Bites were more frequent for Fred Roumbanis on Friday as he extended his lead Atchafalaya Basin Bassmaster Central Open in Louisiana. After catching only six bass the first day of the tournament, Roumbanis had a more productive day 2, amassing a 16-06 stringer to extend his lead with a 35-15 total.
“I was going to scrap what I found the first day because I didn’t catch a lot, but I decided to start there again,” Roumbanis said. “I caught a 4-pounder immediately, so I put my head down and caught just five fish all day.”
Most of what he caught were small fish, and he also lost one big bass, so the London, Ark., pro made some adjustments that triggered more bites. “I really slowed down and fished more methodically and changed the sizes of my weights and trailers,” he said.
When the action stopped around 2 p.m., Roumbanis went scouting for new areas. He didn’t find anything worth revisiting on Saturday.
Roumbanis plans on sticking with his primary spot, but he will also try a point where he caught several small bass because he thinks it probably holds some big fish as well.
“I have one other area that is on the opposite side of where I am fishing, but I am going to start (Saturday) where I have been catching them,” he said.
Local favorite Greg Hackney continued to hold 2nd place after catching another double-digit limit to finish the day with 29-10. The Gonzalez, La., pro said he lost some time this morning when he ran into heavy fog. “That took me about 30 minutes longer to get to where I've been going,” he said.
He still caught his bass mainly in the morning despite the later start.
“I'm still catching plenty of fish, but I'm getting a lot of weird bites – kind of mealy mouthed,” he said. “The fish just aren’t real aggressive.”
Here are the totals for the 12 anglers who advanced to the final day:
1. Fred Roumbanis: 35-15
2. Greg Hackney: 29-10
3. Derek Hudnall: 29-01
4. Cody Bird: 29-00
5. David Cavell: 28-14
6. Cliff Crochet: 28-02
7. Cliff Pace: 28-02
8. Toby Hartsell: 27-13
9. Chris Babin: 26-06
10. Billy Billeau: 26-02
11. Travis Kelehan: 24-08
12. Brandon Lee: 24-06
