Story by Ken Duke | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Day 2 of the 2024 National Professional Fishing League tournament on Saginaw Bay in Michigan is in the books, and it’s been a fascinating event.
For one thing, the field did not catch ’em to the same level they did on Day 1. Weights were down significantly. Whereas eight anglers topped 20 pounds in the first round, no one did it on Day 2. In fact, the best catch was 18 pounds, 14 ounces by Alabama’s Dustin Smith, and Day 1 leader Trent Palmer of Georgia managed just three bass weighing 10-07, falling to sixth.
Only Ohio’s Kevin Martin and Oklahoma’s Zack Birge have managed 18-pound catches on each of the first two days, and they’re in first and second place, respectively.
Part of the challenge has been weather—wind to be exact. Anglers want a little breeze to break up a glassy surface and cut visibility in the gin-clear water, but too much is trouble. And when it blows hard or from the “wrong” direction, it can be challenging to get to the right fish and then get safely back to where you started. Push things too hard and you can get in trouble, risking life, limb, and gear.
It’s reminiscent of a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem,
“There was a little girl.”
There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.
The “right” fish here—the ones that give an angler a chance to win—are almost exclusively smallmouth bass. You can earn a check (top 40 places) with bags of largemouths, but you probably can’t win without catching four or five big brown bass each day. And with $100,000 on the line, winning is very attractive.
So, the leaders are targeting smallmouth bass, and most are drop shotting with small soft plastics, finding the bass with their electronics and putting a bait right in front of them, 15 to 40 feet deep. Those looking to merely earn a check are catching largemouths in shallower water on everything from hollow-bodied frogs to bladed jigs to Flippin’ and pitching baits.
Because the fishing is very good (almost 100 of the 118 anglers have limited both days) and the average fish weighs nearly three pounds, it will be hard to make up ground and move up the leaderboard. Kevin Martin has 42-00 and is 1-04 ahead of Zack Birge, almost three pounds ahead of 2022 Progressive Angler of the Year Gary Adkins, and 4-01 ahead of Jason Williamson. Any angler more than six pounds back has a big hill to climb, assuming Martin and Birge can catch even average limits on Saturday.
Adkins, Palmer, and Martin have a history of success on Saginaw Bay. They finished one, two, three here in 2022, and Palmer won here in 2023. It’s hard to imagine a scenario that does not include all three in the mix for the final round.
AOY leader Kyle Welcher of Alabama struggled with mechanical issues on Day 2 and brought just 11-03 to the scales, falling from sixth to 13th place. Nevertheless, he may increase his AOY lead since none of the other top ranked anglers this season are having a particularly strong event.
