DETROIT, Mich. Mullygrubs?
Yup. Mark Davis said he had them on Thursday, the first day of the Bassmaster Elite Series Plano Championship Chase out of Detroit, Mich. He said he caught the mullygrubs after not boating two big smallmouth bass he hooked. He settled for second place.
He shook off those mullygrubs Friday. Not hard to do after spending a great day on the water, weighing 20 pounds, 10 ounces of smallmouth bass and taking the Chase lead with a two-day tally of 42 pounds, 11 ounces.Mullygrubs, the pro from Mount Ida, Ark., explained, is an old Arkansas term that means something that falls between the grumps and the blues, and maybe is tangled with regrets over missed chances.
No mullygrubs today, everything was good. Everything went pretty well. I caught a limit pretty quick. I did lose one huge fish, but you arent going to catch all these big smallmouth, said Davis, the 1995 Classic winner who also took the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year title that same season. He went on to claim another AOY crown in 1998 and a third in 2001.
Davis was in front by 1 pound, 4 ounces over Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., who moved up from third into second place with 41-7. In third place Friday with 40-7 was Kotaro Kiriyama of Moody, Ala., breaking free from a Day 1 tie at fifth place.
First-day leader Chris Lane of Guntersville, Ala., fell to fourth with 39-10. Fifth place was taken by Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas, also with 39-10. (The tie-breaker of largest bag over two days was applied, with Lane winning for his 22-9 of Day 1.)
The field was cut to the Top 50 for Fridays third round. On Saturday, only the Top 12 will compete for the Chase prize of $100,000 and an entry in the 2014 Bassmaster Classic.
Davis has been a model of consistency at the Chase, following his first-day weight of 22-1 with 20-10.I really thought if I you catch over 20 (pounds) every day, you could win the tournament, he said, and Ive caught over 20.
Unusual for him, Davis has made a long run and endured it two days in a row. Traveling from the takeoff point on Lake St. Clair to his productive spots south into Lake Erie has been a gamble hes been willing to take. His jackpot would be earning enough points to qualify for the 2014 Bassmaster Classic (which he could also achieve with a win).He vows he wont change his game plan for Saturday, the third of four competition days.
Im all in on that, he said. Thats the only thing I have going. I was sort of between a rock and a hard place, trying to make the Classic. I have to have a real good finish to make it. When
I found those fish in practice, all my eggs went in that basket.
Davis said he is drop shotting to smallmouth, but tweaking his presentation to get the bites. Exactly what his adjustments have been, he understandably wasnt ready to reveal.
Davis earned the Livingston Leader Award, a $500 bonus to the leader after the second day of competition.
In second place, Martens positioned himself not only to make a run at an event win, but at the biggest award of the Elite season, the Toyota Angler of the Year title.
His title bid got a boost Friday when the AOY frontrunner coming into the Chase, Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., fell out of the cut by 8 ounces. He finished in 54th place.
The upshot was that by Friday, interim points standings had Martens 22 points ahead of Evers.
While Martens still has control over how many points hell have by tournaments end, Evers has earned all he can: 640 to Martens 662 (as of Friday).
Behind both Martens and Evers in the points standings was seven-time AOY Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich. VanDam needs to make up 34 points to catch Martens. VanDams window is still open a crack. Like Martens, he made the cut but at 27th place.
Martens won the AOY title in 2005 and has come close several other times. Evers is looking for his first.
The Chase is based just north of Detroit on Lake St. Clair, the fishery thats No. 1 on Bassmaster Magazines 2013 list of 100 Best Bass Lakes. Elite pros also are allowed to fish in the adjoining St. Clair and Detroit rivers, as well as Great Lakes Erie and Huron.
Lane weighed the heaviest fish of the day, a 5-12. It matched his 5-12 of Thursday that days biggest bass. Hes the leader for the events Carhartt Big Bass award of $1,000 plus another $500 for wearing Carhartt apparel.
Lane also set the bar Thursday at 22-9 for the Berkley Heavyweight Award of $500 for the Chases best five-fish limit.