Heading out in first place tomorrow is the team
of Bob Henton and Lance Conner, both of Spartansburg,PA. The duo brought in
the largest limit of five fish today tipping the scales at 32.09 pounds!Only one other team managed to break the 30 pound mark, and that team is Jared Meisterics and Joseph Nadzam both hailing from Richfield, OH. They brought in a limit of fish that weighed in at 30.52 pounds.
In third position is Bob Devine of Windsor, ON and Steve Velte of Belleville, MI with 28.43 pounds.
The teams experienced very hot and humid weather today, and said it was pretty miserable in the heat. While they predicted (and still do) winds from the South today and tomorrow, the winds turned and blew out of the Northeast later in the day, but was still only a slight breeze and didn't bring much relief in the hot afternoon sun.
Jason Kopf and Mike Miller, who are sitting in 4th place right now, found a way to counteract that heat. Jason tied a rope off the back of the boat and dove in the lake! As Mike trolled and tended to the lines, Jason hung on the rope for about 10 minutes, body surfing and cooling off.
"I had to put the kicker up, so I could raise the speed up a little, because the boat slowed down about .4 mph with him on the back. He tried to talk me into it, but I wasn't too crazy about it", Mike said smiling.
"He went swimming, and I got stung by a Bee in my...well, I'd better not say", he added with a blush as the rest of us started laughing.
Jason and Mike are currently sitting in fourth place with a total weight of 27.86 pounds. "We're doing something totally different than what we would normally do, and it's working", said Jason. "We'll tell you about it tomorrow", Mike said.
Juls: Well, I know I can't ask the presentation questions until tomorrow, so tell me how your day on the water went today guys...the bee sting has me intrigued!
Mike: We ran 23 miles today, and on the way out we hugged the shore line which proved to be a good move, because when we looked "in the rear view" we were blowing everyone out of the water and pulling away. When we hugged the shoreline the rest of them made a bee-line (no pun intended) for the spot and ended up heading straight into the waves. Naturally we got there first and got the first pass in before they even got there.
We started our troll on a Northerly heading and found some good marks....worked that contour, East. As we worked that contour we picked up a few fish. Then we found a "screen" that we liked, and we were catching fish in. It was a mile and a half stretch that we were working. At 9:30 we had two fish in the boat, and by Noon we had 5 fish in the boat. One of them was a 28 incher that weighed 8 and a quarter pounds. From there we kind of knew that our program was set and we didn't have to keep changing baits. By noon everything was working for us. From 12-3:00 we just circled a mile and a half stretch of fish and did what we could with them.
Juls: It was pretty windy with winds out of the South this morning. What were the conditions that you experienced out there?
Mike: First thing in the morning it was probably blowing 10-15 out of the South, but by 8:00am it started dying down real nice. Then, there wasn't even a breath of air, and it was really-really hot and REAL humid. We were just soaking wet. It was miserable. We went through about an hour and a half period of nothing but White Perch that was just insane! It's probably the worst thing that you can probably imagine. We went through probably 60 of those things. (He perks up when he mentions that they also caught some Yellow Perch today..."Some Real Jumbos", Jason said.)
We caught a 7 pounder about 2:30 to help us out. That fish came in the same mile and a half stretch that we stayed in all day. The fish stayed in the same zone all day. They didn't go up and they didn't go down...they stayed at the same depth.
Jason: It was a great relief getting that fifth fish in the boat today, the pressure was lifted somewhat for the "Team Of The Year" title. We didn't get much sleep last night, because of it.
Mike: Last night the pressure was insane! (he rolls his eyes to emphasize his words)
Jason: You know, the two of us, we lay down at night and we can't sleep, because we're thinking of fishing and it's tough to sleep...you know?
Mike: Yeah, we had a hard time sleeping this week, to be honest with you.
Juls: How close is the TOY race right now?
Mike: Today, we did a good job. I think we're 20 points ahead right now, so we're looking ok. Our goal coming into this tournament was:
1. We would win "Team Of The Year".
2. ALL of us on the "team" would make the top ten.
Juls: So, what's your game plan tomorrow?
Jason: We're going to go back and do the same thing. We can't change anything at this point. If the conditions dictate it we will change it up, but...
Mike: Yeah, even if it blows from another direction, I think these fish are going to just put the feed bag on tomorrow. This lake has just turned over, and those fish haven't eaten in 4-5 days. They are hungry, so I think tomorrow's going to be an even better day for everyone.
Weather Forecast:
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 64. South wind between 6 and 14 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 86. South wind between 10 and 13 mph becoming light.