By Vance McCullough
Special to BassFan

In a tournament where the only constant seems to be change, consistency is king. A pair of Elite Series sophomores, Kyle Welcher and Bryan New, remained rock steady and will begin the final round near the top of the leaderboard.

However, Jason Christie moved into a tie for the lead and is threatening to finish what he started the last time the Bassmater Classic was contested on Lake Hartwell, when he came up one bite short of taking the title.

“These young guys are so good with their electronics, but I’ve spent a lot of time doing it too and I’m comfortable out there deep,” said Christie.

Christie caught 19-06 – the second-best bag of Day 2, for a 36-07 total. That's also Welcher's aggregate after a 17-10 haul for the day.

New, the Day-1 leader, boxed 13-07 and is 3 pounds back with 33-07. Lee Livesay (33-06) and Justin Hamner (33-02) round out the Top 5.

A huge key, says Christie, is knowing which fish will play.

“I can tell as soon as my bait hits the water, just by how they react," said Christie, who used two baits but opted to not identify either. "When you have so many fish out there running around, just knowing which one to throw at – the solos will not bite, the pairs sometimes will. When they get in groups of three or four, usually you can catch one of those.”

Welcher has focused on what matters most – oversized bites.

“I’m setting up the entire game plan around big," he said. "I’m fishing for big fish the entire day. I feel like this lake has so many fish in it that I’ll run into three or four 1 1/2- to 3-pounders and if I can catch a couple of big ones, I’ll be in good shape. I’m not ever trying to catch a limit instantly.”

New is known as a dock-fishing specialist and he's relied heavily on that skill set this week. Late on day 2, he made a decision to depart from his comfort zone. It may have saved his tournament.
“I had 30 minutes to go, and I said ‘Alright, you’re going to have to put this up. If you’re going to salvage it, you’re going to have to do it now.’ I went out deep and caught a 4-04. I didn’t have a pretty day.”

Starting the day in 11th place, Livesay turned in another 16-plus-pound limit to climb into 4th.

"I’m just putting my head down in a couple of areas where big largemouth live, making more casts, making the right casts, not dinking and dunking around trying to catch a limit and hoping and waiting," he said. "I might go out there and zero tomorrow, but I’m just staying where the big largemouth are and grinding it out.

“It changes daily here but, I just know that if I keep doing what I’m doing, I’m going to run into some big largemouth eventually.”

Hamner went against the grain this week. While many anglers bet on the shallow bite, he looked deep, but not for Lake Hartwell’s abundant spotted bass.

“My biggest deal has been targeting the largemouth way deeper than I think a lot of the people are doing," Hamner said. "My (Garmin) Panoptix are a huge factor in me being able to do that. Damiki Rig, deep rock piles in about 30 feet.”

Hamner says his is a pattern that is difficult to duplicate.

“I can’t find many of those places.”

David Mullins (7th) made the right adjustment when the weather changed.

“I fished totally differently the last two days," he said. "Yesterday was a shallow-water, dirty-water deal. Today was a shallow, clear-water deal.

"A lot of the places I caught them on Day 1 cleared up today. It was dirty water, now it’s clear. It totally changed the bite in there, so I had to adjust. I scrapped that area and went looking for new stuff. I’m just kind of waking up, rolling with it and seeing what happens.”

After catching what he felt he needed to make the cut, Mullins went practicing for Sunday.

“I started practicing about 1:30 until 3 o'clock and found another area that had what I needed and, luckily, caught a 4-pounder in there.”

Luke Palmer (8th) is sticking to a basic program.

“I’m throwing Scottsboro 3-inch swimbaits, Yum recently came out with them, and I’m throwing a Yum Dinger. That’s pretty much it. I’m staying simple with what I’m doing. I don’t want to say I’ve got something figured out on the docks because I don’t, because I didn’t really catch them good, but there’s a lot there and I need them to bite.

“I wish it would warm up a little more. We could get some sun tomorrow and it could get scary.”

Taku Ito (9th) has become a fan favorite not only for his fishing exploits, but also for his personality that transcends the language barrier. He has used finesse techniques born of his Japanese homeland this week. Notably, he's catching quality fish from brush piles in 25 feet of water on a half-ounce jighead with a soft, fluke-style bait made by Norries.

“Taku like Hartwell bass. Hartwell bass like Taku,” grinned Ito, who has been known to talk the bass into eating his lures. “Today, I talk them into eating Japanese. Yesterday, no talking. Maybe tomorrow, talking.”

Patrick Walters (10th) had another good showing on day 2.

“I’m covering a lot of water," he said. "I caught a lot of fish. I caught 20-plus fish today, I caught 30 or 40 yesterday. I had the bites today to have a really good day, but I didn’t fish efficiently. You have to fish flawlessly and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”

Gerald Swindle (16th) said, “I may not be fishing for as many fish, I’m fishing for suspended fish over deep, deep water, burning a crankbait, counting baits down to them and then I’m catching a few on a big swimbait, a Magdraft, throwing it right at the bank.

“I’ve been lucky and had a few big bites. I had another big one follow it out today and not get it. That’s the difference between a 20-pound bag and a 13-pound bag. It got me a little gun shy. I spent the next two hours trying to catch a couple of fish and I should have kept going for broke.”



Day 2 Standings

1. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 10, 36-07 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 17-01 -- Day 2: 5, 19-06

1. Kyle Welcher -- Opelika, AL -- 10, 36-07 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-13 -- Day 2: 5, 17-10

3. Bryan New -- Saluda, SC -- 10, 33-07 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 20-00 -- Day 2: 5, 13-07

4. Lee Livesay -- Longview, TX -- 10, 33-06 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-14 -- Day 2: 5, 16-08

5. Justin Hamner -- Northport, AL -- 10, 33-02 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-08 -- Day 2: 5, 16-10

6. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 10, 32-12 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 17-05 -- Day 2: 5, 15-07

7. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 10, 32-09 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-13 -- Day 2: 5, 16-12

8. Luke Palmer -- Coalgate, OK -- 10, 32-06 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-00 -- Day 2: 5, 17-06

9. Taku Ito -- Chiba, JAPAN -- 10, 31-13 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-06 -- Day 2: 5, 18-07

10. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- 10, 31-12 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-02 -- Day 2: 5, 13-10

11. Hank Cherry Jr -- Lincolnton, NC -- 10, 31-09 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 12-00 -- Day 2: 5, 19-09

12. Joey Nania -- Cropwell, AL -- 10, 31-09 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-10 -- Day 2: 5, 14-15

13. Caleb Sumrall -- New Iberia, LA -- 10, 31-00 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 14-11 -- Day 2: 5, 16-05

14. Chris Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 10, 30-15 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-07 -- Day 2: 5, 17-08

15. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, FL -- 10, 30-13 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-09 -- Day 2: 5, 15-04

16. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 10, 30-09 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 17-06 -- Day 2: 5, 13-03

17. Taylor Smith -- Valleyford, WA -- 10, 30-06 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-13 -- Day 2: 5, 16-09

18. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 10, 30-02 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-09 -- Day 2: 5, 11-09

19. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 10, 30-01 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-09 -- Day 2: 5, 11-08

20. Buddy Gross -- Chattanooga, TN -- 10, 29-14 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 14-07 -- Day 2: 5, 15-07

21. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 10, 29-13 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-12 -- Day 2: 5, 14-01

22. Wes Logan -- Springville, AL -- 10, 29-13 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 14-03 -- Day 2: 5, 15-10

23. Brandon Card -- Salisbury, NC -- 10, 29-11 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 14-05 -- Day 2: 5, 15-06

24. Brock Mosley -- Collinsville, MS -- 10, 29-09 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-07 -- Day 2: 5, 11-02

25. Nick LeBrun -- Bossier City, LA -- 10, 29-07 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-12 -- Day 2: 5, 15-11

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 3.

26. Marc Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 10, 29-06 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-01 -- Day 2: 5, 12-05

27. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, ON -- 10, 29-06 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-06 -- Day 2: 5, 14-00

28. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 10, 29-05 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-02 -- Day 2: 5, 16-03

29. Hunter Shryock -- Ooltewah, TN -- 10, 29-02 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-03 -- Day 2: 5, 12-15

30. Chris Zaldain -- Fort Worth, TX -- 10, 29-00 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-13 -- Day 2: 5, 12-03

31. Daisuke Aoki -- Minamitsurugun, JAPAN -- 10, 28-12 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-01 -- Day 2: 5, 13-11

32. Matt Herren -- Ashville, AL -- 9, 28-11 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 4, 09-00 -- Day 2: 5, 19-11

33. Tyler Rivet -- Raceland, LA -- 10, 28-10 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 09-08 -- Day 2: 5, 19-02

34. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 10, 28-04 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 10-14 -- Day 2: 5, 17-06

35. Tristan McCormick -- Burns, TN -- 10, 27-14 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-01 -- Day 2: 5, 13-13

36. Jacob Powroznik -- North Prince George, VA 10 -- 27-10 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-04 -- Day 2: 5, 16-06

37. Joshua Stracner -- Vandiver, AL -- 10, 27-05 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-00 -- Day 2: 5, 16-05

38. Brandon Lester -- Fayetteville, TN -- 10, 27-03 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-15 -- Day 2: 5, 13-04

39. Chad Pipkens -- Dewitt, MI -- 10, 26-00 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-15 -- Day 2: 5, 12-01

40. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, MN -- 10, 25-15 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-01 -- Day 2: 5, 09-14

41. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, ON -- 10, 25-12 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-12 -- Day 2: 5, 13-00

42. Jared Miller -- Norman, OK -- 8, 25-05 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-11 -- Day 2: 3, 08-10

43. Drew Benton -- Blakely, GA -- 10, 25-04 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-12 -- Day 2: 5, 13-08

44. John Cox -- Debary, FL -- 10, 25-02 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-09 -- Day 2: 5, 08-09

45. John Crews Jr -- Salem, VA -- 10, 23-09 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-12 -- Day 2: 5, 11-13

46. Matt Robertson -- Kuttawa, KY -- 10, 23-06 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-07 -- Day 2: 5, 09-15

47. Seth Feider -- New Market, MN -- 10, 23-02 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-11 -- Day 2: 5, 11-07

48. KJ Queen -- Catawba, NC -- 10, 22-13 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 09-06 -- Day 2: 5, 13-07

49. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, ID -- 10, 22-09 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-01 -- Day 2: 5, 10-08

50. Shane LeHew -- Catawba, NC -- 10, 22-07 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-01 -- Day 2: 5, 11-06

51. Drew Cook -- Cairo, GA -- 10, 22-04 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 10-14 -- Day 2: 5, 11-06

52. Ray Hanselman Jr -- Del Rio, TX -- 8, 20-00 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 3, 07-07 -- Day 2: 5, 12-09

53. Shane Powell -- Dothan, AL -- 10, 19-07 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-14 -- Day 2: 5, 06-09

54. Matty Wong -- Honolulu, HI -- 10, 19-07 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 08-14 -- Day 2: 5, 10-09

55. Keith Tuma -- Brainerd, MN -- 7, 11-09 -- 0 -- $10,000
Day 1: 2, 04-04 -- Day 2: 5, 07-05