Rose pedals ahead
Arkansas pro finds his comfort zone on Chickamauga ledges
HIXSON, Tenn. – Yamaha pro Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., is at it again: mining the ledges of a TVA impoundment to take the lead in yet another FLW Outdoors event.
Today, Rose grinded on his two best areas in Lake Chickamauga to amass another 16-pound catch of ledge bass to take the lead in the FLW Series event with a two-day total of 32 pounds, 8 ounces, giving him a 3 1/2-pound advantage heading into day three.
Over the last several years, Rose has proven his ledge expertise on lakes Pickwick, Guntersville, Kentucky and Wheeler with top finishes. And now he’s looking to add Chickamauga to that list.
Interestingly, when comparing TVA lakes, Rose notes that even though the basics of his ledge game are similar, each lake has some subtle nuances in bass behavior that makes them different.
“On some of the other lakes, I can get the fish fired up with a spoon or crankbait, and then I have to switch to a worm or jig to keep them biting,” Rose revealed. “But here it’s just the opposite. I cannot get them fired up on a reaction bait first. I have to start slow, dragging with a jig. Then, once I catch a couple on the jig, it kind of excites them, and then I can go to the spoon and crankbait to keep them biting.
“You can never make any hard, fast rules in this ledge-fishing game,” he added. “Each lake is different, and I have to keep an open mind at all times and keep trying different things.”
On one of Rose’s spots, he has indentified three different feeding areas or “dinner plates,” as Rose calls them. One ledge corner has stumps, the other ledge corner has a shell bed, and then there is a gut running back into a flat.
“Each day they’ve been on a different part,” he said. “One day they’ll be on the stumps; the other day they’ll be on the shell bed; today they were all the way back in the gut. So each day it takes me a while to find the exact place they’re on.”
Rose’s three key baits are a Strike King ¾-ounce football jig with a Rage Craw Trailer, a 6XD crankbait in root-beer color and a big Sexy Spoon in a color called “Sexy Shad.”
Montgomery slips to second 
Today’s weather on Chickamauga featured more clouds and wind than yesterday’s sunny, slick conditions. While that would seem to turn the shallow grass bite on, the shallow-water runners found that not to be the case.
Day-one leader Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., slipped to second place with a 12-pound, 4-ounce catch today for a two-day total of 28-15.
Montgomery found his shallow-water fish to be harder to come by today.
“It wasn’t near as good today,” Montgomery said. “I don’t know if it was the cloud cover or maybe I caught too many yesterday, but I only caught seven keepers today.”
Part of Montgomery’s pattern is pitching a Zoom Superhog into thick, matted grass, which he thinks bright sun actually helps.
“That flipping bite let me down today,” he explained. “They weren’t set up in the thicker places like they were yesterday; it’s like they were more scattered out or something.”
Remitz jumps to third
Derek Remitz of Grant, Ala., brought in 12 pounds, 13 ounces today to move up into third place with a two-day total of 27-13.
Remitz noted that he is fishing Chickamauga much in the same way he fishes Guntersville in April and May.
“I’m fishing grass along the main channel and inside some side channels,” Remitz said. “The main thing is finding a little shell or some kind of hard spot mixed in with the grass. It seems like each day I find a new shell bar or sweet spot to add into my rotation. Maybe tomorrow I’ll find a couple more to help the cause.”
Suggs climbs to fourth
Folgers pro Scott Suggs moved into the fourth-place spot today with a 13-pound, 15-ounce catch that gives him a two-day total of 26-1.
Suggs is sort of going against the grain by fishing out deep for a little while in the morning and then moving shallow with topwaters in the afternoon.
The Bryant, Ark., pro did say that the clouds and wind certainly helped him today.
“I lost some key fish yesterday because they would not really commit to the topwater in those slick, sunny conditions,” Suggs said. “But today, it was white-capping over my shallow grass, and they would choke that topwater when they got it.”
Strader to fifth
Goodwill pro Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., brought 14 pounds, 6 ounces to the scales today to move up into fifth place with a two-day total of 25-10.
“Yesterday I tried to fish some deep stuff, and it just didn’t work out for me,” Strader said. “So today, I started running shallow grass with a moving bait, fishing some key banks I know, just trying to get a reaction bite, and it seemed to work out better than yesterday.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros in the FLW Series Eastern on Lake Chickamauga after day two:
6th: Pete Thliveros of St. Augustine, Fla., two-day total of 25-7
7th: Tom Mann Jr., of Buford, Ga., two-day total of 25-2
8th: Patrick Baynes of Chatsworth, Ga., two-day total of 25-2
9th: Terry Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., two-day total of 25-0
10th: Jeff Knight of Cleveland, Tenn., two-day total of 24-3
Combs continues to lead co-anglers
The co-angler leader from day one, Aaron Combs of Jackson, Ky., defended his lead today with a four-bass catch for 8 pounds, giving him a two-day total of 24 pounds, 4 ounces.
Yesterday, Combs found success with a weightless Senko. Today it was a Texas-rigged plastic craw and a ChatterBait.
Rest of the best
“I was ripping that craw out of the grass, letting it sink and then ripping it out again,” Combs said.
Patrick Roy of Syracuse, N.Y., is still in second place with a two-day total of 20 pounds, 1 ounce.
Ralph Mulleins of Cumberland, Va., is now in third place with a two-day total of 17 pounds, 3 ounces.
Jeff Gengler of Tulsa,, Okla., moved to fourth place with a two-day total of 16 pounds.
Jerry Hayden of Charlotte, N.C., rounds out the top five with a two-day total of 14 pounds, 10 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the FLW Series Eastern on Lake Chickamauga after day two:
6th: Lonnie Tidwell of Harriman, Tenn., two-day total of 14-4
7th: Roger Wideman of McCormick, S.C., two-day total of 13-14
8th: Miller Castle of Abingdon, Va., two-day total of 13-4
9th: Ray Pettit of Pacolet, S.C., two-day total of 12-11
10th: James Sharp of Leesburg, Ga., two-day total of 12-3
Day three of the FLW Series Eastern on Lake Chickamauga will begin Friday at 7 a.m. at Chester Frost Park.