Keith Carson’s positive attitude was put to the test Friday, but perseverance paid big dividends as the Florida angler took the day-2 lead at the Lay Lake Bassmaster Eastern Open with a 35-04 total. After weighing 16-10 in the opening round, he added 18-10 on Friday – the tournament’s heaviest catch that was anchored by a 7-03 largemouth.
Making his first appearance at Lay Lake, Carson followed his day-1 performance by saying he would enter Friday’s second round focused on enjoying the day and keeping an open mind. After a tough start, he admitted he was starting to doubt that perspective.
“Yesterday, I had all my fish by 9:36; today, at 9 a.m., I didn’t have a single fish in the boat,” he said. “I started to get a little worried. I was like, ‘I guess I’m just not going to catch ’em today.’
“I said, ‘I still have a lot of time,’ so I just kept moving. I fished a particular bank, I hit a log and caught a 3 1/2-pounder. Then I went up about 20 yards and caught that 7-03. I had over 10 pounds with two fish, so I was like, ‘Okay, now let’s get the ball rolling.’”
Carson caught his early fish on a deeper grass edge with a Berkley Frittside 5 crankbait. After that, his day turned into a grind with sporadic productivity.
“I never really ran into a good group of fish like I did yesterday,” he said. “I would go like 2 hours without a bite, and then I’d catch two or three in a half-hour period. Then I’d go another 2 hours without a bite, and then I’d catch a few.”
Carson said his day ended with a last-minute flurry that gave him the weight he needed to take the top spot.
“I had no time left because I was 30 minutes upriver and I made it back just in time,” he said. “I made three culls on (consecutive) casts. I pulled up on a point and I caught two good largemouth and a spot and I culled out all of my smaller ones.”
After his early grass bite fizzled, Carson targeted rock, bridges and wood. His late-day culls came off a large stump near a grass edge in about 12 feet of water. He caught them on a Texas-rigged Berkley Havoc Pit Boss in the watermelon candy color.
“Today, it was just about letting it happen and believing,” he said. “It was my first time here, so I put in 4 1/2 days of practice.”
Clint Miller of Jemison, Ala., moved into second place with 31-13. After placing 3rd on day 1 with 16-03, he gained a spot with a Friday limit of 15-10.
After catching his day-1 fish around shallow brushpiles, he had to move off the bank and fish a 1/4-ounce shaky-head with a green-pumpkin worm around rock and wood in 12 to 15 feet.
“I ground it out all day and finally got 12 pounds in the boat,” Miller said. “At 2 o’clock, I went to a spot where I’d caught largemouth, but never a big one.
“It was just a slick bank with good bottom in 15 feet. I fired in there, set the hook and caught almost 6 pounds.”
Day-1 leader Jacob Walker slipped to third with 30-04. The Alabaster, Ala. resident struggled with more fishing pressure in his key areas and ended up adding 13-00 to the 17-04 he weighed Thursday.
“I still felt like I was around the fish I was around yesterday,” Walker said. “I had the opportunities to have a bag like I had yesterday, but a lot of the guys who fished downriver yesterday decided to come up the river today.”
Walker caught his fish by pitching a jig and throwing a spinnerbait around shallow wood.
Here are the totals for the 12 anglers who advanced to the final day:
1. Keith Carson: 35-04
2. Clint Miller: 31-13
3. Jacob Walker: 30-04
4. Adam Neu: 28-12
5. Chris Payne: 28-11
6. Teb Jones: 27-15
7. Alex Sherrill: 27-14
8. Samuel Fish: 27-03
9. Scott Pellegrin: 26-14
10. KJ Queen: 26-10
11. Joey Nania: 26-08
12. Keith Poche: 26-05
