Keowee Day 2 Coverage
It's cut day on Keowee
Though we aren’t covering the FLW College Fishing National Championship with a Tour-sized crew, we’ll still do our best to keep you updated throughout the day. Day two looks like another perfect one for fishing the championship, which is presented by the Lowrance Insight Genesis College Cup.
Day 2 On-the-Water Photo Gallery
Day 1 On-the-Water Photo Gallery
Day 1 Headline Story – Dallas Baptist Leads College Championship
2:00 p.m.: Spawners tough to catch, but cruisers and dock bass are biting
Nothing is coming easily to the 54 teams fishing on day two of the 2016 FLW College Fishing National Championship on Lake Keowee, but a lot of teams are starting to solve Keowee's puzzle. There are spawners on the bank that are reluctant to bite, but spotted bass spawning in deeper water under docks are a bit more aggressive. Also, cruisers in the shallows and even postspawn fish tucked up under docks are biting, with the dock bite getting better now that the sun is high in the sky.
Most anglers have downsized to throwing finesse baits. Tomorrow, if the rain that's in the forecast does come, the morning reaction bite might be even better, and the spawners might be really tough to see. Also, a possible cooldown could bump those fish off the bank. Teams will have to be ready to change up again.
The Auburn team of Timmy Ward and Mitchell Jennings reported a pretty good day. The Tigers had 12-3 yesterday but believe they have a better limit already today. Their bites are pretty spaced out. When one does bite, though, it's a pretty good one.
Weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at South Cove County Park on Keowee. Tune in via FLW Live on the FLWFishing.com home page.
1:00 p.m.: The sun is out in full force
The sun is shining bright on Keowee now and the teams are starting to move around a lot more than previously. Earlier, moving baits and shaded banks were the order of the day, but many teams appear to be trying to reconnect with shallow fish they saw earlier in the day or during practice.
Kristopher “KJ” Queen of Bethel is taking advantage of the sun in a pretty big way. He’s filled his limit and culled three times in the last hour or so and probably has about 10 pounds in the box at the moment. Queen has been moving fast, tossing a soft plastic around docks, mostly in the back of pockets. If he can get a big bite, he’ll certainly be in the hunt for a win tomorrow.
11:30: The action is picking up
At about 11 a.m., the Adrian College team of Jeff Morton and Nicholas Marsh was pretty down. It had zero fish in the boat, whereas on day two, Morton and Marsh had landed a limit in the first hour.
With reaction baits in hand, they quickly turned the corner though, boxing a fat 2 1/2-pound spot and another small keeper. A few minutes later, Adrian teammates Jarrett Martin and Jacob Bayer idled by and reported to their buddies that they had a limit, including one that they'd caught shallow in the back of the same creek.
The sun has finally started to warm up the Seneca, S.C., area. Teams are shedding their coats and bibs, and bare legs are exposed on the guys wearing shorts. It's going to be a beautiful afternoon that will hopefully include some better fish catches. This morning's bite has been pretty tough.
The first-place team from Dallas Baptist checks in with a small limit. In second place, Texas A&M has three for about 4 1/2 pounds. We might see some leaderboard shakeup, but one thing that's certain is that it's gonig to be a jam-packed top 10.
Morton and Marsh just spotted a couple of fish breaking the surface. Gotta run …
10:a.m.: Still tough on Keowee
Texas A&M might have just experienced a heartbreaker. The Aggies lost a 3-pounder that hung up on a dock cable, though since then they've added a second 1 1/2-pounder to the livewell. They're running and gunning pockets in search of spawners.
Dallas Baptist still has four. The Patriots are working pretty slowly and thoroughly covering water. Hines has looked at a few from the front deck, but he's not wasting much time with them. There's a fair amount of activity in the creek where Dallas Baptist is fishing, likely do to the lingering cloud cover, and he's trying to get them to eat reaction baits. He and Foster have seen fish boil on the surface and bait flipping out of the water.
We're about to leave Dallas Baptist to bounce around and get more updates, but we have a cameraman in the boat who should be able to keep us posted on the leaders' progresss. Foster and Hines say their goal is 10 to 12 pounds today. They'll need to fill a limit and upgrade a couple fish to get there.
9:00 a.m.: Waiting for sunshine to heat up the bed bite
Thus far, the shallow action has been pretty slow on Keowee. Tournament leaders Dallas Baptist and Texas A&M ran to their first spots some 18 miles apart and immediately started throwing reaction baits for spotted bass. Dallas Baptist put four itty bitty spots in the boat before 9 a.m. A&M didn't land any on reaction baits, but was able to pull an early 1 1/2-pounder off a bed to start strong. Dallas Baptist's Zackery Hines worked a small keeper on a bed for a couple minutes, but she wasn't big enough for him to waste too much time. He says he has several much better quality fish marked in other cuts.
Interestingly, Hines told us that he went to Texas A&M when he started college, but when he decided that tournament fishing was his future and not mechanical engineering, he transferred to Dallas Baptist to study business and learn how to make fishing his career. He certainly looks like he has the mechanical skills to hang with the big boys. Hines can skip a swimbait through one side of a large U-shaped floating dock, through the slip and out the other side. Impressive, for sure.
Elsewhere, there's not a lot to report yet. A bit of hazy cloud cover is blocking the sun, and it's still quite chilly on Keowee. It might be a little while before the sight bite really picks up.
8:00 a.m.: Another fantastic day for fishing on Lake Keowee
Conditions might not be ideal for bed-fishing first thing this morning, with a bit of cloud cover and the low-light conditions, but according to the weather forecast the sun is supposed to break out mid-morning in partly cloudy conditions with a light breeze. It sounds like just the right combination to allow a little looking, but to allow teams throwing reaction baits in the morning to continue to catch a few a little later in the day than yesterday, when there was nary a cloud in the sky.
Air temperature was about 54 at takeoff, with a forecast high of 72. Of note is that rain is in the forecast for overnight.
Yesterday, the teams that were able to claim spots at the top of the leaderboard were the teams that were able to get a big bite – a 4- to 6-pounder. A few reported that their big bites came somewhat at random. If it's the same situation today, then any team in the field could easily jump into the top 10 to make the cut, and any team currently in the top 10 could drop out.
It's cut day at the National Championship. Who will make it to Saturday?