Paul Marks of Cumming , Ga., brought in four bass weighing 15.91
pounds to push his two-day total to 30.52 for the lead on Lake Lanier in
the season-opening PAA Tournament Series presented by Carrot Stix.
Marks weighed in early Thursday at Lake Lanier Islands Resort and his
surge to the top held up. He leads the Top 20 pros into Saturday’s final
day with $5,000 and a new Nitro Z-8 with a Mercury 225 and T-H Marine
Atlas jackplate at stake for the winner in the $185,000 tournament.
“I
was just hitting a few places and fishing for big fish,” Marks said.
“Most of it is brush where I think the fish are suspending, but I
believe the bigger fish are moving in first.”
David Hendrick of North Carolina is second with 28.38 pounds, followed
by John Murray of Arizona with 28.22 pounds. Lanier regulars Troy Morrow
of Toccoa, Ga., (28.18) and Tom Mann Jr. of Buford (28.03) round out
the top five.
The rest of the top 20 fishing Saturday:
6. Todd Auten, South Carolina, 26.30
7. Aaron Martens, Alabama, 26.27
8. Doc Seger, Missouri, 26.11
9. Lance Vick, Texas, 25.45
10. Tommy Biffle, Oklahoma, 25.08
11. Derek Remitz, Alabama, 23.60
12. Shin Fukae, Texas, 23.35
13. Cody Bird, Texas, 22.94
14. Doug Jones, Oklahoma, 22.28
15. Nick Larson, Georgia, 21.10
16. Chris Brasher, Texas, 20.48
17. Takahiro Omori, Texas, 20.40
18. Brett Hite, Arizona, 20.21
19. Kevin Hawk, Alabama, 19.46
20. Mike McClelland, Arkansas, 19.42
Conditions changed Friday with bright sunshine but persistent, cold
wind blowing much of the day. First-day leader Cody Bird of Texas
struggled with three keepers, only one coming early in his best area
before he had to scramble. Hendrick had issues with short-striking bass
again, and said he lost a 4-pounder at the boat that would have helped
his weight.
Morrow surged into the top five with a 20-pound catch anchored by an
8.14-largemouth. He had just four fish and couldn’t get the fifth keeper
in the boat.
“I pretty much was just junk fishing and in one of those in-the-moment
kind of things,” he said. “I was doing several different things in four
or five places. Thursday I ran around and probably hit 100 places to
catch eight pounds, so I settled down a little and just fished.”
Saturday’s weigh-in will begin at 4:30 p.m. at Bass Pro Shops in
Lawrenceville. Fans are invited to attend for it and the Phil Niekro
Fins & Skins Celebrity Pro-Am weigh-in that begins at 3 p.m.
featuring PAA pros and sports stars including Niekro, St. Louis
Cardinals infielder Ozzie Smith, Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Bill
Mazeroski, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski and others.
Full standings, photos and other tournament information can be found at
FishPAA.com.
