COLUMBIA, S.C. – After Day 2 of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Presented by T-H Marine on Lake Murray, the Top 10 is set for Championship Saturday, and it’s shaping up to be a great day on MLFNOW! One of the best lakes in the Southeast right now, Murray has shown off in a big way, and the boaters and co-anglers are putting together impressive weights even with only three hours of forward-facing sonar.
Staying on top, Jack Story backed up his strong start with 21 pounds, 2 ounces on Day 2 for a 44-1 total. In second, Lucas Murphy hammered out 22-5 to move up from seventh, and William Bates stayed steady in third with 19-14 and a 41-1 total.
On the co-angler side, Jordan Smith moved into the lead, backing up his three for 9-13 on Day 1 with three for 11-15 on Day 2. With a 21-12 total, Smith is 2 pounds ahead of Mason Franklin in second and just under 3 pounds ahead of Wayne Smelser in third.
Story proves his versatility
The youngest boater in the field and a first-time qualifier in the All-American, Story is a prototypical electronics whiz and a herring expert, having grown up on Lake Lanier. On Day 1, he caught all his weight during his three hours with LiveScope, but that was not the case on Day 2.
“It was kind of a struggle,” Story said. “I cut my ‘Scope on this morning, and it wasn’t bad. I think I had like 14 pounds on four, and I had two I wanted to keep and two I wanted to get rid of. It got down to where there was 30 minutes left, I was like, ‘I gotta do something.’ So, I was scrambling. And I caught one 3 1/2 to finish my limit.”
Still, 17 pounds on Murray doesn’t go far.
“Yesterday, I didn’t catch any fish no-‘Scope,” he said. “So, I knew I needed to lock in. I cut my ‘Scope off at like 9:45. The clouds started rolling in, and that made me feel a lot better about how the day was about to go. I ran to a place I had put a mark down on the school in practice, where I thought they were. I threw over it, nothing. I looked over to my left, I cast up across the point, and my Fluke got blown out of the water – my biggest one of the day, a 5 1/2. I could have caught a 7 1/2 with ‘Scope and I would not have been as happy as I was. I was beyond joyful. I was really impressed with myself.”
Story culled again with a 3 1/2-pounder he caught off a grass line. Aside from those two key fish, eight of his 10 bass have come with LiveScope off a single point.
“I wish I could catch the fish on the brushpiles, because honestly, they look pretty big. But they’ve been hammered,” Story said. “I feel like the biggest fish right now are on the most community holes. I have one super obvious point, and for some reason, nobody else has been fishing it. That’s where I’ve weighed most of them – it’s a really special place.”
Tomorrow, Story will look to lock down an All-American title before his 19th birthday and before he’s taken a single class at Carson-Newman University. With dreary, maybe rainy conditions in the forecast, he’s looking forward to laying it all on the line.
“I couldn’t draw it up any better,” he said. “I’m not saying I’ll catch ‘em, but it’s going to give me the best chance I could have.”
Top local still in the hunt
Despite being originally from Michigan, Murphy is probably the last person you want in your rearview going into the final day on Murray. With a sterling record on the Jewel of South Carolina, Murphy has turned his adopted home lake into a quality income source outside of his actual job on the Strike King product development team.
On Day 1, Murphy caught nearly 20 pounds, and he improved on Day 2, catching the second-biggest bag of the day on the boater side.
“There was really no difference in days, it was just the size of the fish I caught,” Murphy said. “I had the same day in terms of numbers. I made zero adjustments, a few bonus places, I just stopped on at the right time.”
Catching a lot of his fish on a Strike King Caffeine Shad in Siren, Murphy seems to be making the most of his local advantage, and he’s surprisingly got room to work.
“I’ve gotten over 18 pounds both days without ‘Scope, and then just head hunted once I turn it on,” he said. “I’m split five with ‘Scope, and five without. I’ve been appalled at the lack of competition in places I’m going to fish.”
Tomorrow, he’ll be fishing for $120,000 and a berth in REDCREST and the Toyota Series Championship. From the sounds of it, he’ll be fishing free.
“It’s not win or bust, a bust would have been to not be fishing tomorrow,” Murphy said. “I kind of checked myself the other day – let’s just fish three days. So, that was the goal, and we’ve achieved it. Tomorrow is just another fun, free day of fishing on the lake I now call home.”
Bates needs to go big
Holding things down in third, Bates is a little off the pace set by the leaders, but Lake Murray has almost everyone in striking distance by the nature of the lake. Like the leaders, he’s relying on strong sonar sessions, and bass ganged up on points and piles. Today, he left a little meat on the bone.
“I just felt like my timing was off,” Bates said of Day 2. “It was good, I got four of the bites I needed, and didn’t get any after that. They all came within an hour and a half of each other, right when I turned on my MEGA Live 2. It was bang, bang, bang, then I couldn’t cull a 2.20. The good news is, there’s upside on that. If I could cull that 2.20 with a similar fish, I’d have 22 pounds. The bad news is, I didn’t get the bites.”
Bates is running waypoints when he’s got his sonar off – when his MEGA Live 2 is fired up, he’s trying to play for slightly more scattered, or movable fish.
“There are some points and places where the fish are stacked up in a specific location – cane piles and stuff,” he said. “I’m not ignoring that when I have my MEGA Live 2 on, but I’m kind of focusing on those places where the fish might get scattered out a little bit. Where they might be on the right side or the left side – when I have my Live on, I’m looking for those fish, and mixing in the cane piles and stuff like that.”
Can he push for the win tomorrow? We’ll see.
“I think I’m going to need 24 at least tomorrow,” Bates said. “The potential is there, if I catch the right fish in the morning. This morning I went for some bigger bites. I had one fish almost tank a lure on a herring point – it pulled up just short. I’d like to catch that fish in the morning.”
Top 10 boaters
1. Jack Story – 44 – 1 (10)
2. Lucas Murphy – 42 – 1 (10)
3. William Bates – 41 – 1 (10)
4. Caz Anderson – 40 – 10 (10)
5. Tom Frink – 40 – 3 (10)
6. Landon Lawson – 40 – 1 (10)
7. Matt McCluskey – 39 – 6 (10)
8. Brooks Anderson – 38 – 3 (10)
9. Zeke Gossett – 37 – 2 (10)
10. Cody Mackie – 36 – 4 (10)