A three-pattern race develops

Mat flipping, traps, shoal bass all contend for top pattern at Seminole

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. – It’s half time at the Stren Series Southeastern event on Lake Seminole. Two competition days are complete with two to go.

The half-time show in southwest Georgia overnight was provided by Mother Nature; she lit up the sky with lightning and drenched the Peach State with much needed rain as a fast-moving cold front marched across the South.

As day three of the Seminole Stren began this morning, skies were clearing, the air was drying out and the temperatures were moderate but forecasted to drop.

At the top of the leader board are three pros who are each doing something completely different.

For starters, leader Mike Jackson of San Mateo, Fla., is flipping dense mats of vegetation about 45 miles from the launch site. Yesterday he sacked up four big bass for 21 pounds, 7 ounces to take a slim 1-pound, 14-ounce lead.

Second place pro Clint Brownlee of Tifton, Ga., is running about 35 miles the opposite direction, far up the Flint River to catch shoal bass. He caught 19 pounds of shoalies on day two.

And in third place, Nicolas Supik of Natrona Heights, Pa., is ripping a rattle trap in the main lake. He brought 17 pounds, 8 ounces to the scales yesterday.

With the passage of the front today, it will be interesting to see which patterns get stronger and which decline over the next two days.

Given the amount of rain dumped into the Flint River Basin last night, Brownlee’s shoal bass gig could be in jeopardy due to rising, muddy water.

For the trappers and flippers, the X factor will likely be wind and how high the westerly post-frontal gusts build today.

Several anglers who made big moves yesterday, including Rick Couch of Ocala, Fla., who is currently in fourth, noted that lower wind speeds on day two helped him fish more efficiently.

The wind is forecasted to blow 10 to 20 mph out of the west today.

At this afternoon’s weigh-in, the field will be cut to the top 10 pros and co-anglers, based on three-day cumulative weight and those 20 anglers will fish the final day on Saturday to determine a winner in both divisions.

The day three weigh-in of the Stren Series event on Lake Seminole will begin Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Earle May Boat Basin in Bainbridge, Ga.

Friday’s conditions

Sunrise: 7:31 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 62 degrees

Expected high temperature: 61 degrees

Water temperature: 50 to 55 degrees

Wind: WNW 10 to 20 MPH

Day’s outlook: a.m. thunderstorms then clearing