KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Big bites, late movers, impressive catches, a battle for the top spot and even a weather delay—Qualifying Day 2 of Toyota Heavy Hitters Presented by Venmo really had it all. The late-day micro storm couldn’t dampen what was an exciting day on the Kissimmee Chain. Here’s just some storylines you may have missed.
David Dudley only had one scorable bass for 3 pounds, 4 ounces halfway through his day. With less than two hours remaining in the day, the Virginia pro went on a run of four bass for 12-9 over the final period to move into the Top 20 and finish the day in fifth place.
Jason Christie added three bass for 9-10 over the final two hours to gain a little breathing room, settling into 14th place after his first day of competition.
Tommy Biffle added a 5-pound largemouth as time was running out to move just below the Elimination Line in 21st place, only 1 pound behind last-man-in Keith Poche.
Mark Daniels Jr. only caught two fish all day long, but one of them carried him a long way up SCORETRACKER®. Daniels hooked into a 7-15 Florida largemouth in the second period that stood as the Berkley Big Bass of the Day for nearly five hours before Mark Rose knocked him off that perch with a 9-2. The Favorite Fishing pro ended the day in 16th place with a total weight of 12-5.
Andy Morgan needed a 7-pound, 5-ouncer early in Period 3 to save him from the bottom 20. Morgan mustered up a couple of other 2-pounders the rest of the day, and sits in 17th after his first Qualifying Round.
Luke Clausen started his day with a 5-12 in Period 1, but could only find two other scorable fish for 5-8 the rest of the day. Clausen is trying to make his third Knockout Round of the 2020 season.
There are only three anglers out of the 39 that fished who caught more than 10 scorable bass all day: David Walker (13), Mark Rose (12), and Skeet Reese (11). In Group A, the number of anglers with double-digit catches is identical.
MLF analyst Marty Stone says that this is a different time of the year than these anglers are used to fishing the Kissimmee Chain, so that means they have to be willing to adapt to the environment around them.
“We’re fishing a typical lake at a non-typical time,” Stone said. “The quantity is not going to be there for these guys all week, it’s going to be all about the quality. The average size of a fish caught in Group A yesterday was 3-3. That’s pretty impressive. These guys are going to have to go looking for big bites if they want to move on and have a shot at winning.”
We’ve watched a noticeable pattern develop over two days of fishing: a slower bite in the first period, followed by a 2 1/2-hour surge late in the morning as the Kissimmee Chain’s largemouth wake up.
Period 2 has been the most productive window of both Qualifying Days so far: Day 1 produced 198-8 in the second period, an astounding 60-percent improvement over the first period that day. Monday’s Group B second period resulted in 155-10 on SCORETRACKER®, the most productive period of the day by almost 15 percent.