West and the rest
Arkansas angler runs off to 8-pound lead in quest for Classic
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — If Darrell West's Day One performance was a quick start off the line, then his feat on Day Two left the rest of the field in the dust.
"The bite was slower today and I only caught five keepers," West said. "Between my non-boaters and I, we have taken 40 pounds of fish out of there in two days, so I'm not sure how many are left. I think I can get two to three more keepers tomorrow, but I'm not really sure about a limit. I'm just glad I have a good cushion."
Hojin Chang from Windermere, Fla., moved up to second on the strength of a 12.22-pound stringer and he trails West with 19.75 pounds for the tournament. Making the biggest move of the day from 104th place was Brandon Gray of Bullock, N.C., with a 15.91-pound bag, the biggest of the tournament. He sits in third with a total of 17.44 pounds.
Rounding out the top five was Phil Hennigan from Center, Texas, with 17.36 pounds in fourth place and Sam Boss from Paducah, Ky., with 15.25 pounds in fifth.
West may seem to be walking away with the tournament, which comes with a top prize of $100,000 and a berth in the Bassmaster Classic, but with the daily changes that float down the Arkansas River, no lead is secure.
"It has not been uncommon for me to go two hours without a bite," West said. "But I'm seeing bait in my areas and I know the fish are there, they just aren't feeding. Today I figured out a few things to trigger a reaction bite and that was how I caught my fish."
Proximity to Lake Dardanelle — he lives only two hours away — and his experience on this body of water helped him locate a few productive areas. While he spent a good part of Day One running around, Day Two saw West camped out in his best spots as he worked to fill out a limit of five fish.
Like West, second-place Chang also camped in one main area, which ended up producing a 5.31-pound bass with five minutes left to go.
Up until that point, Chang admitted that his non-boater was putting it to him from the back deck. Robert Richardson benefited from Chang's productive spot and boated 9.96 pounds, enough to jump into second place in his division with 13.01 pounds.
Richardson's big day was topped only by the current non-boater leader, Merrill Showers of New Columbia, Penn., who had a three-fish limit that hit the scales at 12.65 pounds. His bag included the day's big bass of 5.25 pounds, pushing his two-day total to 16.86.
"I had a good draw today with Pete Saraf, who was fishing the way I like to fish," Showers said. "This morning before we left the dock I said, 'Lord, if you can throw a five-gallon bucket of luck all over me today, I would really appreciate it.' I got fortunate that it all worked out."
The Day Three weigh-in Friday starts at 4 p.m. ET at the Lake Dardanelle State Park when the field will be cut to the top 25 anglers who will compete Saturday. Complete results from the event can be found at www.abaproam.com.
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