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Jason Abram day two leader story – click here
1:30 – That's it for today's blog
Thank you for following along today, and sorry for the sporadic updates. We're running a small crew this week in order to minimize contact between staff, anglers and fans, plus there are no marshals in the boats this week.
That said, we have a pretty good idea of what the top 10 pros have, and our estimates should be pretty accurate to this point. To summarize what we know: It's really close, and one good kicker could be the difference in making the cut or taking the lead for quite a few of our top 30 pros.
Jason Abram is cruising docks with is merthiolate worm, willing a fish to bite. Ron Nelson is sight-fishing. Laramy Strickland is sight-fishing. None of them is really hammering any fish. Jordan Osborne is having a decent day fishing points. Maybe that's going to wind up being the more consistent pattern as this tournament winds down. It's certainly less susceptible to falling water and potential storms that could hit the region later today.
We didn't hear much from Spencer Shuffield midday today, but he has 10 1/2 pounds now and is pretty well set to make the top 10. He might wind up top five today.
We'll find out how it all shakes out starting at 3 p.m. when the pros come to weigh-in. We hope you'll join us for the live weigh-in show.
12:45 – Barron Adams update
We were finally able to track down Barron Adams, the day-one leader. He has 8 pounds in the livewell but could've been having a much better day had he not lost a 4-pounder that he hooked from a bed this morning.
Currently, Adams is throwing a swimbait on a point.
12:40 – Becker gets to double-digits
Matt Becker isn't having the greatest day, but he's definitely game planning well for his sight-fishing program. He waited until the sun was fully high to go and check a key bed, then expertly got her to bite and was able to cull up to double-digits. That's a big help and might guarantee his spot in the top 10 tomorrow.
12:25 – Floyd misses
Cole Floyd wasn't able to get that bed fish to go. Now he's debating what to do.
Laramy Strickland has had similar struggles. He spent 45 minutes on a 3-pounder on bed and couldn't get her to go. He says he's fishing an area of the lake he hasn't even seen previously this week.
Overall, the fishing has really slowed down. We'll probably see the weights tigthen up again over the next hour or so. Don't forget that FLW Live runs until 2 p.m. CT today. Keep following along there, as well as on the FLW Live Leaderboard.
12:00 – A few updates
Not much has changed at the top of the leaderboard in the last 40 minutes. Abram continues to run and gun pockets with docks. Strickland is still sight-fishing, as is Nelson. The only real update in the top five is that Derrick Snavely checked in for the first time. His 10-pound limit puts him unofficially in fifth.
A little farther down the leaderboard, Cole Floyd also has 10 pounds. He's got one on a bed that, if he can get her to bite, will probably get him in the cut. He's throwing every bit of tackle he owns at her.
11:20 – Abram weighs in
Abram is fishing an orange worm around the backs of docks and the backs of small pockets. He's explaining his pattern right now on FLW Live, and it's a good watch. Tune in and you should a good look at what he's targeting over the next couple hours.
As for his weight, he hasn't verified our estimate of 9-14, but he seems to think somewhere around 10 pounds or even a bit more is accurate.
"We got one of the right ones and two of the OK ones," Abram says. "We need one or two more of the good ones."
Abram is simply looking on his GPS map for pockets with docks in them and running to those pockets. The more docks the better for his pattern right now.
11:05 – Here comes Jordan Osborne
Jordan Osborne just caught a "decent one," per our on-the-water reporter. He now has 12.87 pounds and is in third place unofficially and less than 2 pounds behind Abram. Osborne is dragging bottom baits on points, which is a pretty stark departure from the shallow patterns that Abram and Nelson (both ahead of him in the standings) are fishing.
Jared McMillan is using a similar approach as Osborne and dragging on long points. He just made a nice upgrade, too. J-Mac now has 8 1/2.
UPDATE: It looks like J-Mac is using a Strike King Rage Swimmer on his deep points.
10:59 – Abram gets a good one on a dock
Abram is in the process of shifting gears to get on a big-fish pattern that he's been dialing in. He just caught a good one, too, fishing around docks. It looked to be about a 3-pounder. We're trying to verify the weight with his cameraman. That fish should have Abram up around the double-digit mark and back in the lead.
UPDATE: That last fish for Abram weighed 3.6 pounds.
10:50 – Abram, Nelson sight-fishing
Jason Abram spent much of his morning slinging a swimbait, but he's sight-fishing right now. That seems to be the best way to run into better quality largemouths. In contrast, Ron Nelson has been sight-fishing most of the day. Obviously, several patterns are working right now, but the sight-fishing bite is really interesting because the water is coming down, there's rain in the forecast, and tomorrow might turn into a totally different derby depending on the weather.
10:10 – Osborne, Scanlon, Bohannan
We now have three pros over the 10-pound mark. Jordan Osborne, Greg Bohannan and Casey Scanlon each have 11 pounds and change. We'll probalby see a few others join them very soon. Laramy Strickland just caught a 2 1/2, so he'll get there soon, too.
UPDATE: Add Cole Floyd to the list. He checked in with 10 pounds just as soon as we finished that last update.
9:58 – Scanlon with a big move
Casey Scanlon raced up the leaderboard to fourth place thanks to a 5-pounder he caught off a bed. If he can catch teh 3-pounder he's looking at right now, he might wind up right in the thick of things tomorrow. Scanlon, who won the season finale last year at Lake Champlain, has about 11 pounds right now.
9:52 – Osborne into double-digits
Jordan Osborne is the first pro to crack double-digits. We have him with 11 pounds, 4 ounces, which is good enough for second place unofficially.
9:45 – Abram is hammering "littles"
Jason Abram is getting plenty of bites, just not the right ones. "That ain't the size I'm looking for," he said on his last catch, which gained him 1 ounce.
He's targeting isolated stumps on small points, as well as just fishing down the bank in his key areas. The stump pattern is interesting. He assumes fish are spawning near them, but he doesn't have to see the fish to catch them.
9:15 – Live is giving us gold
Ron Nelson, Tom Monsoor, Laramy Strickland, Matt Becker and Jason Abram have given us some real gold on FLW Live so far today. They're catching and seeing so many fish that it's easy to glean some really good intel from them.
Nelson, in particular, is breaking down his bed-fishing approach this morning.
"It's been a slow morning. I'm just having a tough time getting in a rhythm," he says.
Nelson says he has another 3-pounder that he's tried to catch already that he plans to go back to, and another big fish down the lake he wants to get to that he missed yesterday, but he's considering spending a little less time looking at spawners and a little more time just fishing. Blind-casting has produced a couple fish for him, so maybe that's the right call anyway.
9:00 – Abram upgrades
Jason Abram is slinging around a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper with pretty good success this morning. He just used it to catch a nice spotted bass and upgrade to 8 pounds. It's early, but Abram still has the lead at the moment.
8:30 – Nelson on a bed, Mosley gets a largie
Brandon Mosley has his first largemouth keeper of the day. It's a 2 1/2-pounder. That's a good start.
Ron Nelson is parked on a bed at the moment. If you want a lesson in sight-fishing from one of the best in the business, go check him out on FLW Live. Nelson is a sight-fishing wizard.
Laramy Strickland, winner of the previous Pro Circuit event at Harris Chain, is also fishing through bedding areas with a wacky rig, covering water and stopping on beds when he can.
8:20 – Abram has a limit
Jason Abram is the first pro to get a limit in the livewell. He has five for about 6 pounds and they're mostly spotted bass. That's not much, and he admits that he needs to catch largemouths to have a chance at a better weight, but he's going to make the switch eventually today.
8:00 – Checking in with Abram
Jason Abram has three little bitty keepers fro 3 pounds total, which has him in the lead still.
Tom Redington has the biggets fish so far. He caught a 3.14-pound bass.
If you aren't already watching FLW Live, stop what you're doing and go check it out. You're going to see tons of fish caught today.
7:40 – Lots of little ones so far
Several pros got off to a quick start this morning, getting a keeper or two in the first 40 minutes of the tournament. No big ones to report thus far, however.
Spencer Shuffield is fishing down the bank right now. He says his better pattern is in deeper water, using his forward-looking sonar to spot and catch fish, but that bite doesn't turn on until about 8:30 once the sun gets high. For now he's just killing time – and he caught a 1 1/2 to get started.
7:26 – Redington first on the board
Tom Redington is the first to box a kicker. He caught a 2-pounder.
7:10 – The top 30 are on the water
Falling water might wind up being the story of the tournament. The water has been coming down just enough the last few days that Lake Martin's spawners have been a little tough to deal with. Anyone in the top 30 that has sight-fished has said that the fish just aren't acting like normal. They're even more particular about what they'll bite than usual. And the falling water has taken most of the blame.
But, that's not the only pattern working. Forward-looking sonar has been invaluable this week. Being able to see fish on the graph from a distnace when they're near the bank, around docks and just about anywhere else is a huge advantage on Martin's clear waters. Pros can see the fish and cast to them before the fish know they're being targeted.
Plus, there are still other ways to catch them, from Carolina rigging to cranking to ripping down the bank with a buzzbait. Today, we'll really start to sort out which pattern is tops.
Don't forget to tun into FLW Live at 8 a.m. CT to see the pros in action.
Temperature at takeoff: 66 degrees
Forecast high: 80 degrees
Sky: Intermittent clouds and sun
Precipitation: Chance of storms midday and in the evening, with varying chances of precipitation
Wind: WSW at 5 mph
Hosted by Alexander City Chamber
Takeoff: 7 a.m. CT at Wind Creek State Park, 4325 Alabama Highway 128, Alexander City, AL
Weigh-in: 3 p.m. CT at Wind Creek State Park
FLW Live weigh-in show: 3 p.m. CT to end of weigh-in