JONESTOWN, Texas (Feb. 17, 2017) – Pro Stephen Patek of Garland, Texas, brought a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 1 ounce, to the scale Friday to take the lead after day two of the FLW Tournament at Lake Travis with a two-day catch of 10 bass totaling 34-6. Patek will bring a slim 4-ounce lead over Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, into day three of the four-day event that features 164 of the top bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
Patek said he’s working through the mouth of a main-lake pocket to catch his bass. He said he’s primarily focusing on a hump that has trees around the edges and rocks over the top.
“The mouth isn’t very big, but there’s a lot of bass in there,” said Patek, who is fishing his third season as a professional on the FLW Tour. “Its deepest section is 18 feet down. I think it’s a staging area for bass to spawn, and it seems to be reloading every night.”
Patek said his bait of choice is a Carolina-rigged 3-inch soft-plastic craw.
“They seem to like the smaller profile,” said Patek. “I caught my bass on it this morning, left the hump and didn’t return.”
Patek said that he split the remainder of his day between two areas, including a main-river point that produced for him on day one.
“I caught my biggest bass there on Thursday, but I only could get a small keeper there today,” said Patek. “After those were in the boat, I ran banks and threw a 6-inch swimbait. I got a decent keeper yesterday doing that, but it didn’t give me anything today.”
The Texas pro said he plans to run a similar route on Saturday.
“I plan on spending more time on the hump and the point tomorrow,” said Patek. “I think the mouth will kick out some more bass, so I’m looking forward to getting back out there.”
The top 20 pros that made the Buck Knives Cut after day two and will fish Saturday on Lake Travis are:
1st: Stephen Patek, Garland, Texas, 10 bass, 34-6
2nd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 34-2
3rd: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 31-11
4th: Clark Wendlandt, Leander, Texas, 10 bass, 29-10
5th: Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 10 bass, 28-12
6th: Clark Reehm, Huntington, Texas, nine bass, 28-8
7th: Dylan Hays, Sheridan, Ark., 10 bass, 28-6
8th: Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-15
9th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 10 bass, 26-10
10th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, 10 bass, 26-4
11th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 10 bass, 26-3
12th: Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla., eight bass, 25-12
13th: Jeff Gustafson, Keewatin, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 25-10
14th: Bill Smith Jr., Burlington, Ky., nine bass, 25-8
15th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 25-1
16th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 24-14
17th: Clayton Batts, Macon, Ga., 10 bass, 23-6
18th: Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 10 bass, 23-3
19th: Tim McDonald, Prestonsburg, Ky., 10 bass, 23-0
20th: Casey Scanlon, Lenexa, Kan., nine bass, 22-11
Wendlandt earned the day's $500 Big Bass award in the Pro Division after catching an 8-pound, 6-ounce largemouth. Overall there were 546 bass weighing 1,109 pounds, 4 ounces caught by 154 pros Friday. The catch included 62 five-bass limits.
David Larson of Mound, Minnesota, won the Co-Angler Division and $20,350 Friday with a two-day total of six bass weighing 21 pounds, 10 ounces, followed by Thomas Martens of Jonestown, Texas, who finished in second place with 10 bass weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces worth $7,550.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: David Larson, Mound, Minn., six bass, 21-10, $20,350
2nd: Thomas Martens, Jonestown, Texas, 10 bass, 20-11, $7,550
3rd: Benjie Seaborn, Guin, Ala., 10 bass, 20-3, $5,000
4th: Gary Haraguchi, Redding, Calif., nine bass, 20-3, $4,000
5th: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, 10 bass, 17-2, $3,000
6th: Tim Beale, Hernando, Miss., eight bass, 16-11, $2,500
7th: Josh Perrymon, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 16-8, $2,000
8th: Wataru Iwahori, Palestine, Texas, nine bass, 16-7, $1,800
9th: Kevin Carter, Spring, Texas, seven bass, 15-11, $1,700
10th: Jason Smith, Forney, Texas, eight bass, 15-2, $1,600
David Wootton of Collierville, Tennessee, earned $250 for the Big Bass award in the Co-Angler Division with a 6-pound, 7-ounce largemouth.
Overall there were 268 bass weighing 478 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 119 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 11 five-bass limits.