Lake Chickamauga Day 2 Coverage

Nixon, Wooley out in front as McDonald hunts for a critical kicker

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Video: Watch Michael Wooley catch his day-one kicker

1:30 p.m.: Time to scramble

For pros such as Larry Nixon and Michael Wooley, who've already put together big limits today, the remaining minutes are time to look for a hawg upgrade or do a little scouting for tomorrow. For Wesley Strader, Andy Morgan and others who are struggling, now's the time to pull a rabbit out of the hat and uncover a school of feeding fish. And in between are, literally, dozens of anglers who're averaging 15 to 17 pounds per day who need to move up to gain valuable points toward Cup qualification and pounds and ounces that could equate to thousands of dollars.

The sun is out now, and the wind has straightened the flag. It should be go time for both shallow and deep patterns. Weigh-in begins in 90 minutes. To see how the field makes out, tune in to FLW Live at FLWFishing.com at 3 p.m. ET.

12:00 p.m.: Look out for Larry Nixon

The General Larry Nixon is making a move now. He's fishing right by Michael Wooley, and now that the rest of the crowd has left, the two have run of the school. Nixon's last two keepers will go about 5 and 7 pounds. He's fired up now.

Nixon came into today in 33rd place with 17 pounds, 5 ounces. He'll probably move into the top 20 today, and if he catches one more hawg he could make a big, big move. How great would it be to see the General fish the weekend.

10:40 a.m.: Michael Wooley found his flurry

As fast as the sun popped out, Michael Wooley, Stetson Blaylock and Larry Nixon all started putting fish in the boat. They're fishing right by each other, and right now Wooley seems to be dialed in the best. He caught a giant pushing 9 pounds and has culled up to about 20 pounds with three recent keepers. Nixon just popped one around 5 pounds to fill his limit. Blaylock has landed a giant and another solid 4-pound-class fish. He's finishing up his limit.

Wooley is the leader now, possibly by several pounds by unofficial weight estimates. Get ready, because the action is really picking up.

9:50 a.m: The action is picking up; McDonald back on top

From a creature comfort standpoint, today is a much more pleasant day than yesterday. A cool breeze and lower air temperature have settled over Dayton and Lake Chickamauga. The relief from Southern summer weather hasn't been accompanied by great fishing this morning, but it's starting to pick up a little now.

Michael Neal has four small fish and says the bass haven't started eating moving baits yet. Billy McDonald has a limit, but his are small too. They weigh maybe 12 pounds. John Cox is still stuck on three, though his are a bit better quality.

Other top-10 anglers Cody Meyer (zero keepers), Alex Davis (one keeper) and Michael Wooley (two keepers) are going to need to pick up the pace over the midday hours.

8:55 a.m.: It's slow from top to bottom

It seems like the cloud cover and wind might actually be hurting the bite right now. Michael Wooley's flurry took place during a short window of sunny conditions, but since then he's gone cold. Other boats keep heading farther and farther south, looking for a ledge with some active fish. Overall, it's surprisingly slow this morning.

Surely, though, the action will pick up as the approaching storm front gets closer to the lake.

8:05 a.m.: John Cox is out front early

Somehow, Billy McDonald managed to shake our OTW reporter, so until we can catch up and get a current estimate of his weight, we're calling John Cox the unofficial leader. He's got three fish for about 8 pounds. Michael Wooley has landed a couple of small keepers too.

Elsewhere, the morning was a lot less productive for Tennessee pro Brad Knight, who locked through to Watts Bar yesterday en route to catching 22 pounds, 9 ounces to open the event in seventh. Unfortunately, a few barges had the lock blocked off this morning, and it was going to be several hours before they could clear the lock. Knight had to turn around. One of our reporters up on Watts Bar says there were fish busting all over in the area where Knight was fishing.

6:45 a.m.: Billy Mac leads the charge

It's moving day here on Lake Chickamauga, for stop No. 5 of the Walmart FLW Tour presented by Igloo Coolers. Indiana pro Billy McDonald leads the field with 29 pounds, 12 ounces, but there's a cluster of top ledge fishermen behind him who are looking to make a move.

Also behind McDonald is third-place pro John Cox, who unofficially is the new AOY leader. Cox says he caught his fish in 10 casts yesterday fishing shallow. McDonald had similar flurries, both deep and shallow. Second-place pro Michael Wooley didn't waste any time either. He had his limit by 8 a.m.

Will a flurry of ledge-dwelling bass propel someone new into the top 20 today? Will forecast afternoon showers ignite a shallow bite? Can local favorite Wesley Strader rebound from a tough first day and reclaim his AOY lead?

Stay tuned througout the day find the answers to those questions.