Jordan clings to Eufaula lead

Bank beaters make a move at Stren Southeast

EUFAULA, Ala. – Day-one leaders in the Stren Series Southeast event on Lake Eufaula held their ground on day two, but a new crop of bank beaters is beginning to infiltrate the staging-bass stronghold.

Frank Jordan Jr. of Bainbridge, Ga., still leads the event thanks to a 10-pound, 7-ounce limit today, which brought his two-day total to 35 pounds, 5 ounces, giving him just a scant 5-ounce lead.

However, his big-fish staging area from day one played out on him today.

“I think I might have caught all the big ones yesterday,” Jordan said. “My co-angler did catch about a 4-pounder in there today, but that was it for big fish. I finished out a limit by lunch time and then headed shallow to catch my best fish – a 3-pounder.”

Jordan is cranking on his deeper-water spot and throwing a ChatterBait when he goes shallow.

“Also, I think the boat traffic might have hurt that deep spot some,” he said. “I’m fishing at the mouth of a big spawning area, and guys who are fishing up shallow have to run right through my area to get in there, and all that boat noise can’t be helping things.”

As for tomorrow, Jordan hopes the forecasted wind and clouds will help him.

“Every day I’ve fished here this week, I’ve done better in the cloudy weather or first thing in the morning with low light,” he added. “Once that bright sun gets up, things slow down. So hopefully some heavy clouds will move in tomorrow and make some bigger ones bite again.”

Brown second

Michael Brown of Rocky Face, Ga., has put together two nice limits of 16 pounds, 13 ounces and 18 pounds, 3 ounces for a two-day total of 35 pounds even to move up into second place.

Brown’s limit today was anchored by a 6-14 bass, which took Snickers Big Bass honors in the Pro Division.

Brown is fishing shallow and concentrating on a particular type of cover in 2 to 3 feet of water.

“I’m flipping a jig and catching fish moving in and out of creeks and bays to spawn,” he said. “If the water keeps dropping, though, I might be in trouble. Some of the water I found in practice is getting awfully shallow, so I might have to move out tomorrow.”

Ingram third

Ryan Ingram of Phenix City, Ala., held on to his third-place position from yesterday with a two-day total of 34 pounds, 5 ounces.

Ingram is fishing offshore, and things got a little tougher on him today as he boated just seven keepers.

“I actually backed out and fished deeper than I did yesterday, and I managed to catch one gift fish out there by accident – a 5-pounder – out in about 25 feet of water. But I just don’t think there are many of those kinds of fish left. I hit 15 places just like that one today and only caught that one big fish.

“I really don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow,” he added. “I might go upriver and try it up there. I have not fished up there all year, but those fish are usually a little bit behind the main-lake fish, so maybe there are some still staging out deeper up there.”

Postelle fourth

Adam Postelle of Rocky Face, Ga., posted one of the biggest limits of day two with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 9 ounces. His two-day total now has him at 33 pounds, 6 ounces for fourth place.

Postelle is one of the bank beaters that’s starting to make a move. He is fishing shallow, and today he got bigger bites than he did yesterday.

“I’m just covering a lot of water with a spinnerbait,” Postelle said. “My target depth is 2 to 5 feet of water in grassy pockets. I’ll hit one pocket then run to the next. I got the same number of bites as I did yesterday – seven – a few were just bigger fish today.”

Browne fifth

Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla., dug into his fifth position from yesterday and held his ground with a two-day total of 33 pounds, 5 ounces.

Browne is also beating the banks with jigs, spinnerbaits and vibrating jigs to catch his fish, but he noted that the falling water has forced him to back off the bank.

“I’m still fishing shallow grass and stuff, it’s just off the bank as opposed to right on the bank,” he said. “I caught a limit south this morning and then came back up here and culled out almost everything. I’ve found a couple of key places up here that I’m slowing down on. I’ll probably spend a lot more time up here tomorrow.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros in the Stren Series Southeast event after day two:

6th: Lee McCracken of Ocala, Fla., two-day total of 33-1

7th: Dewayne Byrd of Leroy, Ala., two-day total of 32-9

8th: Steve Stewart of Donalsonville, Ga., two-day total of 32-5

9th: Bobby Padgett of LaGrange, Ga., two-day total of 31-7

10th: Dearal Rodgers of Camden, S.C., two-day total of 29-12

Mason leads co-anglers

Roger Mason of Heflin, Ala., added 15 pounds, 3 ounces to his day-one catch of 12 pounds, 8 ounces to take the co-angler lead on Eufaula with a two-day total of 27 pounds, 11 ounces.

Mason kept pace with pro Nicholas Supik today with moving baits, as Supik put the run-and-gun on shallow grass.

“I caught a total of seven keepers,” Mason said. “But we never really found them grouped up anywhere, it was just a one-here-one-there kind of thing.”

Zadlo second

Butch Zadlo of Boone, N.C., is in second place with a two-day total of 25 pounds, 1 ounce.

“I’ve been throwing all reaction baits – spinnerbaits and crankbaits,” Zadlo said. “I have not been able to make them bite anything slow. The water has a lot of color to it, and it seems the fish want something moving fast.”

Rest of the best

Daniel Beckham of Lake City, Fla., is in third place with a two-day total of 22 pounds, 6 ounces.

Jason Ober of Johnstown, Pa., is in fourth place with a two-day total of 21 pounds, 6 ounces.

Day-one leader Jamie Bladow of Houston, Ala., fell to fifth with a two-day total of 20 pounds, 11 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the Stren Series Southeast event on Lake Eufaula after day two:

6th: John Allen of Midland, Ga., two-day total of 20-0

7th: Aaron Fahnestock of Enterprise, Ala., two-day total of 19-13

8th: Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., two-day total of 19-0

9th: Dan Morrow of Eastanollee, Ga., two-day total of 18-12

10th: Eddie Parker of Cleveland, Tenn., two-day total of 18-12

Big bass

William Combs of Villa Rica, Ga., caught the Big Bass in the Co-angler Division on day two weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounce.

Day three of the Stren Series Southeast on Lake Eufaula will begin at 7 a.m. at Lakepoint State Park on Friday.