Late day weather may shuffle the deck on Monroe

Rainy conditions likely for Southeastern Regional Championship

SANFORD, Fla. – At yesterday’s weigh-ins, several teams reported that their better bites came in the afternoon, but day two of the FLW National Guard College Fishing Series Southeastern Regional Championship on Lake Monroe will see less-than-ideal conditions later in the day.

With a low pressure system moving toward Central Florida, cloudy skies are a given and rain – possibly thunderstorms – appears likely. Winds will switch from yesterday’s northerly direction to a southerly blow and intensify to 10-15 mph. This may give anglers fits, but those who adapt well and make smart decisions could find the fish feeding heavily ahead of the rough weather.

Leading the field is the University of Florida team of Matthew Wercinski and Jake Gipson. The Gator anglers caught five bass yesterday and posted a 12-pound, 12-ounce total. Gipson said they worked the entire lake and threw a diversity of lures, but their better bites came later in the day when Wercinski dialed in on a particular pattern that remains highly classified.

The leaders will return to their top pattern after starting their day by seeking out schooling fish with jerkbaits and lipless crankbaits. Wercinski said he and Gipson are hoping to grab just enough weight to ensure their spot in tomorrow’s final round, while saving some quality fish for the last day.

“We’re not even hoping for a limit today,” he said. “We want to qualify (for Monday’s finale), so we think four of five fish will do it for us. We’re just going to run the same stuff we did yesterday and if we hit it at the right time, we’ll catch them quickly. If not, we’ll just go bust out a limit.”

With the potential for winning a new Ranger boat wrapped in Gator colors, plus $25,000 for their school within reach, Wercinski said: “That would be the best thing that could happen for our club. We just started this year and we’re trying to recruit some members.”

Trailing the lead by 2 pounds, 9 ounces, Kennesaw State’s Jake Akin and Thomas Frink bring a 10-3 total into day two. They fared well on a long grassy shoreline yesterday. They’ll return to this spot today and work it thoroughly with reaction baits.

“We’re just going to cover a lot of water,” Akin said. “We have a big stretch of grass where the fish seem to be. We’ll just go back and forth and eventually they’ll turn on and we’ll get `em.”

Frink said the fish were jacked on day two: “When they eat the bait, it’s like a shark eating it. You see them waking toward it.”

Such aggression was a welcome relief after a slow start for Kennesaw: “We didn’t have a keeper (yesterday) until after noon. Now, we know what’s going on, so if we have to fish until later (for keepers), we’re not going to be too worried.

“It’s just typical Florida fishing – you know where the fish are and you just have to figure out how to catch them. In the changing conditions, you have to slow down, speed up.”

The third place team, Auburn’s Dennis Parker and Shaye Baker, will hang their hopes on a small area where a natural spring enters the lake. Tight confines and high visibility present a challenging scenario, but Parker said he and his partner are confident that the spot can produce some, or all, of their limit.

“The place where we’re going, we’re hoping that we’re the first ones to hop in there,” Parker said. “I think we can fill out a limit there and then come out on the main lake and see if we can get a big bite. There are some big fish back in (the spring area), but it’s really tough getting them to bite.

“This spot is a lot clearer than the tannic water of the main lake. That intimidates some people because you can see every fish. We’re having to downsize and use smaller baits to try and talk them into biting.”

Notably, Auburn University accounted for the only two limits caught on day one. Parker and Baker caught six fish for 9 pounds, 13 ounces, while fellow Tigers Richard Peek and Caleb Rodgers sacked up six for 7-4.

Tournament logistics

The top five FLW College Fishing teams from each of the four regular-season Southeastern Division tournaments gained automatic entry into the 2009 Southeastern Regional Championship at the University of Central Florida. During the three-day regional event, 20 two-man collegiate angling teams will compete for a top award of $50,000, which includes a 177TR Ranger wrapped in school colors and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard engine.

Daily takeoffs are at 7 a.m. at Monroe Harbour, located at 531 N. Palmetto Avenue in Sanford. Sunday and Monday’s weigh-ins start at 4 p.m. on days two and three at the University of Central Florida’s IOA Plaza.

University of Central Florida will also host the Reel Life Festival in conjunction with the Southeast Regional Championship. The free festival, located at the University of Central Florida’s IOA Plaza, will feature a Battle of the Bands, the National Guard Warrior Challenge ropes course, rock-climbing wall, paintball range, geocaching plus a variety of other activities. On Sunday, the Reel Life Festival runs from noon to 4 p.m. Monday, the Reel Life Festival will run in conjunction with the tournament weigh-in from 4 to 7 p.m. Reel Life Festival visitors can register to win an iPod Nano, which will be given away Sunday, and a MacBook Air, which will be given away Monday.

The top five teams from each of the five National Guard regional championships (Western, Central, Northern, Texas and Southeast) will advance to the National Guard National Championship April 10-12, 2010, in Knoxville, Tenn. The winning team at the national championship will qualify for the prestigious 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.

Sunday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 6:56 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 65 degrees

Expected high temperature: 80 degrees

Water temperature: 60-61 degrees

Wind: from the SSE-SW 10-15 mph

Max. Humidity: 78 percent

Day’s outlook: Cloudy, thunderstorms possible