Myers and Gerlach hold a 1-2 lead over Kyle Herrman and Nicholas Herrman of the Topeka Jr. Hawgs heading into Championship Tuesday.
“It feels really good. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” Gerlach said.
Fishing stained water for largemouth bass is something new for Gerlach and Myers, who are used to fishing the deep, clear waters of Colorado for smallmouth bass.
“It’s a lot different. (In Colorado) it’s lighter line,” Gerlach said. “The baits are different. Everything is different out here.”
Myers said it took him and Gerlach a little while to figure out how to fish the stained waters of the Carroll County Lake and learn how the largemouth set up. The duo is focusing on the middle of the depth range on the lake this week.
After the hydraulic steering on their boat broke, Gerlach and Myers started fishing an hour later than the rest of the field but recovered nicely with the help of a 4-4 largemouth Myers landed midday.
Gerlach said he is feeling confident heading into the final day but added that he doesn’t know how the pressure from other anglers will affect their bite in the afternoon.
Kyle and Nicholas, who have made three championship appearances in the last four years, also fell one fish shy of a limit but landed a 5-4 largemouth that lifted them to second place and has them atop the Big Bass standings.
“We caught a 7-pounder pre-fishing and we wanted to get on that spot,” Nicholas said. “(Kyle) caught one on his second cast.”
After landing that fish, Kyle said they moved down a little further to a piece of brush on the bank which produced their big fish of the day. The Kansas duo caught five fish total and caught all four of their keepers in the morning hours.
The Southside Anglers team of Logan Lopossa and Koby Sollars are in third place after catching a limit that weighed 7-11, including a 3-0 largemouth. After a quick start to the day, Lopossa and Sollars struggled during the midday before Sollars landed several fish just before check-in.
The full field will compete again Tuesday, with weigh-in scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CT in downtown Huntington. The weigh-in will be streamed live on Bassmaster.com.
Bethel University is hosting the tournament in conjunction with the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce and Henry County Tourism Authority.