Williams Looking Good
The Carolina pro is running the show on Smith Lake
David Williams has been putting on a show this tournament, and he’s thinking he may be saving his best for last.
The Maiden, N.C., pro continued to milk his simple pattern to bring in the biggest sack of the day for the second time this event. Today, it he brought in 16 pounds, 12 ounces to extend his lead to more than 6 pounds at the FLW Tour presented by T-H Marine on Lewis Smith. The only pro to break 50 pounds, Williams’ total is 50-12, which makes it look like he’s fishing a prespawn event.
And here’s the scary thing: His bag could’ve been a lot bigger.
“I missed a couple big fish on FLW Live today on a frog,” says Williams. “I hadn’t thrown a frog all week, but I may have to try it a bit more tomorrow.”
At this point it is little secret what Williams is doing. He’s capitalizing on the morning shad spawn, skipping and fishing a swim jig around docks and flooded cover way up three separate branches. He’s left his two main areas every day by 10 a.m.
“At 10 a.m. I tossed back a 2-8 and 2-14 and thought, ‘what am I doing here anymore,’” says Williams. “I need to leave these for tomorrow because even if I just catch those I’ll still have a big bag again.”
While Williams says the number of bites he got decreased today (he still caught 25-30 keepers), the quality went up. Plus, despite re-fishing the same three areas he has no concern on if they’ll replenish based on the shad spawn constantly bringing new bass to those docks every night.
Then you have to factor in the frog bite that he found today.
“Every day I’ve left my areas at 10 a.m. and had a lull until 1 p.m.,” says Williams. “Now I know what I’m going to try during that lull, because there are some spots in my main areas I haven’t even touched that should work with that frog.”
Knowing he can fully lay into his areas on the final day combined with the potential for a frog bite has Williams so excited he admits he may not sleep much tonight. It’s hard to blame him.
Williams has been fishing T-H Marine Bass Fishing League (BFL) events since 1995, Costa FLW Series-level events since 1998 and top-level events since 2009 on the B.A.S.S. Elite Series. Amazingly, while he’s won four BFLs and made the All-American five times, he’s never won above that level.
“To be in contention to win, that’s what everyone shoots for,” says Williams. “You dream about winning one of these. Most anglers will never win one. So yeah, I may not go to bed tonight, and I may be jerking my hooksets a little faster tomorrow morning. Overall, it’s been a blast.”
Top 10 pros
1. David Williams – Maiden, N.C. – 50-12 (15)
2. Jordan Osborne – Longview, Texas – 44-2 (15)
3. Matt Arey – Shelby, N.C. – 43-12 (15)
4. Cody Meyer – Auburn, Calif. – 43-12 (15)
5. John Cox – DeBary, Fla. – 43-12 (15)
6. Jason Reyes – Huffman, Texas – 41-10 (15)
7. Jimmy Reese – Witter Springs, Calif. – 40-1 (15)
8. Matt Becker – Finleyville, Penn. – 39-12 (15)
9. Todd Auten – Lake Wylie, S.C. – 39-12 (15)
10. Clent Davis – Montevallo, Ala. – 39-2 (15)