Sam Rayburn Day 2 Coverage

Terry Bolton is absolutely crushing

Quick Links

Live leaderboard – click here

Lake Tour – click here

Tournament Details – click here

Sam Rayburn By the Numbers – click here

Water level details – click here

Day 1 leader story – click here

Official day 1 results – click here

Day 2 OTW gallery – click here

Day marshal gallery – click here

 

2:00 p.m. – Closing time

It’s time to close down the blog and live leaderboard for the day. Make sure to pay attention to the live weigh-in on flwfishing.com at 3 p.m. CT because it is going to be historic. Not often does a tournament have potential 3-plus-pound bags and 11-pounders set to cross the stage. Also, it’s inevitable that we will have last-minute surprises since anything can happen when a lake is fishing this good.

Thanks for following along today!

 

1:40 p.m. – The giants are back

Terry Bolton is way up on Cloud Nine at the moment. The last fish he caught went for at least 8 pounds. That brings his unofficial weight up to 32 1/4 pounds. After culling, he cracked a few diet cokes and started chatting with the spectators who watched him put over 30 pounds in the livewell. Right now, he’s just idling around checking things out for tomorrow.

Kyle Cortiana just nabbed another beauty. This one went 6 pounds and now has his total up to about 24 pounds.

 

1:00 p.m. – More Bolton

Boats are starting to gather to watch Bolton as he is putting a beatdown on the fish. He has been catching them about every single cast. When he had a moment he told us, “my thumbs can’t take much more. They’re like bloody nubs right now.”

Other than Bolton wrecking them it has been somewhat slow in the last half hour. One of the pre-tournament favorites Dicky Newberry has a 13-pound limit. Bradley Hallman just bagged a 3 pounder on a Carolina rig. Sam George is still trying to cull out his small spotted bass. A lot of pros are making small culls here and there but nobody has reported any giant fish for a while.

 

12:25 p.m. – Bolton is on fire

Terry Bolton is working on a serious bag right now. We just saw him throw back a 4 1/2 pounder… There is legitimate potential to see a dirty thirty cross the stage this afternoon at Umphrey Family Pavillion.

LeBrun is currently stuck with a small limit worth about 12 pounds. We didn’t expect him to match his personal best bag he weighed in yesterday but one or two kickers would go a long way for the Louisiana pro at the moment.

 

12:05 p.m. – Bolton, Cortiana

Kentucky pro Terry Bolton just boxed a pair of Rayburn bigguns. The first one went 6 1/2 and the second went for 8 1/2. Both of the fish look like they came while throwing crankbaits. Not to mention, that unofficially puts Bolton atop the leaderboard.

Kyle Cortiana is finally getting the big bites he has been waiting for. Since we last mentioned the Oklahoma pro, he has landed a 3 1/2 and a 6. Dragging a plastic through grass has been the ticket for Cortiana. He will easily have a 20+ pound limit at the end of the day.

 

11:25 a.m. – More updates

Russell Cecil had a solid day one by posting a bag worth 17 pounds, 14 ounces. Today has been a different story. The Texas pro just managed to box his first keeper. There is still plenty of time left in the day but Cecil has a lot of catch-up to play.

Sam George just made a small cull and has around 10 pounds in the livewell. Charlie Evans has a solid 16-pound bag which is anchored by a 6 pounder. Eric Jackson just got his limit worth 11 pounds.

Chad Warren’s Marshal says the pro seems dialed in at the moment. He has made a few culls I the last half hour and is fishing with a lot of confidence.

 

10:50 a.m. Slowing down

All across the board the fish catches are definitely tapering off. The pressure along with the weather warmer could have made things more challenging on the water today. Some hammers like David Dudley and Scott Martin are sitting with quite a few dinks in their livewells.

One angler who is still catching them is Jim Tutt. In the last report, be broke the 20-pound mark and now he just culled up another pound. Assuming he makes the cut, The Texas pro should have a lot of confidence heading into tomorrow.

 

10:20 a.m. Tutt takes over

We just saw Jim Tutt catch a 5-pounder. He caught it on a spot he claimed to have been fishing for 30 years on a moving bait. Now he has over 20 pounds on the day. That fish also puts Tutt on top of the unofficial leaderboard.

After a slow morning Lebrun finally found himself a 4 pounder. He still hasn’t hit a crazy flurry like he did yesterday but catching a good one will help with his confidence. Tom Monsoor and Andy Wicker are still hitting their offshore juice. Wicker recently added a 5 3/4 pounder to the box. He could be working on today’s mega bag if he can cull a few more times.

 

9:30 a.m. – Updates

Bryan Thrift started fast this morning by limiting out within the first half hour. Since then he has been working on getting rid of the four-small fish in his livewell. He needs a few kickers like he had on day one. You can watch him catch those kickers here.

Kyle Cortiana’s Marshal just had a front row seat at the Oklahoma pro casting 23 times and catching 23 fish. Safe to say Cortiana is on numbers but he needs to find more quality fish since he only has 15 pounds on the day. If he can filter through all of the rats the big girls could come out to play.

Sam George just completed his limit and even made a small cull. It looks like the quality of fish could have changed on his primary spot since yesterday.

 

9:00 a.m. – 11 pounder, Monsoor

Andy Wicker just caught an 11 pounder, which may be the fish of the tournament. The 11 pounder smacked a football jig. That brings Wicker up to 17 pounds on the day, which already tops his day-one weight.

Tom Monsoor is keeping the magic going this morning. After adding another 5 pounder to his livewell he has about 23 1/2 pounds total. Monsoor barely had 8 pounds all of day one. With the ground he has made up he will certainly have a shot at making the cut this afternoon.

Day one leader Nick LeBrun just caught his first keeper of the day. Yesterday LeBrun only had one keeper in the first hour then absolutely crushed them on his second spot. It wouldn’t be surprising if he does the same thing today.

 

8:25 a.m. – Lots of fish early; first big bite goes to Monsoor

Tom Monsoor has landed the first giant of the day. It's an 8-pounder to go along with a handful of smaller keepers. Monsoor has 13 pounds total today, which is much better than the 8-pound limit that landed him in 120th yesterday.

Terry Bolton and Chad Warren are also having good mornings. They're approaching 14 pounds apiece. Bolton, in particular, is catching a lot of fish. They're knotted up at the top of the leaderboard.

No updates have come in yet for the official leader, Nick LeBrun, but we have heard from Sam George. He has a pair of nice keepers. 

 

7:45 a.m. – Will the big bags keep coming?

Despite a cold front and 9 feet of floodwaters that prompted a lot of complaining by the pros in practice, day one of the FLW Tour event presented by Polaris at Sam Rayburn produced some fantastically good fishing. Rookie pro Nick LeBrun leads the pack with 29 pounds, 2 ounces, followed by fellow rookie Sam George with 28-5. Everyone in the top 10 cracked 20 pounds. Two 9-pound, 12-ounce bass were weighed in. 

There were big hurdles on day one, but the FLW Tour pros cleared them with ease. 

LeBrun caught his fish on a lipless crankbait, which is somewhat surprising given the amount of water over the grass right now. Carolina rigs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits and a few other classic Rayburn staples also were used by the field. 

Today's conditions look similar to yesterday's, with slightly higher air temps at takeoff and partly cloudy skies throughout the day. The wind did a little shift around from ENE to ESE as things settle out post-cold front. The biggest challenge for the field today will be dealing with the effects of their own fishing pressure. Yesterday was a catch-fest. Some anglers caught 50 to 60 bass, and just about everyone was setting the hook at a high rate of frequency. They worked on 'em, and that might result in somewhat slower action today. 

 

Conditions

Temperature at takeoff: 42 degrees

Forecast high: 60 degrees

Sky: partly sunny

Precipitation: 0 percent chance of rain

Wind: ESE at 7 mph

 

Tournament Details

Presented by Polaris

Hosted by Jasper County Development District

Takeoff: 7:15 a.m. CT at Umphrey Family Pavilion, 5438 RR 255, Brookeland, TX

Weigh-in: Days 1 and 2 at 3 p.m. CT; Days 3 and 4 at 4 p.m. CT at Umphrey Family Pavilion

FLW Expo: 2 p.m. CT through the end of weigh-in at Umphrey Family Pavilion

FLW Live: 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CT