Top 5 Patterns from Lake Texoma Day 2
Del Rio, Texas pro Ray Hanselman stormed into the lead at the Rayovac FLW Series Texas Division event on Lake Texoma by adding 23 pounds, 2 ounces to the 17-2 he weighed on day one for a total of 40-4.
Click here to read about Hanselman’s leading pattern. Here are the details of the rest of the top five.
2nd Place — Cody Bird — 31 pounds, 14 ounces
The unofficial “biggest improvement” honor goes to Cody Bird of Granbury, Texas, who surged up the standings from 20th place to second on day two after weighing a bag that went 21-9. It gave him 31-14 overall.
Bird started day two on a smallmouth pattern he found in practice, but netted just one small keeper. At 11 a.m., he made a key move that set up his big day.
“I ran into a little pocket that had been really dirty and caught three of those big ones off the same (bedding area),” Bird says. “It was so dirty that I could barely see them swimming around.
“After I caught those three, I caught two more in the same area. I ended up catching eight keepers on one little stretch.”
Bird threw a shaky head with a Kicker Fish Hole Shot Finesse Worm for the smallmouth and caught his bed fish on a Kicker Fish Kicker Craw Jr. Texas rigged with 1/8- and 1/4-ounce weights.
3rd Place — Brian Ankrum — 31 pounds, 9 ounces
A blown engine threatened to doom his day, but Brian Ankrum, of Natalia, Texas managed to maximize the fishing time he had and improve from fifth place to third with 31-9. With 15-13 Thursday and 15-12 Fridday, he’s the most consistent pro in Saturday’s top-10 field.
“I bailed on what I found in practice pretty early today and just ran new water,” Ankrum notes. “I was able to get four in the boat before my motor broke down and I was able to use my trolling motor to idle into a cove and caught my fifth fish in there.”
Ankrum declined to mention his baits, but he says the key to his productivity is extremely thick cover where he’s picking up postspawn fish.
“I’m trying to target fish that have moved out to rest and the ones that are guarding fry,” Ankrum adds.
4th Place —Joe Don Setina — 30 pounds, 11 ounces
Joe Don Setina topped the day-one field with 20 pounds, 9 ounces, but the Pittsburg, Texas pro found slimmer pickings on day two. Adding 10-2 to his 20-9 from day one, Setina slipped a few spots to fourth with 30-11.
“I waited until the sun got up really good, but some of the places I wanted to go had boats on them today and some of the big ones left,” he says. “The ones that were there were really skittish.
“You’d throw a bait in there and they’ll just take off or they’d just sit there and they wouldn’t react to it. I had two good ones and one of them I went to six times. I was dragging the bait all across her face and she just wouldn’t bite.”
Setina caught the fish he weighed by pitching two different baits. His main producer was a Texas-rigged Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver, but he also pitched a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper swimbait.
5th — Jeff Reynolds — 29 pounds
Takeoff order factored greatly into Jeff Reynolds’ day, as the pro from Calera, Okla., made a big move up from 10th place to fifth with a bag weighing 15-2.
“I sight-fished just like I did Thursday,” Reynolds says. “I got fortunate because I saw a good one yesterday, but I think half the field tried to catch it and I tried to catch it. I got it to bite twice, but there was just too much boat traffic yesterday.
“I thought ‘If I can get there first this morning, I have a good chance of catching her.’ Lucky enough, I got there first and it didn't take long to get her to bite and that was my 6-pound, 15-ounce fish.”
Reynolds caught all of his fish sight-fishing with a Texas-rigged creature bait.
LIST TOP 6-10
6th — Bradley Hallman, Norman, Ok. — 26 pounds, 8 ounces
7th — Nick Lebrun, Shreveport, La. — 24 pounds, 9 ounces
8th — Russell Cecil, Willis, Texas — 23 pounds, 11 ounces
9th — Craig Frilot, Breaux Bridge, La. — 23 pounds, 4 ounces
10th — Robert Brown, Round Rock, Texas — 23 pounds