Pack is back on top

Mark Pack nets overall lead in EverStart tourney on Pickwick Lake while Aikin grabs first place in Co-angler Division

FLORENCE, Ala. – Mark Pack of Mineola, Texas, continued right where he left off. After turning in a splendid catch of 26 pounds, 5 ounces in the opening round of competition to lead all pros into the semifinals, Pack continued his mastery of Pickwick Lake once again today. Recording a healthy 16-pound, 4-ounce sack to grab first place for the second consecutive day, Pack has clearly become the man to beat heading into the finals.

“I’m pretty happy,” said Pack. “I’ve finished in second, fourth, fifth and sixth place on the EverStart trail before. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance tomorrow to finally win one of these things. It feels great. I’ve got a good area. I’ve just got to execute, stay relaxed and fish hard.”

Pack said that he is fishing a half-mile stretch, targeting bass using a Carolina rig technique with Lake Fork Baby Creature baits in about 5 to 8 feet of water.

“There’s a lot of fish in my area,” he said. “But this morning, the bite was really funny. They’d bite it, but they wouldn’t eat it. I probably lost about five or six fish early on. But as the day warmed up, the fish became more aggressive and they really started eating the bait. I think as it continues to warm up, more and more fish will be coming to my flat to spawn.”

Morehead climbs into second

After a relatively lackluster opening round of competition, Dan Morehead finally turned on the jets – recording a 12-pound, 15-ounce sack to grab second place heading into the finals.

“I can’t complain,” said Morehead, who, like Pack, has years of experience fishing the FLW Tour as well. “I really had the best day since I’ve been here. I don’t really have a pattern. But I’m keeping my head down and fishing hard. The total number of bites I had today was down, but they were better quality. Before I was catching 30 to 35 fish, but only getting a few keepers.”

Bennett continues strong performance

Joe Bennett of Independence, Mo., has arguably been the most consistent angler at the Pickwick Lake event this entire week. After netting a third-place finish on day one, Bennett finished in second place overall heading into the semifinals. Today, Bennett was back in third place with a total catch of 12 pounds, 1 ounce – well within striking distance of the leaders.

“I’m catching a lot of fish, but you really have to hunt for them,” said Bennett. “The fish are really loading up in certain spots. The key is just finding where those areas are.”

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top five pros are Larry Sisk (fourth) of Evansville, Ind., with a total catch of 10 pounds, 13 ounces and Mark Richards (fifth) of Houston with a catch of 9 pounds, 3 ounces.

Aikin takes over co-angler lead

After a hard-fought day of fishing, co-angler Ronald Aikin of Valley Station, Ky., only had a two-fish, 4-pound, 14-ounce catch to show for his efforts. However, given the fact that 14 other co-anglers failed to bring in a single fish, Aikin’s catch suddenly looked a whole lot better at the conclusion of weigh-in. In fact, by the time everyone had weighed out, Aikin, somewhat remarkably, found himself in first place, proving the adage that, in the sport of bass fishing, it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good.

“It was really tough out there today,” said Aikin, who is only fishing in the second EverStart event of his career. “But it feels great. I was really blessed to have had the pros I’ve had. I’m pretty excited about tomorrow. I just hope my luck holds up.”

Aikin said that he has been “mixing up his baits” nearly every day of the tournament.

“Today I used a Bandit crankbait in about 4 to 5 feet of water,” he said. “But yesterday, I caught some fish on jigs and tubes. I’m not really sure what I’m going to do tomorrow. I guess that’s going to be up to my pro.”

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Bill Rogers (second) of Jasper, Texas, with a total catch of 4 pounds, 1 ounce; day-two leader John Capitani (third) of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, with a catch of 3 pounds, 12 ounces; Dennis Evans (fourth) of Florence, Ala., with a catch of 3 pounds, 10 ounces; and Chris Gist (fifth) of Rogersville, Ala., with a catch of 2 pounds, 9 ounces.

EverStart action continues at Saturday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 6 a.m. at McFarland Park located on James M. Spain Drive in Florence, Ala.