B.A.S.S. Communications
Share and share alike.
Tough to do when the honey hole is small, producing fish of winning
caliber, and within sight of other anglers, but Davy Hite and Keith
Poche have learned how to work side-by-side over the first two days of
the Alabama
Charge on Pickwick Lake.
Hite pulled 42 pounds, 15 ounces, out of the two-man spot, enough
for first place on Thursday and up from second place in the Bassmaster
Elite Series’ third stop of the season. Poche was 1 pound, 2 ounces
behind the leader, with 41-13. Poche improved his
position from seventh place.
In contrast to the top two, Bobby Lane landed third place by going
solo in shallow water about 20 miles downstream from where Hite and
Poche are working a rocks-and-current area just below Wilson Dam. Lane
had 40-5 over two days, up from 10th and now in
range of the winner’s circle.
Paul Elias and Jared Lintner stayed in the top 5 again Thursday.
Elias had 39-10, again for fourth place, and Lintner fell from third to
fifth with 39-8. Day One leader, Denny Brauer, fell to sixth place with
37-12.
Hite said he had to discipline himself to stick with his section of
the hot spot, a 20- to 30-yard stretch he worked all day Thursday for
six bites.
“I promise you, at 10 o’clock I had one in the livewell. I’m thinking, ‘I won’t even cash a check at this pace,’” he said.
Not panicking and abandoning the hole to go to his second spot, 30
miles away, was the best thing he could have done. He felt he had to
stay to protect what he had.
“I started there today because I felt I had to claim my little
area. I kept thinking about going down (to his secondary spot), but
people kept leaving, and that’s when I made my hay, so to speak.”
He boated four largemouth and one smallmouth. A sixth fish broke
off in the rocks, and Hite lamented the loss as a potential winning
fish.
“It’s a grind. There are guys who are catching 14, 15 pounds, and
they’re catching 30 keepers a day. I’m catching heavier weights, but not
nearly as many fish,” Hite said.
Poche had all largemouth bass the first day, but he started hooking
into smallmouth on Thursday and ended up with only one largemouth in
his five-fish limit. The end product was 21-10, the day’s heaviest bag.
“Even the ones I culled yesterday were largemouths,” he said. “I’m
not sure what’s going on with that, but maybe I’ve caught all the
smallmouth residents and the largemouth moved in.”
Every fish came out of one 3-by-3 area — just 9 square feet total, he said.
“It’s an eddy, a little turn in the water. They come out into it
all through the day. It’s a matter of catching them at just the right
time. You have to throw and throw and throw.”
Both Poche and Hite noted that the spots appear to be replenishing
each day, and they’ll be back there again on Friday to defend their
spots and try to outdo each other. Only the top 50 will compete Friday, a
fact that might ease the pressure on the fish
of the Wilson Dam tailrace.
Lane said he’d go back to his area about 20 miles from the launch site.
“It’s been my water for the first two days. I haven’t seen a lot of boats,” Lane said.
He said he’s narrowed his spots from six to three, and will milk them for largemouth.
“I’m catching them in about 4 feet of water,” he said. “I believe
they’re prespawn fish. Water’s up there, and that’s helped me as the
fish move into the pockets.”
The largest bass of the day, an 8-pound largemouth, wasn’t brought
in by any of the leaders, but by J. Todd Tucker, out of the running in
65th place. Tucker’s bass, however, didn’t beat the Day One big bass,
Lintner’s 8-10, which is still in the running
for the Berkley Big Bass of the Tournament.
The top 50 will be cut to the top 12 for Saturday’s finale. The
anglers are competing for a first-place prize of $100,000 and a 2012
Bassmaster Classic berth.
