Bobby Lane certainly wasn’t ready to
throw in the towel, but he knew something had to give with only about an
hour of fishing remaining before his check-in time.
The Spiderwire pro from Florida
capitalized in the closing hour Friday to put three keepers in the boat
to finish his limit weighing 12.08 pounds. That pushed him to a lead of
nearly four pounds after the second day of the PAA Bass Pro Shops
Tournament Series presented by Carrot Stix on Cherokee Lake.
Lane has a total of 27.65 pounds and
leads Evinrude pro David Walker of nearby Sevierville, who has 23.98.
Walker maintained a steady hand with a catch of 11.10, adding to his Day
1 total of 12.88 to move into second place.
In third place is Anglers Inn
International pro Bradley Hallman of Oklahoma (20.47), who slipped from a
leader board tie with Lane with only three keepers weighing 4.90. In
fourth is Skeeter pro Harold Allen of Texas (20.36), and Ranger pro Todd
Auten of South Carolina is fifth (19.79).
“I did the exact same thing as Thursday
but I covered a lot more water,” Lane said. “It was brutal and I just
covered water. I think I ran a tank and a half of gas, and ran from
midlake to the (Cherokee) dam and back. I had the trolling motor on 70
all day and was moving fast.”
The field was cut to the Top 30 after
Friday’s round, with those anglers competing Saturday for $10,000 and a
new Phoenix 719 boat powered by a Mercury 225 Optimax engine and outfitted with a T-H Marine Atlas Jackplate. The final weigh-in will
begin at 4:30 p.m. ET at Bass Pro Shops in Kodak, Tenn., and will be
streamed live on AnglersChannel.com via FishPAA.com.
Lane is pounding every creek, nook and
likely spot to try to get bites, getting so deep into some little areas
he has to back out his boat instead of turning around on the trolling
motor. He’s firing buzzbaits, spinnerbaits and frogs, among other baits,
to try to pick up a bite here and there.
“It’s tough because if you catch one (in
a spot) then you move on,” he said. “You fish, fish, fish and if you
get one to bite, you leave and maybe come back two hours later and hope
for another one. My deal now is to decide what I want to do Saturday.
I’ll do the same thing but it’s a matter of where I want to start. I’ll
probably decide when I take off in the morning.”
Friday’s weather conditions changed,
with intermittent sun and building cloud cover that changed the bite.
“I have a good schooling spot where I
think I can get a limit, but they didn’t come up on it today,” said
Damiki pro Bryan Thrift of North Carolina, who is in 8th
place with 18.51 pounds. “I caught two on topwater, two on a jig and one
on a football jig. I’m just fishing with a clean mind every day and
just going fishing.”
Light rain began falling Friday about 3
p.m. and lasted for several hours, but was not the hard thunderstorms
predicted for the area. More clouds and a 60 percent chance of storms
are predicted for Saturday morning, clearing by midday. Temperatures
dropped about 10 degrees from Thursday’s oppressive heat that topped out
at 98 degrees.
“If we got some good rain, that could
cause (TVA) to pull some water and make the deeper bite better,” Thrift
said, although the heavy rain isn’t likely. “If we got enough to affect
the smaller creeks and runoff areas, that could put a little color in
them and you possibly could catch a big fish.”
Hallman struggled Friday after being
tied for the lead with Lane for first. He caught just three bass
weighing 4.90 pounds but still sat in third place.
“I ran completely new areas looking for
topwater bites because it was cloudy longer,” Hallman said. “I had four
good bites and only got one of those in the boat. That was my day in a
nutshell. I went flipping and needed the sun to position them better. I
knew I shouldn’t have kept flipping as long as I did.”
Bass Pro Shops pro Stacey King of
Missouri was the final angler in the cut at 30th place with
11.50 pounds.
PAA Sponsors: The PAA Tournament
Series is sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, E21 Carrot Stix, Laser TroKar,
Markel Insurance, Phoenix Boats, Nitro Boats, T-H Marine, Fishouflage,
SolarBat, U.S. Reel, Sign Designs, BoatU.S. Foundation, Mercury Marine
and Jasper Engines and Transmissions.
Day 2, Official Standings
MORRISTOWN, Tenn. –
Official standings after Day 2 of the PAA Bass Pro Shops Tournament
Series presented by Carrot Stix on Cherokee Lake, with angler, state,
Day 1 and Day 2 weights, and total weight. The
field was cut to the Top 30 for Saturday’s final day.
1. Bobby Lane, Florida: Day 1, 15.57; Day 2, 12.08 – Total
27.65
2. David Walker, Tennessee: 12.88; 11.10 – 23.98
3. Bradley Hallman, Oklahoma: 15.57; 4.90 – 20.47
4. Harold Allen, Texas: 14.12; 6.24 – 20.36
5. Todd Auten, South Carolina: 9.90; 9.89 – 19.79
6. Tommy Biffle, Oklahoma: 12.34; 7.08 – 19.42
7. David Hendrick, North Carolina: 11.11; 7.80 – 18.91
8. Bryan Thrift, North Carolina: 7.95; 10.56 – 18.51
9. Lance Vick, Texas: 6.94; 9.80 – 16.74
10. Todd Faircloth, Texas: 7.57; 8.77 – 16.52
11. Zell Rowland, Texas: 9.21; 6.98 – 16.19
12. Stephen Browning, Arkansas: 9.68; 6.44 – 16.12
13. Jason Quinn, South Carolina: 7.35; 7.94 – 15.29
14. Brian Holt, Tennessee: 8.88; 5.88 – 14.76
15. Dave Wolak, North Carolina: 5.89; 8.64 – 14.53
16. Randall Tharp, Alabama: 8.74; 5.61 – 14.35
17. Jeff Kriet, Oklahoma: 2.54; 11.40 – 13.94
18. Andy Morgan, Tennessee: 10.93; 2.44 – 13.37
19. Edwin Evers, Oklahoma: 11.04; 2.11 – 13.15
20. Randy Howell, Alabama: 10.02; 3.12 – 13.14
21. Aaron Martens, Alabama: 7.88; 5.10 – 12.98
22. Dave Lefebre, Pennsylvania: 9.62; 3.36 – 12.98
23. Andy Montgomery, South Carolina: 6.91; 5.94 – 12.85
24. Pete Ponds, Mississippi: 10.25; 2.42 – 12.67
25. Jason Christie, Oklahoma: 9.43; 3.21 – 12.64
26. Mike McClelland, Arkansas: 8.16; 4.40 – 12.56
27. Charlie Hartley, Ohio: 6.89; 5.66 – 12.55
28. Shaw Grigsby, Florida: 6.04; 6.26 – 12.30
29. Luke Clausen, Georgia: 11.86; 0.00 – 11.86
30. Stacey King 6.36; 5.14 – 11.50
Big Bass
Day 1: Jason Seaton, Indiana –
4.65
Day 2: Casey Ashley, South
Carolina – 4.95 pounds
Total Anglers: 111
Total Fish Weighed: 438
Total Fish Released: 427
Total Fish Weight: 896.67
