FLW Super Tournament Field Cut to 50; 23 MLF Pros Move on to Day 3
LA CROSSE, Wis. – Day 2 on the Upper Mississippi River is in the books, leaving just the Top 50 to move on to Friday’s Day 3 at FLW Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament.
As 150 anglers are pared from the field, multiple Bass Pro Tour anglers remain scattered throughout the Top 50 after two days. Here’s how just a few of them fared on Pools 7, 8 and 9 on Thursday.
Birge Blasts into Top 5
Zack Birge entered Thursday in 52nd place with 11-7, but after a 16-plus-pound second day throwing a frog and shaky head (16-6, to be exact), the Oklahoma pro finds himself in fourth place with 27-13, less than a pound out of first.
“I fished the same stuff as yesterday, I just got better bites today,” Birge admitted of his 5-pound improvement. “I didn’t find a whole lot in practice, just ran some history and found them in a place that I caught them last year at REDCREST. I noticed that the water came up about 6 inches, maybe that made them more aggressive. Either way, I’m going to bank on those same fish (Friday).”
Matt Lee Moves into Top 15
Although his bag wasn’t as good on the scales as his first day, Matt Lee heads into Friday feeling good thanks to his two-day total weight of 25-7. That weight is good enough to put him inside the Top 15. Lee spent his entire day on Pool 9 and was able to find four smallmouth and one largemouth doing pretty much anything he could to get bit.
“There was a little rock jetty that I focused on today for smallmouth and caught a couple of keepers there,” Lee recapped. “I used a drop-shot, Texas rig and vibrating jig to catch the smallmouth and a frog for the one largemouth. Those four baits have caught me multiple fish this week, and I plan to just keep working those while finding the right areas.”
Mark Davis Makes a Big Move
The way that Mark Davis rolled up to the ramp after finishing Day 2, you wouldn’t have expected him to have had a good day. His body language didn’t look like someone who did much better than his 8-4 limit yesterday.
“I don’t know how I did honestly,” Davis said before heading to the weigh-in. “I guess we’ll see if it’s enough. I don’t think it will be, though.”
Davis weighed a five-bass limit of 15-12, the second-biggest bag of the day behind fellow Birge’s 16-6.
“I feel a lot better than I did about 15 minutes ago,” Davis said through a big grin.
The Arkansas angler will be fishing in the Top 50 tomorrow, sitting inside the Top 25.
Lucas Lends a Hand to Meyer
As the day started to wind down and with five fish in his livewell, 2020 Bass Pro Tour Stage Five champion Justin Lucas got a call from one of his fellow anglers. Cody Meyer was in some trouble.
“Lucas saved me,” Meyer said simply. “I hit a rock pile or a stump and lost my lower unit. I already had two fish in the livewell, so I realistically needed two more to cut a check and I didn’t know what to do.”
That’s when Meyer gave FLW tournament director Daniel Fennel a call.
“Cody called Daniel Fennel and got permission to fish out of my boat for the rest of the day,” Lucas said. “I already had my five for the day and was comfortable with where I was in the standings, so I let Cody try and cut a check. I didn’t make another cast all day.”
Meyer entered the day in 13th place with 13-7 and felt like he needed at least 9 pounds to receive a check. He was fishing near the lock on Pool 9 and caught two more fish with time to spare, giving him four for 9-7.
“A lot of people wouldn’t do what Justin did today,” Meyer admitted. “That’s what makes him one of the best guys out here.”
Lucas’ 11-14 limit kept him in the Top 50 with a two-day total of 22-15. Meyer will also be moving on to Friday with 22-14.
MLF Notables
Twenty-three MLF anglers will be competing on Friday in the Top 50. Birge (4th, 27-13) and Jacob Wheeler (8th, 27-2) are the only MLF anglers inside the Top 10.
Coverage for Day 3 begins at 8 a.m. CT on FLWfishing.com.