Fritts furthers lead at Clarks Hill

Chevy pro dominates FLW Series event with 11-pound margin

APPLING, Ga. – After day two of the Walmart FLW Series BP Eastern event on Clarks Hill Lake, there is one heck of a heated fishing battle going on … for second place.

That’s because Chevy pro David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., is running away with the tournament with an 11-pound lead, while the rest of the mere mortals in the field scrap over what would otherwise be a pretty tight tournament.

After Fritts blew the field away with a 23-pound, 9-ounce catch yesterday, many of his competitors waited anxiously at the weigh-in today to see if Fritts’ day-one pattern was a fluke or for real.

And when the Chevy pro laid another 13 pounds, 1 ounce in the scales today, he proved his pattern is solid as he took a commanding lead with 36 pounds, 10 ounces.

Anglers fishing the FLW Series event endured a lot more wind today, with gusts in the 20-mph range, but it seemed to do little to hamper Fritts’ pattern.

His limit was some 10 pounds lighter today, but he says that’s more of an accurate reflection of what he had been catching in practice.

“Yesterday was sort of exceptional – every fish that bit me was a big one,” Fritts said. “But this limit is about what I’ve been catching in practice: 13 to 15 pounds.”

Fritts is remaining highly guarded about what or how he is fishing, but on stage he did give the crowd a little insight into how some of his fish are being caught.

“One of the places I’m fishing is really deep, and usually every time the bait hits the bottom, there’s one on it,” he revealed. “But they were not biting as well there today – I only caught four in about 10 minutes.”

As for exactly how deep that spot is, he answered, “25 to 30 feet of water.”

But Fritts made it clear that all of the fish he is catching are not that deep; some of the places that produced his bigger fish are only 5 feet deep.

“The numbers of fish are deep, but the quality fish are shallow,” he hinted. “Basically, I’m fishing different depths with four different lures, but I’m looking for the same thing whether I’m shallow or deep.”

With that, Fritts also noted that he still has three “groups of fish” that he has not visited and feels confident that he can catch decent limits for the remainder of the tournament.

Martin scraping for second

Far behind Fritts is where the dogfight for second is taking place.

National Guard pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., is currently in second place with a two-day total of 25 pounds, 11 ounces.

Martin’s consistent limits have come on a Spro Little John crankbait and a Spro Aruka Shad.

“I’m covering a lot of water with those two baits,” Martin said. “The fish are set up in a certain way at a certain depth, and it really does not matter whether there is grass there or not – it has more to do with how the bank lays out than what’s down there.”

As for the prospects of catching Fritts, Martin says that with two days left there is still a glimmer of hope.

“If we were down to just one day left, I’d say he was out of reach,” Martin added. “With two days still left, that’s two opportunities for him to stumble. But I’m just going to stay focused on my water and try to keep bringing in solid limits each day.”

Newton third

National Guard pro Jonathan Newton of Rogersville, Ala., is in third place with a two-day total of 24 pounds, 6 ounces.

Newton is using soft plastics to catch his fish from several different areas.

“I caught them on soft plastics yesterday, and I really thought they would bite a crankbait with that wind today, but they didn’t and I had to go back to the soft plastic,” Newton said. “The way I’m fishing is really about timing. It seems like there will be one point in the day where they’ll bite pretty well for about an hour or so, and then it’s over.”

Golden fourth

Pat Golden of High Point, N.C., is in fourth place with a two-day total of 24 pounds, 2 ounces.

Golden has opted to leave the main-lake portion of Clarks Hill behind and run some 30 to 40 miles up into the river portion of the lake.

Once he gets there, he is using a variety lures, including a Dave’s Tournament Tackle ¼-ounce Tiger Shad spinnerbait.

“I’m about as far up the river as you can get,” Golden said. “The water is a little more stained up there, and the fish seem to be a little better quality, so that’s my game plan for the rest of the tournament.

Scott fifth

Ricky D. Scott of Van Buren, Ark., rounds out the top five after day two with a two-day total of 23 pounds, 9 ounces.

Scott noted that he is fishing shallow and covering a lot of water to cull through keepers each day.

“`Keep it moving’ is what I keep telling myself out there,” Scott said. “I’m using just two baits, and one is homemade.”

Big bass

Kyle Mabrey of McCalla, Ala., caught the big bass in the Pro Division on day two weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros in the FLW Series event on Clarks Hill after day two:

6th: Thanh Le of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., two-day total of 23-7

7th: Trad Whaley of Abbeville, S.C., two-day total of 23-4

8th: Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., two-day total of 22-9

9th: Nate Wellman of Jenison, Mich., two-day total of 22-5

10th: Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., two-day total of 22-2

Rikard leads co-anglers

Robert Rikard of Lexington, S.C., leads the Co-angler Division of the FLW Series on Clarks Hill with a two-day total of 18 pounds, 1 ounce.

Rikard fished with pro Tommy Biffle today and fished far up the lake to boat four keepers; one was in the 5-pound class to anchor his 10-pound, 6-ounce catch.

Rest of the best

Kim Fischer of High Ridge, Mo., is in second place in the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 16 pounds, 9 ounces.

Ron Fabiszak of South Bend, Ind., is in third place with a two-day total of 15 pounds, 14 ounces.

Michael Maxfield of Hanahan, S.C., is in fourth place with a two-day total of 13 pounds, 14 ounces.

Beecher Strunk of Somerset, Ky., rounds out the top five with a two-day total of 13 pounds.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the FLW Series event on Clarks Hill after day two:

6th: Ben Kurth of West St. Paul, Minn., two-day total of 12-9

7th: Ashley Ivey of Benson, N.C., two-day total of 12-4

8th: Matt Lowe of Walhalla, S.C., two-day total of 11-15

9th: Bill Harvey of Grovetown, Ga., two-day total of 11-11

10th: Derrick Snavely of Rogersville, Tenn., two-day total of 11-9

Big bass

Kenneth Peterson of Ankeny, Iowa, caught the big bass in the Co-angler Division on day two weighing 7 pounds, 15 ounces.

Day three of the FLW Series event on Clarks Hill Lake will begin Friday at 8 a.m. from Wildwood Park located at 6212 Holloway Road in Appling.