Story by Justin Brouillard | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Showdown Saturday is here and despite the wind, most anglers’ predictions on winning weights are out the door. With two anglers at the top maintaining a 20-pound average, it is looking like the smallmouth will once come again on top.
Patrick Walters is looking to go wire-to-wire in the event with 15-smallmouth bass. His day one weight of 20 pounds, 4 ounces, and the biggest bag of the tournament on day two of 22 pounds has him just under 2 pounds above his roommate, Trent Palmer.
Both anglers are fishing offshore and using forward-facing sonar to fish. “Standard” smallmouth baits are getting it done and with a full day without wind on tap, someone will bust a big bag.
Like Palmer, Walters spent some time fishing shallow to salvage his day two before getting back to his deeper spots and culling everything out. Palmer also started shallow and was able to cull his five largemouths out as well. His 18-pound, 8-ounce bag on day one and 21-pound, 10-ounce bag on day two is enough for an over 3-pound cushion going into the final morning.
Behind them in third place, Stu Martel is fishing offshore but is focusing on an area with a mixed bag of bass and lots of them. Martel has weighed back-to-back days of over 18 pounds and should continue his consistency throughout the event on the final day.
Mike Corbishley was the one smallmouth angler unable to cull his largemouth once he made the move offshore. His early limit was part of his “survival” day plan, and a couple of smallmouths brought him to over 15 pounds on the day. With a full day to fish his main area, which has been directly impacted by high winds both the first two days, should allow him to settle in and go to work.
In fifth place, the only largemouth only angler, Hunter Baughman is fishing like nobody else in the field. He has identified several key ditches with shallow vegetation and current to position the bass where he can easily and quickly catch quality, The first two days, fish management has been a factor for the Arkansas angler, but on the final day, he can hold nothing back while he tries to move up in the standings.
Progressive AOY Race
With Timmy Reams sitting in 23rd place after two days, his 26-pound total for two days has him falling into second place in the overall AOY standings. Todd Goade sits in the top ten and has the unofficial lead as day three begins. With not much room for Goade to climb, and one bass making a huge difference, Reams has an opportunity to climb on the final day.
Coming into the event, Reams had several decisions to make. After not getting on quality smallmouth during practice, like the majority of the field, he was forced to weed through largemouth and survive the event, which he has done so far.
Rest of the best:
Todd Goade 21-23
Sheldon Collings 32-5
Barron Adams 32-0
Louis Fernandes 31-12
Will Harkin 30-0
Check out the day two leaderboard, here!
Weather Watch
Anglers can expect sun in the morning with a chance of scattered storms in the afternoon. Highs once again in the low 80’s with West winds 5 to 10 MPH.
How to Watch
Tune in today to watch live action from Saginaw Bay, with Live Coverage here and on the FREE PHYX TV App beginning this morning from 8 AM to 1 PM.
Follow along and watch the daily LIVE Leaderboard, LIVE Blog, and on-the-water photo galleries and blogs of the anglers on Saginaw Bay.
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.
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