Brown Drops 25-2 to Take Seminole Lead
Clint Brown already has one Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. win on Lake Seminole and tomorrow he’ll be looking to add another. The Bainbridge, Ga., pro sacked 25 pounds, 2 ounces on Day 2 of the Southern Division finale to add to his 18 from Day 1, giving him 43-2 overall. With under 4 pounds separating the top 5 and just 8 ounces between Brown and DJ Ellis in second, tomorrow should be one heck of a final day.
Even with a lifetime of experience on Seminole, this week hasn’t been easy. In past events, Brown has been able to utilize a good portion of Seminole and tap into different patterns, but this time he’s hunkered down in one portion of Spring Creek.
“The area I’m fishing I found last Wednesday and then we got all that rain and it muddied up,” Brown says. “I went back and checked it on Monday and I thought the area was too muddy and it was my fourth stop yesterday because I didn’t think they’d bite. I only had 7 pounds when I went there and wound up catching them here and there to cull up to 18 pounds.
“So I went and started there this morning and didn’t know it, but there is a shad deal going on. I had a couple shad follow my bait and so I think my area happened to clear up a little and there’s shad there so I’m just throwing a bladed jig around grass clumps.”
Brown has two specific spots that he’s been keying on over the last two days, but knowing there is plenty of bait and fish in the area he decided to try and expand – not on a pattern, but simply microscopically within his general area.
“Once I got up to around 20 pounds today I stayed in that area and tried to find something else that I didn’t know about,” Brown adds. “I wasn’t on the certain spots where the fish are, but I was a couple hundred yards from it and found another little deal that was right and I caught a big one off it today.
“They actually started biting really good this afternoon when the wind got up. I had a few bites this morning, but when I left them they were biting. I wanted to keep fishing that area, but when I got up over 20 pounds it was kind of stupid to, really.”
The fact that Brown is in the lead thanks to a massive Day 2 limit shouldn’t come as a surprise to those that know Brown and his resume on Seminole. His sole Toyota Series win came in late May of 2015 on this pond and if he can repeat for one more day, he’s looking at the same outcome.
“Man, I feel blessed to be in it,” he says. “I had a lot of boat trouble this week. My motor broke down, so I haven’t been able to use my boat. I got another boat and rigged all of my electronics on it and after everything I’ve went through it feels good that stuff just happened to work out for me this week.
“There’s not tons of fish where I’m fishing, and I could very easily go over there tomorrow and not catch them very good. It’s Saturday, too. If a local shows up on my spot, I’m done. I’m going to scramble. But I still feel pretty good and I’m happy to make another Top 10.”
Top 10 Pros
1. Clint Brown – Bainbridge, Ga. – 43-2 (10)
2. DJ Ellis – Crestview, Fla. – 42-9 (10)
3. Nick Thliveros – St. Augustine, Fla. – 40-14 (10)
4. Anthony Ford – New Smyrna, Fla. – 40-6 (10)
5. Matt Baty – Bainbridge, Ga. – 39-12 (10)
6. Brandon Classon – Leesburg, Ga. – 35-13 (10)
7. Joey Cifuentes – Clinton, Ark. – 35-1 (10)
8. Braxton Clements – Donalsonville, Ga. – 34-13 (10)
9. Nichols Davico – Cantonment, Fla. – 34-3 (10)
10. Terry Segraves – Kissimmee, Fla. – 32-15 (10)
Consistency Puts Cifuentes in Strike King Co-angler Lead
Posting limits worth 15-11 and 14-1 from days 1 and 2, respectively, Joe Cifuentes has 29-12 total, with a sizable 4-15 lead heading into Saturday’s championship round.
Cifuentes already has one Top 10 in the bank from Toho earlier this year and now is poised to claim his first career win. What makes it even more special for him is that his son, Joey, will be fishing on the pro side tomorrow and sits in seventh. Making a championship day in general is cool enough, but to do it knowing your son will be competing and there to cheer you on at weigh-in must be even better.