TTBC/PAA Championship Report
By Pete Robbins and Terry Battisti
We’re now halfway through the day’s competition and the standings have been shaken pretty hard. Four of yesterday’s top-10 have fallen out of the cut but that doesn’t mean a thing here at Conroe. If any angler capitalizes on one big bite, the standings can again change in a snap.
Yesterday’s leader, Dave Lefebre is still at the top of the heap with 32-12 which means he has only put 8-04 in the boat today -- far cry from what he weighed on day 1. Andy Montgomery currently sits in the second spot with 30-12, moving up 6 spots and Chad Morgenthaler is in 3rd place with 29-04.
The rest of the top 10 looks like this:
4) Tommy Biffle – 29-00
5) Todd Auten – 28-04
6) Timmy Horton – 27-00
7) Jason Christie – 27-00
8) Russ Lane – 26-08
9) Aaron Martens – 26-04
10) Takahiro Omori – 25-08
Tommy Biffle has made the biggest move today, courtesy of a 19-pound sack and an “over,” moving up from 38th place to 4th. The biggest drop in the standings is held by David Walker who sat in the 9th position after day 1. He currently resides in 33rd with 18-08.
Other notable moves in the standings are: Fred Contaoi, from 7th to 22nd with a 2-day total of 21-00; Guy Eaker, Sr., from 4th to 25th with a total of 20-04; and Glenn Browne, from 10th to 28th with a total of 20-00.
On the “over” front:
Yesterday’s big fish was Fred Contaoi’s 7.88 pound largemouth, and while the 10-pound mark has not yet been eclipsed during this competition, it appears that Contaoi’s brute will no longer stand as the TTBC’s big fish by day’s end.
PAA Vice President Sean Hoernke put a 9 ½ pounder in the boat early this morning. Boosted by the strength of that big bite, Hoernke, an FLW Tour pro who lives nearby, has vaulted up from 41st place all the way into 14th.
Mike Wurm of Arkansas also bested Contaoi’s big fish from Friday with an 8 ½ pounder. Unfortunately for Wurm, it may be a case of too little, too late. With only a paltry 1-04 yesterday, he has a long way to go to make it to Sunday’s top ten cut. It’s not impossible on Conroe, but he’ll have to add a few “overs” to get there.
As stated before, these standings can change quickly if one of the big Florida largemouths swimming in Conroe decides to bless one of these anglers by eating.
Also of note is the fact that a few anglers, like Aaron Martens and Sandy Melvin, noted that their fish ate from mid-day on. Anything can happen between now and when the anglers start getting off the water at 3:30 p.m. Stay tuned for more tournament reports as the day progresses.
