JASPER, Ala. — David Winters didn’t have as magical a day as he did on Day 1 of the TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Southeast Regional at Smith Lake, but he did have enough tricks up his sleeve Thursday to maintain the tournament lead.
Winters, who qualified for the regional through the North Carolina B.A.S.S. Nation, followed his 18-pound, 9-ounce bag on Wednesday with an 11-2 limit on Day 2, giving him a 29-11 total. That’s nearly 4 pounds better than his North Carolina teammate Norman Mullinax (26-0) who sits in second place.
Winters remains pleasantly surprised with his output despite his Day 2 bag being 7 pounds lighter than his tournament-best haul a day earlier. He located a special shallow-water spot in practice and credits the find for his good fortune, including the tournament-best 6-8 largemouth he caught on Day 1.
Conditions were tougher Thursday, however, with cloudless skies, temperatures in the low 80s and no appreciable breeze.
“The spot still produced a limit, but it was lackluster today,” Winters said. “Once I had the limit, I went and tried something different and culled up three times to get 11-2 today.”
The 35-year-old Rock Hill, S.C., resident said that’s not a total he wants to repeat Friday.
“I’m swinging for it tomorrow,” Winters said. “I’m going all out. I’ll start in the same area, but I’m going to stay there all day and get every bite I can … There’s enough bait in there and it’s a big enough area where I can move around a bit.”
Winters endured agonizing lulls on Day 2, going on a couple hour-long stretches without upgrading. He said he had less than a dozen bites, including the two largemouth and three spotted bass he weighed.
Mullinax made the biggest move on Day 2, vaulting from 49th place on Wednesday to second on Thursday, courtesy of a 16-14 limit.
“I found these fish on Monday, but I didn’t go to them until later on Day 1,” the 52-year-old Wilmington, N.C., resident said. “All I did was change the rotation today. It’s a morning bite and I hit it right today.”
Mullinax is targeting largemouth in the backs of canals, and the move sparked three bites of more than 4 pounds Thursday. He upgraded twice later, fishing off points when the bright sun was overhead.
“I’ll mash the gas getting to my spot early tomorrow,” he said. “I was just pulling in for the weigh-in yesterday when (Winters) weighed his 18 pounds. It knocked the air out of me, to be honest. I knew I had to do something.”
Virginia’s Parker Brogan took the nonboater lead Thursday with a three-bass limit weighing 8-5, giving him 14-5 for the tournament. West Virginia’s JJ Dickens is second in the division standings with 13-12 and Alabama’s Aaron Cherry is third with 13-5.
West Virginia won the team portion of the derby with 133 bass weighing 270-2, earning the 20-angler team a $6,250 cash prize. North Carolina won $3,750, finishing a close second with 129 bass for 268 pounds. Alabama placed third with 120 bass for 251-5, earning a $2,500 prize and edging out fourth-place Virginia (123 bass, 251-4).
Rounding out the team standings are fifth, Georgia (120, 246-7); sixth, South Carolina (118, 238-0); seventh, Kentucky, (121, 237-9); eighth, Mississippi (113, 218-6); ninth, Tennessee (105, 200-4); and 10th, Florida (98, 183-15).
A total of 200 competitors started the derby on Smith Lake (teams of 10 boaters and 10 nonboaters representing 10 different states.) The Top 20 in both the boater and nonboater standings made the cut and will fish Friday, as will anyone among the Top 2 from each state who wasn’t in the Top 20 of either division.
In all, 56 anglers will compete on the third and final day of the tournament. The leading boater will win $5,000 cash courtesy of Skeeter and the top nonboater will earn $2,500 courtesy of Yamaha. A total cash purse of $43,000 will be awarded.
The final day begins with a 6 a.m. CT from Smith Lake Dam Access. Weigh-in is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT back at the dam access. Catch the weigh-in live on Bassmaster.com.
The Chamber of Commerce of Walker County is hosting.
