Dudley the defender

Castrol pro guards single spot for day-two lead

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After a day-one catch fest at the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes, day two turned out to be more like what pros were expecting in the first place.

On day two, a 14- or 15-pound limit was something to brag about and the biggest limit to cross the stage today was 18 pounds, 11 ounces.

The catch rate cooled off and so did the weights.

Those on top of the leader board held their ground for the most part. Mark Rose, Koby Kreiger and Norman Seat all checked out of the top 10 while Hank Cherry, Ramie Colson and Art Ferguson moved in.

Now in the lead is none other than David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., FLW’s first million-dollar man, with a two-day total of 35 pounds, 14 ounces.

Dudley returned to the place that produce his 20 pounds, 2 ounces yesterday, caught 15 pounds, 12 ounces in a matter of minutes this morning and then proceeded to patrol the perimeter of his small honey hole like a Doberman pincher guard dog.

“The first thing I want to say is I can’t thank the fine anglers here in Tennessee enough for respecting my water and not coming in on me today,” Dudley said. “I had a few spectators today and they were nothing but first class in staying away and just watching me. I can only hope that their respect and courtesy continues for the next couple of days. I believe the place I’m fishing has the potential to win if courtesy is displayed. Again, their cooperation out there has been outstanding.”

As for other top 10 competitors fishing tomorrow, Dudley believes he is free and clear. The two anglers he was most worried about were David Fritts and Scott Suggs who did not make the top 10. Both knew about his spot but were unable to get on it because of Dudley’s squatter’s rights to the small ledge.

Dudley still did not give up much detail as to what makes the ledge so productive, but he did say that a deep-diving crankbait and a Berkley 10-inch Power Worm were the keys to his success today.

“It was actually one of the longest days I’ve ever endured on the water,” Dudley said. “I caught my limit in a matter of minutes and then just sat on the spot guarding it until about 4:20. To pass the time I pulled out a crappie jig and caught white bass out there. I know the spectators thought I was crazy to be sitting there catching white bass on purpose in a bass tournament, but that’s about all I could do to keep busy.”

All of Dudley’s eggs are in the basket of his one ledge. He has other places to fish, but none are as good as this one particular place, hence his spot-guarding is likely to continue through the weekend.

Coulter second

Local pro Brandon Coulter of Knoxville, Tenn., is making is hometown proud with a two-day total of 33 pounds, 14 ounces for second place.

He moved from 6th place to second today by virtue of a 17-pound, 7-ounce limit.

Coulter has local advantage and he is getting the most out of it. He had just 3 little keepers at noon, but kept running water until he found fish that were biting.

“Being a local meant everything today,” he said. “I probably hit 50 places and on the 50th place I caught three 5-pounders. The fish on this lake seem to bite in certain sections at certain times and it’s all about keeping moving until you run across the right section where it’s happening. And fortunately that happened today.”

Coulter credited a Callie Jig (a homemade jig he crafted with his daughter, Callie, before the tournament) and a Mann’s 30 plus crankbait for his fish today.

Martin third

Day-one leader Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., slipped to third today with an 11-pound, 12-ounce catch for a two-day total of 32 pounds, 7 ounces.

Martin continued to bounce back and forth between shallow and deep water today. He caught two of his keepers shallow and three deep.

When he’s shallow, Martin is relying on a Spro Little John crankbait and when he goes deep, he switches to a DD-22.

“What I’m looking for on those deep spots is white bass,” Martin said. “White bass are a big part of the equation. If I can find some bait on a ledge and then I catch a white bass, I get pretty excited because the deep largemouth and smallmouth are working those bait pods with the white bass.”

Ferguson fourth

Art Ferguson of St. Clair Shores, Mich., caught the biggest limit of day two weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces to jump into third place with a two-day total of 32 pounds, 5 ounces.

“There’s something about me and TVA waters – we just get along real well,” said Ferguson about his day. “I just seem to have a good understanding of how these fish react.”

But Ferguson’s windfall today almost never happened.

“I was just about to leave this spot and my co-angler made a long cast with a Carolina rig and caught a 14-inch keeper,” Ferguson recounted. “He hooked the fish deep in the throat and it was going to take him a while to get it unhooked, so I cut the boat back the other way, made a cast with a jig and caught a 3-1/2-pounder. And for the next 15 minutes I caught one fish after another. I assume the fish he caught got the school going, but if he had never caught that fish, I would have left that spot and missed the whole frenzy.”

Ferguson’s fish came on a DD-22 crankbait and a football head jig.

Green fifth

Hanging tough in fifth place is Jerry Green of Del Rio, Texas, with a two-day total of 31 pounds, 5 ounces.

Green is also carrying out a fish and camp strategy on one ledge that has been producing most of his fish.

“I’m fishing a deep place that’s adjacent to three bays,” Green said. “I think the area is replenishing daily because these fish are moving out of these bays onto this one spot.

“I’m pretty excited about tomorrow because I’m going to be able to expand some,” he added. “I’ve had a couple of boats on either side of me on some key stuff and they didn’t make the top 10, so I’m going to be able to expand a bit more tomorrow and incorporate a couple more key spots into my daily run.”

Big bass

Aaron Hastings of Middletown, Md., and Bob Blosser of Lodi, Wis., tied for the big bass in the Pro Division on day two, each catching a bass weighing 5 pounds, 11 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top-10 pros in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes after day two:

6th: Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., two-day total of 27-15

7th: Ramie Colson Jr., of Cadiz, Ky., two-day total of 27-13

8th: Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., two-day total of 27-8

9th: Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., two-day total of 27-3

10th: Hank Cherry of Maiden, N.C., two-day total of 26-15

Price leads co-anglers

Dennis Price of Tinley Park, Ill., retained the lead in the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 20 pounds, 4 ounces.

Price fished with local pro Ott Defoe and caught two keepers on topwater to hold his lead going into day three.

Shawn Carnahan of Chandler, Ariz., remained in second place with a two-day total of 19 pounds, 11 ounces.

Kyle Lane of Clarkrange, Tenn., is in third place with a two-day total of 18 pounds, 3 ounces.

Dirk Davenport of Delaware, Ohio, is in fourth place with 18 pounds, 3 ounces.

Barry Isbell of Trussville, Ala., rounds out the top five co-anglers with a two-day total of 18 pounds, 1 ounce.

Big bass

Brad Denton of Knoxville, Tenn., caught the big bass in the Co-angler Division on day two weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers in the Wal-Mart FLW event on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes after day two:

6th: Doug Weiser of Springdale, Ark., two-day total of 17-8

7th: Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark., two-day total of 16-13

8th: Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., two-day total of 15-14

9th: Jim Campbell of Maryville, Tenn., two-day total of 15-9

10th: Brian Gage of Gray, Tenn., two-day total of 15-6

Day three of the FLW Tour event on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes will begin Saturday at 6:30 a.m. at the Tellico Recreational Area Ramp east of Lenoir City, Tenn., at the junction of highways 321 and 444.