Harvey harnesses Toledo Bend

Co-angler Bailey builds huge lead in EverStart Texas Division

MANY, La. – For the second consecutive day, weather presented a major challenge for the EverStart Series Texas Division field on Toledo Bend Reservoir, but just as he did on day one, Texas pro David Harvey overcame the obstacles and turned in another strong performance that pushed him to the top of the standings.

Yesterday saw a stormy weather system move through the area around mid-morning and roil the lake with turbulent conditions. Today brought typical post-frontal conditions – high, bright skies and sustained winds that built waves as high as six feet. This greatly limited where and how anglers could fish, so Harvey and many of his fellow competitors had to shift gears.

Yesterday, Harvey caught a 25-pound, 10-ounce limit on a crankbait, Texas-rigged worm and Carolina rig. Today, he nabbed a limit that weighed 20-1 and gave him a 45-11 total, but he had to work a lot harder to get it.

“One thing that was different for me today was that I couldn’t ever get a crankbait bite going,” Harvey said. “It just seemed like it wasn’t there are any of my (spots). All around, it generally seemed tougher for me. I had to struggle and I had a little bit of bad luck. I broke one off and jumped on off – both would have helped me tremendously.”

On day one, Harvey fished main lake ledges in the morning and then ducked into the sheltered waters of a creek, when the storm came through. Today, he rode out the rough conditions and worked the open water.

“I’m saving that creek for tomorrow,” he said.

Today, Harvey caught his fish on a Carolina rig with a Big Bite Creek Creature (tilapia color) and a dropshot with Big Bite Baits trick worm.

Freeman improves to second

Glen Freeman, of Converse, La. was the only pro besides Harvey to break 20 pounds on both days. He bagged 22-11 on day one and added 21-8 today to rise four notches to second place with 44-3.

Freeman found his day two nearly a mirror of day one, at least in terms of the where and how stuff. “I didn’t change anything. I stayed with the same game plan and I didn’t think about the weather.”

Fishing deep ledges and points with jigs and soft plastics delivered the bites for Freeman. He mixed up his presentations to keep the fish interested.

“As much I could switch, I would,” he said. “If they stopped biting something, I’d switch. I changed all throughout the day.”

The fish bit most of the day for Freeman, although the morning period proved most productive. All told, he caught about 15 keepers on day two.

Loyd relocates, slips to third

Lamonte Loyd, of Gilmer, Texas had a tough time with today’s rough weather. His big day-one sack of 25-12 gave him strong positioning in a tie for second and with a good limit of 18-1 today, he yielded just one spot to place third at 43-13. Day two, he said, forced him out of his original game plan.

“My fish were gone and I had to go find some different ones,” Loyd said. “My better spot didn’t happen today.”

Loyd said the spot that produced his day-one catch was directly exposed to today’s strong wind, so he couldn’t hold his position for effective presentations. He tried this spot early in the day and then again in the afternoon, but his attempts were fruitless.

Fortunately for Loyd, he was able to locate fish on another spot similar to the hump in 22 feet where he fished yesterday. A custom-painted deep diving crankbait produced again today, but he also caught some of his keepers on a Texas-rigged Berkley Power Worm and a Combat jig with a Sweet Beaver.

Reneau struggles, goes to fourth

On day one, Del Rio, Texas pro made it look easy with a 26-pound, 10-ounce sack. Today’s conditions limited him to about half that and he slipped three spots to third with 40-9.

“I’m more proud of these today than the ones I caught yesterday,” Reneau said. “Yesterday, I got them quickly, but today, it was a grind.”

Reneau got all of his fish in the morning, prior to the storm’s onset. Today, he found that the rough weather had blown out the deep hydrilla beds where he had caught his fish on his patented Lateral Perch. Today, Reneau caught two of his keepers on a jig in grass beds in another location and the other three he caught on a football jig with a Strike King Rage Craw trailer in deeper water over ledges.

Jeane goes deep, slips to fifth

Louisiana pro George Jeane Jr. also saw his day severely disrupted by the inclement weather. After fishing shallow and tying Loyd for second with 25-12, Jeane struggled to put together a limit of 13-9 and earned his final-round berth with a fifth-place total of 39-5.

“The weather completely changed me up this morning; I had to go to a new spot I haven’t been to all year,” Jeane said. “I had to go out deep to a spot I knew would produce.”

Jeane caught his day-two fish on reaction baits. His day-one catch included a 13-pound, 4-ounce monster – the largest of the event and sixth largest in FLW competition.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 pro leaders at the EverStart Series Toledo Bend event:

6th: Russell Cecil, of Willis, Texas, 35-9

7th: Ryan Pinkston, of Center, Texas, 35-3

8th: James Elliott, of Center, Texas, 34-3

9th: Phil Marks, of Dallas, Texas, 33-10

10th: Kris Wilson, of Montgomery, Texas, 33-10

Jeff Sprague, of Forney, Texas and Elbia Ebert, of Porter, Texas shared the Snickers Big Bass award with twin bass that went 7-3.

Big sack lifts Bailey to co-angler lead

Scott Bailey, of Longview, Texas caught the heaviest sack of the co-angler division (24-6, also fourth heaviest of the tournament) and rose a dozen spots from 13th to first with a two-day total of 34-2. His big second-day performance gave him a sizeable lead of 7-12 heading into the final round.

Bailey’s day-two catch, which included a 7-pound, 3-ounce toad, came on a Carolina rig with an ounce weight and a Zoom Dead Ringer (redbug). He caught his fish over rock ledges in 22-24 feet and found his day divided into two productive periods with a lengthy lull.

“I had five keeper bites today,” Bailey said. “I had three by about 8 o’clock and then I caught the other two in the afternoon, around 2 o’clock. I had a long, boring middle of the day.”

With a 4-foot leader, Bailey said his C-rig was an ideal choice for the day’s conditions: “As windy as it was, I just had to throw it out there and drag it around. When (the fish pulls), you pull.”

Kerry Barnett, of Waldron, Ark. placed second with 26-6 and day-one leader Benny Aylor, of Round Rock, Texas dropped to third with 26-4. James Callaghan, of De Berry, Texas was fourth with 25-15, as Buddy Hicks, of Port Neches, Texas took fifth with 22-5.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 co-angler leaders at the EverStart Series Toledo Bend event:

6th: Mark Howard, of Mesquite, Texas, 21-12

7th: Bennie Anderson, of Grand Prairie, Texas, 19-13

8th: Kenny Moser, of Alba, Texas, 18-2

9th: Randy Hicks, of Lumberton, Texas, 18-0

10th: Neil Herline, of Silsbee, Texas, 17-8

Callaghan took Snickers Big Bass honors with his 8-4.

Day three of EverStart Series Texas Division action on Toledo Bend Reservoir continues at Saturday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 5:45 a.m. (Central) at Cypress Bend Park located at 3462 Cypress Bend Drive in Many, La.