Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Day two on Pickwick begins a little warmer than day one. With highs nearly reaching the 70-degree mark this afternoon, the takeoff temperatures at high 30’s. Sunny skies from day one give way to cloudy weather as a storm front moves in for the final day Friday. The one big change that will affect folks from moving around, or making long runs, is the 10 to 20 MPH South winds expected.
The fishing on day one proved to be challenging for the majority of the field with the top of the leaderboard pulling away, slightly. With two full days of fishing remaining, lots can chance, especially if the wind affects those making a long run.
Both local anglers, leader Brandon Perkins and Michael Brewer are settled into their zones but both dealing with some adversity. Brewer, fishing close to the takeoff has both local and tournament pressure building as his remarkable first couple hours of day one was seen by several others. Perkins, making the long run up near Tennessee, is now faced with winds affecting his running times.
The next few anglers in third place through sixth are stacked within 5 ounces of each other over 18-pounds. Tim Cales, Louis Fernandes, Dustin Wilkey and Hayden Hammond all had great days and are sitting in a good spot going into today.
The rest of the top ten anglers are also tight, with Lendell Martin in seventh place with 16-pounds, 6-ounces and Jesse Wise in tenth with 15-pounds, 6-ounces.
In the 11th spot with 15-pounds, Kevin Rogers had boat troubles on day one losing a lower unit and cutting his day short. After weigh in, angers Matt Looney and Louis Fernandes were able to swap out the lower unit to give Rogers a chance to fish the rest of his tournament and move up. Rogers had four fish and is in a good position.
Check out the day one results.
Several anglers left McFarland Park yesterday morning at takeoff and locked into Wilson Lake. After many had success fishing days that would have put them in contention, they were dealt a bit of adversity later in the afternoon. With the TVA lockmaster unable to open the lock due to “unscheduled maintenance,” the anglers had no choice but to forfeit their catch for the day as they were unable to return for weigh in. Both the anglers and the NPFL have been in contact with the TVA throughout practice and leading into the tournament with no issues, but unforeseen delays are a risk anglers take when locking. Two days of fishing time remaining will allow them a chance to come back in the event and salvage points. Watch Live Coverage beginning at 8 AM (CT), here!
How to Watch
Tune in daily March 15 through 17 to watch daily action from Florence, AL, with Live Coverage here and on the FREE PHYX TV App beginning on Wednesday.
Follow along and watch the daily LIVE Leaderboard, LIVE Blog, and on the water photo galleries and blogs of the anglers on Pickwick Lake.
Under the Go Live Tab, choose LIVE Broadcast or check out the real-time leaderboard on the Weigh Live Tracker with estimated weights entered by the anglers on the water and join us for the LIVE Weigh-ins, here!
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