bjorklund’s last event as a co-angler and he’d like to go out with a bang. Twice in his career he’s been leading a tournament heading into the final day only to lose his grip at the end.
“I’m all about the money this week.”
Lucas looking for three consecutive FLW Series wins
Don’t look now, but here comes National Guard co-angler Justin Lucas. With one day of competition remaining, he’s only an ounce off the lead. If he does win tomorrow, it would be Lucas’ third consecutive FLW Series win. His first two were in the Western Division on the Columbia River and Clear Lake.
“That’s got to be some kind of record, right?” asked the Folsom, Calif., native.
Although Lucas is making it look easy, he claims he didn’t have a good practice.
“Twelve pounds was my best day, so I’m happy with what I’ve weighed.”
On day one, he caught 17-13 and he followed that up with 17 even today. All that weight is coming on 3/4-ounce football-head jigs and Senkos.
Lindner, Blaylock, Hagood round out top five
Steve Lindner of Lakewood, Calif., fell one spot from second to third after catching a limit that weighed 10 pounds, 7 ounces. His total weight is 31 pounds, 15 ounces.
“They wouldn’t eat my baits today,” he said. “I didn’t miss any fish, didn’t lose any fish. Today we moved a little quicker and I couldn’t present my baits the way I wanted to.”
Stetson Blaylock, the winner of the 2007 FLW Series Eastern Division event on Pickwick Lake, is fourth with 29-2. Rounding out the top five for the co-anglers is Darrell Hagood, who has a two-day total of 28-8.
The final day of the Fish-Off begins as the 60 boats take off from the East Diablo launch ramp at Lake Amistad Marina in Del Rio at 7 a.m. Central time.