Potomac River Day 2 Coverage
Wendlandt leads a wicked tight top five
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Top five patterns from day one
2:20 We’re headed to weigh-in
Our folks are all getting off the water and it’s about time to weigh some bass. In all likelihood, we get to crown an Angler of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Co-angler of the Year, so weigh-in should be pretty interesting. It starts at 3 p.m. ET on the site or at good ol’ Smallwood State Park.
Weigh-In Time: 3 p.m. ET on days one and two; 4 p.m. ET on days three and four
Weigh-In Location: Smallwood State Park all days
2:00 Batts update
Clayton Batts says he’s got “maybe” 13 pounds.
1:50 Rounding things up
Zack Birge has about 17 pounds – he started hot and has a 4-pounder and a 6-pounder in the ‘well. Scott Martin has about 12 pounds. Andy young has another good day going – he’s got 15 pounds.
1:20 Colson with a limit, Bird
Ramie Colson Jr. says he’s got a limit for about 12 pounds. Seems like the fishing isn’t quite as hot today as it was on day one. Cody Bird is doing decent, and says he's got about 14 pounds.
1:02 A bunch of updates
Barry Wilson is struggling today. So far, the Alabama pro only has four keepers. Brandon McMillan is rocking with 17 pounds, but he sucked it up pretty hard on day one. Grae Buck has a limit for about 10 pounds. Kurt Dove is struggling – he’s only got about 8 pounds.
12:40 Schmitt with a limit
Bryan Schmitt limited a while back with a decent fish and it slipped through the cracks. He’ll probably turn out alright, but it looks like he’s having a tougher day.
12:23 McCall thinks he made the Cup, Lawyer
Chris McCall said he had about 12 pounds and needed to cull a 12-incher to make the Forrest Wood Cup. Minutes later he popped a 3-pounder. If he right, he just booked himself an August trip to Lake Murray.
Jeremy Lawyer says he's got about 12 pounds.
12:15 Monsoor alert
After escaping at takeoff, Tom Monsoor has been tracked down. He’s got about 15 pounds, which should go a long way toward backing up his 19-pound bag from day one.
12:08 Not good for Knight
Brad Knight reports four that “aren’t good enough” in the ‘well. He’s had a rough season outside of his top 10 showing at Lake Travis.
12:00 ROY is interesting
Justin Atkins had the makings of a decent bag early and Bradley Dortch just checked in with a limit for about 13 pounds. It looks like Dortch still has some work to do if he wants to regain the Rookie of the Year lead he went into the tournament with.
11:45 Ponds
Pete Ponds is rolling with about a 10-pound limit today.
11:30 Well, maybe not
Clark Wendlandt just rolled back into Chicamuxen. He said earlier his best bite is from about 11:30 to 1, so maybe he’s playing it right.
11:13 Wendlandt is on his own, Arey
We’ve split off Wendlandt for the day now. He’s got a limit in the low double digits and is feeling the pressure some. Saying "I don't know where I'm going," he just picked up the trolling motor and headed north.
Matt Arey just landed his fourth keeper – he's having a tougher time today for sure.
Day one GoPro highlights
11:04 Auten with a limit
Todd Auten has himself a limit for about 10 pounds. He’s apparently waiting for things to get right at about noon.
11:00 Sprague is culling
It’s another distance deal, but Jeff Sprague just landed a keeper that culled. So, he’s got a limit for sure now!
10:45 Wendlandt is ranging
Clark Wendlandt is ranging pretty far on his hunt for quality fish. With a small limit in hand, the Texan is now fishing south of Potomac Creek.
10:40 Cory J
Cory Johnston is on the board with a 4+ and three smaller ones. Not quite the start to day two he’d like, but he’s at least a fifth of the way to a good bag.
10:33 Rain, Cobb, Schmitt?
It’s starting to rain a little down in Chicamuxen. Brandon Cobb has caught two more good ones – he’s got to be working into the low- or mid-teens now. We just got a bead on Bryan Schmitt – hopefully we’ll have an update on the Potomac hammer in a bit.
10:13 Rose, Martin
Mark Rose just made a small cull in the distance, so he’s got a limit. Scott Martin has a limit as well, with a 3-pounder and a handful of little guys.
Grae Buck's big fish from day one
10:05 It seems to be turning on
Something has changed out on the river over the last hour. After a somewhat slow start, it seems everyone is catching.
Matt Arey has two little ones and a 2-pounder. Andrew Upshaw has two good ones and three little ones. Casey Scanlon is culling again for ounces with a 2-pounder.
10:00 Wendlandt moves, others
Clark Wendlandt finally moved out of Chicamuxen, and has headed on to the mouth of another creek.
Alex Davis has a limit for about 10 pounds. Billy Shelton has a small limit as well.
9:55 A slew of updates
David Dudley has one 3+ in the boat and nothing else. Brandon Cobb is up to five keepers now. Luke Dunkin just caught a 3+, but we don’t know if he has anything else. Justin Atkins has two dinks, a 3-pounder and a 2-pounder. Cody Meyer has four keepers but no size. Ramie Colson has four keepers and one of them is good. Finally, Blake Smith has at least three keepers now.
9:35 Scanlon, Strader
Casey Scanlon is culling now. He had a long dead period, but something clicked for him. No word on weight, but it’s for sure not bad. Wesley Strader has a limit for about 12 pounds.
9:31 Nick, Suggs
Blake Nick has a couple small keepers and Scott Suggs has about the same.
9:30 Cobb update
Brandon Cobb has two in the boat and they’re both good ones. One is a 4-pounder and the other is 3+. If he could weigh all his snakehead he’d be blowing this derby out.
9:20 A limit for Johnston
Chris Johnston has a limit with three good ones. He’s probably going to lock up a spot in the weekend today, and it’d be no surprise to see one or both of the Johnston brothers battling for a W on Sunday. They crush on the Potomac.
9:12 Cobb, Gussy
Brandon Cobb just caught what he says is his eighth snakehead of the day. “Dude, I’m on a good snakehead bite. This is getting ridiculous.”
Jeff Gustafson has two that’ll go about 7 pounds total. That’s a dandy start.
9:03 Bohannan, LeHew, Morgan
Greg Bohannan has two in the boat – one 4-poounder and one dinker. Shane LeHew has an indeterminate number in the box, but he just caught good one. Andy Morgan has three in the boat for "six pounds."
8:50 Britt
Aaron Britt has landed two keepers in short order. No word on if that makes a limit or not.
8:42 Day, Sprague
Bill Day just finished off a limit worth about 9 pounds. Jeff Sprague has one keeper in the box so far.
8:27 Behrle is rolling
Robert Behrle has himself a pretty good morning going. He just landed 3+ for his fourth, and pretty much everything he’s caught has been quality.
8:20 Morgan and Holland
Andy Morgan seems to be having a pretty good morning. No total, but he’s caught two 3-pounders in the last few minutes. Joe Holland has one.
8:15 Wendlandt limits
Clark Wendlandt just caught a 2-pounder to fill his limit, but he’s thinking of moving. He says there are too many boats with him today to catch a big stringer.
8:05 Cox, Jocumsen, Bird
John Cox and Carl Jocumsen each have three in the boat for about 6 pounds. Cody Bird just landed his fourth keeper – he says he’s got about 7 pounds.
7:52 Johnston and Schmitt
Cory Johnston and Bryan Schmitt are sharing water this morning. The pair have an immense amount of confidence in the spot – Johnston said at the gas station this morning that the winning fish are right there. Problem is, neither Johnston or Schmitt has caught a one this morning.
7:50 Four for Wendlandt
The length limit is 12-inches today, and Clark Wendlandt is making use of that. His fourth keeper is a real dinker.
7:45 Behrle with another
Robert Behrle has two now, and his second is a solid 2+.
7:37 A wide berth for Wendlandt
Clark Wendlandt has three in the boat now. There are a bunch of other boats milling around where he’s fishing, but everyone is giving the veteran a wide berth. He’s earned respect over the years, and that might pay off handsomely today with some slightly less pressured fish.
7:32 McCall
We’re not sure if he has other fish, but Chris McCall just caught a 3-pounder.
7:28 Barnes with a good one
Evan Barnes just landed another keeper that's about a 4-pounder. No exact word on his total.
7:22 Webster, Cobb, Blake
Joseph Webster has a nice 3-pounder to his day going. Brandon Cobb has two small ones now and says his foot is sore after catching them on day one. Derrick Blake has some kind of yelling bet with Bill Day going. He’s caught three keepers so far and everyone has heard it.
7:16 One for Adams, another for Wendlandt
Tracy Adams Is on the board with a solid 2-pounder. Clark Wendlandt has two now, and his second is a solid fish that might go 3 pounds.
7:12 Brasher, Behrle
Chris Brasher has two small keepers in the box early. Robert Behrle has started strong again – he just boxed up a quality keeper for his first.
7:05 Barnes is on the board, Scanlon, Belmont
Evan Barnes just boxed up his first keeper, which is of no special size. Casey Scanlon started the day frogging and has yet to catch a bass. Over in Belmont there are currently 19 boats plying the grass.
6:58 One for Huff
Rex Huff just boxed up a small keeper from the crowd he’s fishing in.
6:53 Chicamuxen is busy
One of our reporters has counted 432 boats already in Chicamuxen this morning. It was really good yesterday, and it looks like it’s going to get pressured again today.
6:43 Score one for Wendlandt
Clark Wendlandt put a keeper in the boat on his second cast of the day. He’s not running far from takeoff, and already has 16 other boats in the area with him.
6:37 Day two is underway
On day one of the FLW Tour presented by Costa Sunglasses on the Potomac River a total of 31 pros brought 16 pounds or better to the scale. It’s a testament to how well the tidal river is fishing, and it’s going to make the second day of competition very interesting. Not only are the weights tight, but big bags to fuel big comebacks are totally within reach for most everyone. With so many Angler of the Year and Forrest Wood Cup implications in play, weigh-in this afternoon is likely to be an exciting and stressful affair.
Leading the whole shooting match is Clark Wendlandt, the veteran Texan who never disappoints on the Potomac. Catching 19-11 on day one, he came perilously close to breaking 20 pounds and might well do it today. So far, nothing in the fishing has really surprised – it’s by and large been a battle in the grass, and we expect that trend to continue today. One added plus today is the tide – the pros will have about an extra hour in the morning of relatively low tide to hopefully concentrate the bass a little more.
Weather-wise, it should be a good day. It’s warm and cloudy with a chance of rain, but it’s unlikely to be too extreme. Considering the weather we’ve faced on Tour this year, anything shy of a monsoon is a welcome relief. So buckle up, the Potomac is fishing great and today should be a dynamite day to be on it.
Conditions
Temperature at takeoff: 70 degrees
Forecast high: 83 degrees
Sky: partly cloudy
Precipitation: 60 percent chance of rain, afternoon thunderstorms possible
Wind: S at 5 mph
Tide (at Mattawoman): Low at 6:28 a.m., high at 1:06 p.m., low at 6:55 p.m.
Tournament details
Format: All pros and co-anglers will compete for two days. The co-angler champion will be crowned on day two, and the field will be cut to the top 20 pros on day three and the top 10 pros on day four. The winners will be determined by total cumulative weight.
Takeoff Time: 6:30 a.m. ET
Takeoff Location: Smallwood State Park, 2750 Sweden Point Rd., Marbury, Md., 20658
Weigh-In Time: 3 p.m. ET on days one and two; 4 p.m. ET on days three and four
Weigh-In Location: Smallwood State Park all days
FLW Live: Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. ET to 12:30 p.m. ET