Top 5 Patterns from Chickamauga – Day 2
The top pros are spread out across the reservoir
Brian Elder took over the lead at the 2020 Toyota Series Central Division tournament on Lake Chickamauga today by running the opposite direction of most of the rest of the top anglers. Elder went upstream, while many of his competitors ran south.
As usual, most pros are keeping specific lures and techniques close to the vest. Here’s what the top five have revealed so far.
2. Jim Neece Jr. – Bristol, Tenn. – 36-12 (10)
Jim Neece Jr. from Bristol, Tenn., moved into second place after starting off in sixth on day one.
“I did the same thing today [as yesterday]. It was just a little bit slower,” says Neece. “I couldn’t catch quite as many. I probably caught three limits today where I caught four yesterday. I think the cloud cover got ’em.”
All the anglers had to suffer through a bitter cold wind and a burst of snow Friday morning.
“It was pretty cold, but we went through it,” says Neece. “They were biting when it was snowing.”
Neece is fishing a dramatically different pattern from most and the exact opposite of Elder. While the majority have been fishing shallow water protected from the main river flow, Neece says he is braving the current to fish river ledges 10 to 15 feet deep.
“I’m way out offshore,” he says. “I’m out there on the river ledge, fighting that current and sitting on Spot-Lock. That’s just the way I like to fish, and I got lucky and found some fish out there.”
3. Brent Butler – Vonore, Tenn. – 35-13 (10)
Third-place angler Brent Butler continued his “hodgepodge, junk-fishing” on day two to remain in the top 10 after being tied for first on day one.
Butler says, however, he lost the fish that would have kept him in the lead.
“We had our chance,” says Butler. “We both [he and his co-angler] should have had giant kickers. I didn’t see it, but I’m confident enough to know what I had on the end of my line, and I know what lives there. I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Butler says some of his fish came on jerkbaits but most bit a Super G Lures swimbait.
4. Gavin Ainslie – Harrison, Tenn. – 35-3 (9)
Gavin Ainslie climbed from seventh place on day one to fourth place after day two. Ainslie is a young man making his first forays into professional bass fishing and admits he is suffering from some nerves. In spite of that he made the top 10 despite only weighing four bass, anchored by a 7-8, on day two.
“I did the same thing I did yesterday, but I only caught two there,” he says. “Then I just started running around like crazy and fortunately got two more, including a big one.”
5. Steve Barnes – Harrison, Tenn. – 34-9 (10)
Fishing on his home lake, Steve Barnes admits there is a lot of pressure.
“It doesn’t really affect me,” he says. “I’m old enough and calmed down a lot. Now, years ago, yeah, I would have been shaking all day.”
Barnes was fishing swimbaits along the main river but staying in shallow water. He says the winter weather seemed to affect his fish he found on the lower end of the lake. In the morning he only had one 15-inch fish.
“I didn’t fish upriver yesterday, but I’ve fished here so much I did stop on one spot coming in and caught five more keepers and culled once,” he says. “So today I came on up early. Instead of waiting until 2 o’clock I came up about 12:30, pulled up and started catching them.”