JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Day 1 of the BFL All-American was tough, and Day 2 was even tougher. Limits are a big achievement on Lake Cherokee this week, and a 12-pound bag can rocket an angler up the leaderboard at an astonishing rate.
With the Day 1 leaders faltering, Paul Marks, Jr., of Cumming, Ga., tallied 13 pounds, 6 ounces to jump up to a 26-1 total, which gave him an edge of more than 2 pounds over Dillon Falardeau of Hixson, Tenn. , who weighed 12-2 on Day 2 to bring his total to 23-7. While that’s a commanding lead mathematically for Marks, the way the lake is fishing probably won’t allow anyone to sleep easy.
The winner of last year’s regional on Lake Eufaula and runner-up in the most recent MLF Invitationals stop, the 23-year-old Marks entered the event as one of the favorites. Sporting figurative acres of screen on his rig and all the accompanying skills, the Georgia angler is again showing why he’s considered a top prospect.
Weighing exclusively smallmouth, Marks has relied on a Zoom Z-Swim in Tennessee shad, picking off smallmouth on various points all over the lake.
“I caught a few the first day — I had a really good bag the first day,” he said of practice. “The rest of practice, I pretty much drove around.”
Marks seems to know what he’s looking for, which is the presence of bass and particular structural features.
“It’s the way the islands are pointing, and the way the points are — from a contour standpoint and a current standpoint,” he said. “And, if there are stripers there, there’s no bass; if there’s bass, usually there are no stripers.”
Many local observers have expressed shock at how tough the fishing is, and Marks is surprised as well.
“I expected like 14 a day to do good, not whatever I’ve had,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve seen it this bad. I wasn’t liking it in practice, but now I’m liking it.”
He’d really like it if things hold up for one more day.
“I’d probably cry,” Marks said about the prospect of winning the All-American. “It’s a staple. It’d definitely help kickstart a career for me.”
Sitting in second and within striking distance, Falardeau charged up the leaderboard from sixth on Day 2. A full-time guide and lodge owner at Lake Chickamauga, Falardeau is in hot pursuit of a fishing career after 10 years in the Army.
“I’ve got this one area I’ve found with a good population of fish, and I’m staying in that really small area — I don’t know if there’s enough for tomorrow,” he said. “But I do have one rock with 12, maybe 15 bass on it, and they’re all 3 pounds. I caught a 3-2 yesterday and a 3-4 today off it. Once you catch one, you can give it a couple hours, and they set back up, but I just can’t get another one off of it.”
Five off the magic rock would go a long way in the final round. If Falardeau can pull it off, it’d probably be one of the first times the winning spot at the All-American was found in bed.
“The big thing on a lake like this with such a big drawdown is an app, Field Maps,” Falardeau explained. “I basically lay down in bed at night and find my spots when the lake is 30-foot low. The rock I’m fishing, I found last night laying in bed.”
Tomorrow, he knows what he’s going to do.
“Once I have my limit every day, I’ve been pulling the trolling motor and leaving and practicing,” he said. “I did that today, and it was a waste of 2 hours. I know where there’s a 16-pound bag, so I’m going to sit on it all day.”
With a little luck (or maybe a lot, considering the tough fishing), this could be a big week for Falardeau.
“[Winning the All-American] would be life-changing for me,” he said. “Being a full-time guide, leaving for a full week, I don’t get paid, and I’m scraping by. I love guiding, but this is what I want to do for a living. This is what I’ve always wanted to do for a living, and that would give me the boost to be able to go to the next level.”
Here are the totals for the 10 competitors who'll fish on the final day:
1st: Paul Marks Jr., Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 26-1
2nd: Dillon Falardeau, Hixson, Tenn., 10 bass, 23-7
3rd: Lucas Murphy, West Columbia, S.C., 10 bass, 23-4
4th: Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 10 bass, 20-12, $500
5th: Pete Saele, New Lenox, Ill., nine bass, 20-8
6th: Mike Feldermann, Galena, Ill., nine bass, 20-8
7th: Buddy Benson, Dahlonega, Ga., 10 bass, 20-2
8th: Matt O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., 10 bass, 20-1
9th: Jason Barnes, Concord, N.C., eight bass, 20-0
10th: Ian Leybas, McAlester, Okla., nine bass, 19-6
