The first hour of LIVE MIX coverage and BassTrakk data have shown us a few things this morning. In particular, Paul Mueller is doing something different.
“I didn’t know if you could get bit this way, or I would have tried it more in practice,” Mueller said, after boating his first bass of the day. This one weighed a little over 3 pounds. Mueller is fishing offshore using his electronics to target bass near stumps on the bottom.
“They’re not feeding. There’s no shad. They’re just hanging out, which is weird.”
While Mueller has figured out something a little unusual, we’re seeing Kyle Welcher fish at a distance from the visible cover that blankets Santee Cooper Lakes as well. Mueller had 25-10 on Day 1. Welcher had 23. Both are sitting a considerable distance offshore.
Matt Robertson had 28 pounds, 1 ounce yesterday to take the lead. He’s the first of the leaders to land a heavy blow this morning, catching a 5-pounder at 7:32 EDT. We haven’t seen him on the LIVE MIX as of yet. But the Bassmaster LIVE coverage starts now, and we should get a glimpse pretty soon of our leader.
A dozen or so other bass over 4 pounds have been caught already, most notably Ray Hanselman Jr’s 6-4 that’s currently leading Phoenix Boats Big Bass for the day. Bernie Shultz is mounting a rally again, with two for 9 pounds, 4 ounces in the boat after a dismal Day 1. Steve Kennedy has a 5-12 in the boat, his only fish so far. And Brandon Palaniuk, who weighed four fish for 21-14 on Day 1, just boated his first bass of the day, a 3- and 1/2- pounder.
