LIVE BLOG: Period 3 Winding Down in Shotgun Round 2

Casey Ashley landed this 5-2 during Period 3 on Table Rock Lake.

June 1, 2019 • Mason Prince • Bass Pro Tour

BRANSON, Mo. — The only thing that could slow Ott DeFoe down in the second period was the END of the second period.

The Tennessee pro connected with 28 scorable bass for just over 47 pounds in Period 2 to jump 31 spots in the standings, finishing the second period in second place, just 4 ounces behind Todd Faircloth. Defoe did almost all of his damage with a crankbait.

7:10 p.m. CT – Ott DeFoe is the leader with 74-15 and he is in front of Todd Faircloth by 2-9. Down near the Elimination Line, Gerald Spohrer is holding down the 20th spot but Casey Ashley and John Murray are within one scoreable bass of overtaking him.

6:20 p.m. CT – Jacob Wheeler and Dustin Connell might need to be referred to as “the Dinging Duo” from now on. Connell just gave us another “ding” after catching three fish in a two-minute span. Connell sits in second place behind Todd Faircloth, but he only trails him by 3-1.

6:02 p.m. CT – Arkansas pro Scott Suggs has had a difficult year – he entered the week in 71st place in the standings – but Suggs certainly knows his way around the Ozarks. Early in the third period, Suggs is in the battle for a Top 5 spot with 36 fish for 54-2. The pattern he’s on seems like one that’ll last through the evening session.

4:40 p.m. CT – Greg Vinson spent a fair amount of his time in Stage Six fishing way south, over the Arkansas state line. Vinson is fishing in Arkansas again today, but the bite is much slower for him this time around than it was during his Stage Six Shotgun Round: He currently has 20-3 and sits in 27th place; he racked up 83-6 on his first day last time out.

This 3-pound, 11-ounce smallmouth has helped Paul Elias climb into the Top 20.

4:24 p.m. CT – Keep an eye on Paul Elias. The Mississippi pro has quietly worked his way from 37th into 15th place thanks to a handful of quality fish: five 2-plus-pounders, including a 3-11 smallmouth.

4:08 p.m. CT – It’s like a video game right now for Josh Bertrand, who’s managed to drop-shot his way into third place with 40-1. Bertrand has connected with seven scorable fish in 20 minutes. His activity has attracted some attention, though: there are a handful of local boats hanging around the Arizona pro’s spot.

Kelly Jordon is one of several anglers working their way around the Elimination Line today. KJ is currently in the Top 25 with a period and a half remaining.

4:00 p.m. CT – The battle from 1st through about 10 spots below the Elimination Line is much, much closer today than it was yesterday: 10th place through 28th place are separated by less than 10 pounds, which means the second Elimination Round is already setting up to be a battle for the Top 20 spots.

3:49 p.m. CT – We’re witnessing one of the interesting dynamics of having two different groups of anglers fishing on different days. Current leader Todd Faircloth is close to the spot where Shin Fukae broke the 100-pound mark yesterday in Group A competition. He’s likely fishing on the same fish that carried Fukae to second place less than 24 hours ago.

2:43 p.m. CT – Period 1 of Shotgun Round 2 was officially slower than yesterday’s action: 379 fish went onto SCORETRACKER in the first period today compared to 423 yesterday. There are a handful of reasons for that: weekend boat traffic, fishing pressure, bright sunshine, etc. We’ll see how Period 2 plays out.

2:20 p.m. CT – JT Kenney just explained the background of one of the Bass Pro Tour’s most important rules: not allowing fish to hit the boat carpet. As Kenney pointed out – and as Stage Six winner Aaron Martens explained earlier this morning on a Facebook live – the 2-minute penalty assessed when a fish hits the carpet – is all about protecting the fish. When a fish brushes against the abrasive carpet of a boat, it removes the mucoprotein coating – the slime coat – that protects fish from bacteria and injury.

2:00 p.m. CT – Thirty minutes remain in Period 1 and Andy Montgomery has moved from outside of the Top 20 to 12th place. Montgomery had an amazing Stage Six on Table Rock Lake where he rode a productive shad spawn all the way to a second-place finish. However, that shad spawn is not here this week with the later start time so it will be interesting to see how Montgomery adjusts. In Stage Six, he spent the majority of his time near floating boat docks. Currently, Montgomery is fishing along the banks of the lake.

1:27 p.m. CT – Dustin Connell saw how much fun Jacob Wheeler was having in Shotgun Round 1 yesterday that he decided to get in on the action as well. Connell currently sits in second place with 12 bass for 17-4. He has found himself an area offshore where he can catch some spotted bass, and a lot of them.

Casey Ashley with his 2-pound smallmouth he caught in Period 1.

12:59 p.m. CT – It was only a matter of time before Kevin VanDam started to show out on Table Rock Lake. VanDam just put two 2-plus-pounders on SCORETRACKER in a span of 12 minutes on a crankbait.

12:25 p.m. CT – Mark Daniels, Jr. is out to an early lead with 7 pounds, 11 ounces. Daniels is going after the plentiful spotted bass in this lake and it’s working for him so far.