CLEWISTON, Fla. – Day 2 of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southern Division event on Lake Okeechobee was much better than Day 1. Today, limits were not nearly as hard to come by, and quality fish were much more present throughout. But, it still wasn’t easy, and replicating success was hard. Basically, only two pros stayed on track: Banks Shaw and Kyle Cortiana.
Weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces, Shaw moved into the lead from second with 35-9. Cortiana boxed 17-15, also an improvement from Day 1, and moved up to second with 35-1 – they’re just 8 ounces apart.
Behind the leaders, things shuffled up a lot. Val Osinski caught 17-3 to rocket from 20th to third, Day 1 leader Joel Richardson only managed 8-7 to fall to fourth, and Tyler Nekolny moved up to fifth but is nearly 8 pounds behind Shaw and Cortiana. Tomorrow, when the Top 25 take on Day 3 (weather permitting), anyone in it will have a shot to take down Shaw, but Cortiana is the only pro who doesn’t have a mountain to climb.
In the lead on the co-angler side, Bob Morin has limited two days in a row and caught 11-10 today for a 21-14 total. Ryan Yarian is in second after catching one fish on Day 1 and a limit for 16-4 on Day 2 for a total of 18-9.
Business as usual for Shaw
The last two years have featured a flurry of limitations when it comes to the use of forward-facing sonar in bass fishing. Intentional or not, a lot of the changes have come into effect exactly when it was getting harder to use the technology – more than ever, fish that are best targeted with LiveScope are used to being targeted. Theoretically, having only three hours to fish precisely could be a challenge for many. Today, Shaw didn’t even need all of it before he went scouting.
“I definitely think I’m figuring it out more,” he said. “Like I was planning, I turned my ‘Scope on a little later, at 11 today, and caught all five of my fish. Then I went to fish some new water and lost a 5-pounder near the boat.”
Getting to work quickly, Shaw did leave a little meat on the bone, which has him more eager than ever to put together a totally clean day.
“It was a good day, but I lost some good ones; definitely was not as good of a day as it looks,” he said. “I should have had 22 or 23 pounds, but it is what it is. I have some big ones found. If I could get two or three big bites, I could have a really, really good day.”
Fishing mostly alone in his primary area, Shaw is around some big fish, and it’s showing at the scales.
“It’s right in my wheelhouse. I’m just fishing some steeper banks,” he said. “There are fish sucked to the banks, snaking around, and sitting on isolated pieces of grass.”
While Shaw caught some fish without his forward-facing sonar on Day 1, he acknowledges that getting the really big ones to bite is a task best suited to modern sonar.
“I can definitely get bit, it’s just a lot harder to target the really big ones,” he said. “I do not think they’re that smart, they’re just in some weird little mood right now. But, they’re definitely super hard to catch – probably some of the toughest fish to catch I’ve ever fished for.”
Cortiana overcomes mechanical issues to stay in the hunt
Ounces off from Shaw and chasing his third Toyota Series win in three years, Cortiana made it work even with trolling motor issues on Day 2.
“I had four, maybe five, at about 9 a.m., and my trolling motor went out,” Cortiana said. “While it went out, a big one ate my worm. I was like ‘I think one is on my worm,’ but I was still messing with the trolling motor. I stood back up, set the hook, and it burns at me like 100 miles an hour and comes off under the boat. It was a big one. So, my trolling motor broke and I lost a big one all at the same time.”
As it worked out, Cortiana spent the bulk of his day and the bulk of his sonar period with a trolling motor that ran, but steered very inconsistently. In his whole forward-facing sonar period with a balky trolling motor, he managed to catch a 4-pounder, lose another good one, and cull.
Fishing a BOOYAH Flash Point Deep and a Texas-rigged YUM Thump’n Dinger, Cortiana patched together 20 keepers, but, also lost three big fish.
On Day 3, with a fixed trolling motor, the Oklahoma pro has the best shot of anyone to chase down Shaw. But, he’s not counting his chickens by any means.
“I think we both have lost fish each day, so, if we get the same amount of bites, whoever fishes the cleanest wins,” Cortiana said. “But, that’s if we get the same bites we’ve been getting. This lake is fishing so tough, I’ve been completely blessed to get the bites I’ve got. I’ve been watching other people not catch fish all day.”
Top 10 pros
1. Banks Shaw – 35 – 9 (10)
2. Kyle Cortiana – 35 – 1 (10)
3. Val Osinski – 28 – 1 (9)
4. Joel Richardson – 27 – 13 (10)
5. Tyler Nekolny – 27 – 12 (10)
6. Alex Terescenko – 26 – 10 (8)
7. Adriano Theriot – 26 – 3 (10)
8. Charles Abshire – 26 – 1 (9)
9. Doug Wooldridge – 25 – 11 (10)
10. Brian Holder – 25 – 5 (10)