Seminole Day 2 Coverage

It's neck and neck atop the leaderboard

QUICK LINKS

Unofficial Leaderboard  – click here

Lake Tour – click here

Tournament Details – click here

Seminole By the Numbers – click here

Day 2 OTW Gallery – click here

Day 2 Marshal Gallery – click here

Day 1 Results – click here

 

1:47 p.m. – Grind time until weigh-in

We’re going to close down the blog and leaderboard for the day. This afternoon is turning into a serious grind for just about every angler out on Seminole. Come back to flwfishing.com at 3 p.m. ET to watch the weigh-in on FLW Live and see who makes the cut to fish into the weekend.

We’ll see you again tomorrow. Thanks for following along.

 

1:15 p.m. – Little lull

There’s really not a whole lot going on right now on the water. Todd Castledine just upgraded to over 19 pounds. Other guys are making a few small culls or catching small keepers. The door is really left open for a lot of anglers to make the cut this afternoon. A late-day flurry could easily send guys fishing tomorrow. That’s also what it’s going to take to see some really big bags at weigh-in.

 

12:42 p.m. – Cox, leaders update

Yesterday, John Cox caught all of his weight late in the day. Today is looking similar, as he only has one 12-incher in his boat. He is clearly dedicated to a sight fishing pattern in the shallows.

Kyle Cortiana is making a jump up the leaderboard today. So far his limit is pushing 15 pounds or so. He will be in the running to make the cut.

We haven’t heard anything significant from our leaders. Setzer, Webster and Beavers really need to get their limits in the boat. It’s not looking like they will have a repeat of their 25-pound bags from yesterday, but they can't lose too much ground.

12:08 p.m. – New leader

Sheldon Collings just hit a flurry of fish that filled out limit and also put him in the unofficial lead. Currently, he has a few pounds on Bradford Beavers, but Beavers is still working on No. 5.

Brian Latimer culled up almost a pound. He was flipping grass when he caught the fish.

Rob Kilby caught his largest fish of the day — a 4-pounder.

 

11: 30 a.m. – B-Lat

We just got a report that Brian Latimer has over 16 pounds in his livewell. His limit is anchored by a couple 5s that he caught not long ago. He said, “My stuff from yesterday is not working, but I found something new that is.” His 16 pounds has him all the way up in second on the unofficial leaderboard.

 

11:15 a.m. – Thrift’s limit streak is on the line

Bryan Thrift’s record of 71 straight FLW Tour limits is currently in jeopardy. Right now, Thrift has only had one bite and describes his day as “awful.” Not a good sign for the South Carolina pro’s limit streak.

Quality hasn’t been as much of an issue as quantity for the guys near the top of the leaderboard. Out of the top 5 heading into the day, Rob Kilby is the only one who has mustered up a limit.

The wind is starting to pick up again. We’ll see what that means for the late-morning bite. The bigger issue might be simply finding fish at the moment. After two days of heavy pressure, some pros might be searching for new fish pretty soon.

 

10:36 a.m. – Couple updates

Joshua Weaver had made a couple culls since his morning flurry and we clarified that his weight is closer to 20 pounds. Jordan Osborne’s marshal just reported that the Texas pro filled out his limit for around 10 pounds. Meanwhile, Joseph Webster is having a difficult time hooking up when he gets bit.

It seems like the moving bait presentation is starting to die down across the field. We’re starting to get more reports of anglers sight-fishing. Eyeballing fish in the shallows could prove to be a solid strategy with the bright skies and warm weather.

On the other hand, it seems like most of the big fish today were caught early in the after-takeoff frenzy. Guys are still catching plenty of fish, but they mostly seem to be buck bass in the 1- to 2-pound range.

 

9:57 a.m. – Closing in on limits

Joseph Webster just boated his third keeper of the day, which happened to be a 3-pounder. He’s still working the grassy area that produced most of his weight yesterday.

Todd Castledine is on some quality fish today, as he has over 16 pounds with just four fish in the livewell. Despite how well he is doing today, it would take a nearly 30-pound bag for Castledine to go fishing tomorrow. Still, he’s on them, and it’s been a great start.

Joshua Weaver, who we mentioned earlier, is doing work with his flipping stick in some extremely juicy looking vegetation. One or two more upgrades and the Georgia pro should solidify his spot in tomorrow’s top 30.

Bradford Beavers remains atop the unofficial leaderboard, but the bite seems to have slowed quite a bit for him (and most of the rest of the field). He still has four fish for about 14 pounds.

 

9:15 a.m. – Leaders, big kitties

Braxton Setzer and Joseph Webster are both fishing the same area, along with numerous other pros. Yesterday, Webster was hammering on them minutes after he arrived. Today, he is having to grind it out a little bit more. It will be interesting to see if this area can keep kicking out 4- and 5-pounders throughout the tournament.

Tyler Woolcott has two fish in the livewell that combine for about eight pounds. Definitely a solid start for the Florida pro. Jacob Wall only has two fish so far, but they’re both big ones. He has a 6 1/2 and a 5 in the box.

There have been some monster catfish caught by accident this week from a few of the pros. The most notable one was Aaron Britt’s 50 pound blue catfish (you can see it here). Just now Craig Rozema landed a 30-pounder.

The wind has died down quite a bit since takeoff. There wasn’t much of a breeze before, but it was enough to make moving baits pretty effective, as evidenced by the vibrating jig bite earlier. Now, many pros are slowing down with spinning rods in hand.

 

8:33 a.m. – Vibrating jig doing damage

Sheldon Collings and Bradford Beavers each have nice fish in the box (Collings with a 4 and Beavers with four fish for 14 pounds) and both are winding vibrating jigs through grass.

Todd Castledine struggled big time yesterday, but today is already a different story. The Texas pro had bagged a 3-pounder and a 8-pound giant (on a swimbait). If he can keep this up he might be able to salvage some valuable AOY points and make a run at fishing this weekend.

It’s a little breezier this morning than it was yesterday at this time, and it seems to be helping the bite. Winds are expected to peak at about 9 mph today. We’ll see what happens when the sun comes out in earnest.

 

8:09 a.m. – Seminole is rocking this morning

Reports of quality fish are coming in from every corner already this morning. As soon as pros were able to make it to the juice, 3-, 4- and 5-pounders started rolling in. Joshua Weaver got himself a big limit within an hour of takeoff. He has 15 pounds and plenty of room to cull.

Braxton Setzer already has a pair of 3-plus-pounders and Joseph Webster has a 4-pounder to his name. Matt Wittekiend has a 5 and his marshal reports he lost another big one in a tree soon after.

It’s a warmer morning on Seminole, and the fish seem to be taking notice. Perhaps the big females are continuing to move up with the warming trend, and the spots that were producing for these guys yesterday seem to still have a lot of quality fish on them.

 

7:00 a.m. – Day two is underway on Seminole

Day one of the FLW Tour event on Lake Seminole, presented by Costa, was a mixed bag for much of the field. At the top, Braxton Setzer, Joseph Webster and Bradford Beavers all topped the 25-pound mark and are in great shape heading into day two. Likewise, Sheldon Collings, Rob Kilby and Kurt Dove sit above the 20-pound threshold, ready to knock on the door with a solid showing today.

But it hasn't all been big bags to this point. Seminole is fishing tough right now, no doubt due to some cold weather that hasn't fully moved out yet. Some fish are preparing to spawn, while others are sitting on beds or have already spawned, meaning there really isn't a predominant pattern in play for this event. It's going to take some serious skill to find and catch a lot of big fish.

While day two of any Tour event usually comes with a slight decline in weights across the board, that might not be the case today. Warmer weather continues to heat up the water. If pros are lucky today, that will also heat up the bite.

With the 165-boat field underway, we'll have full updates as well as an unofficial leaderboard to follow along with until FLW Live picks up coverage at weigh-in. Stay tuned.

 

CONDITIONS

Temperature at takeoff: 45 degrees

Forecast high: 77 degrees

Sky: Partly cloudy in the morning with sunny skies all afternoon

Precipitation: 0 percent chance of rain

Wind: Calm in the morning, maximum of 9 mph from the south

 

TOURNAMENT DETAILS

Presented by Costa

Hosted by Bainbridge Convention & Visitors Bureau

Takeoff: 7 a.m. ET at Bainbridge Earle May Boat Basin, 100 Boat Basin Circle, Bainbridge, Ga.

Weigh-in: 3 p.m. ET, Bainbridge Earle May Boat Basin

FLW Expo: 2 p.m. ET through the end of weigh-in at Bainbridge Earle May Boat Basin

FLW Live: 2:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET weigh-in