Biffle Takes Leads on Day 2

PRATTVILLE, Ala. --- Tommy Biffle has been milking the Alabama River for all its worth. For the past two days he’s put together a milk run of 62 spots keyed in on his GPS unit and it’s paid off with the second day lead in the Citgo Bassmaster Elite 50 tournament.

Biffle posted a four-fish second-day weight of 11 pounds, 2 ounces to move to the top spot with a total of 28 pounds, 3 ounces. Biffle swapped places with Davy Hite now in second (three fish, 9-8) with a two-day total 27-11.

While those two jockeyed around each other there was a lot of moving going on below them.

Most impressive were Gerald Swindle who jumped from 29th to seventh place with 16-3 stringer and 22-0 total. And Greg Hackney who followed him from 41st to 11th place with a 16-0 stringer and a 20-3 pound total.

Others included Todd Auten in third after posting an impressive limit of 14-14 to give him a total 27-5; Dean Rojas is fourth (five fish, 15-4) with 25-6 and Peter Thliveros caught 13-1 to move into fifth place with 25-0.

Included in those moving up the standings were father and son, Denny and Chad Brauer, both were tied for 12th place, with 19 pounds, 13 ounces. Dad, though, took the tiebreaker by virtue of the most fished weighed in _ nine fish for Denny and eight for Chad.

It was just one of the several unusual things that set this day apart. Leading the way in that category was a shooting that took place when a man fired several shots at Stacey King as he fished along a bank. Count the Brauer tie and then add the Swindle comeback.

Swindle, who is known for junk fishing, offered a different kind of surprise by catching his big stringer drop-shoting in 20-feet of water.

"I know it’s not what I do, but it’s what I had to do,’’ he said. "In this event, you scrape, beg, borrow and plead whatever it takes to get in the course. Once you are there, you can start to put something else together."

Swindle added that he caught 10 keepers off a single, large rock. "I never moved. Actually I got down one time and cranked up the motor just to see if it would crank. But that’s it."

With the changes in weights and the unique fishing techniques starting to emerge, Biffle’s milk run paid off just in time. The final 12 anglers’ weights will zero and they will move to a six-hole course on the Cooter’s Pond area of the Alabama River.

While most of the attention of the day will be centered on who will advance to the final six-angler field on Saturday, the day has huge implications on how the overall Elite 50 will play out.

Currently, Kevin VanDam is leading the points’ race by more than 50 points over Stacey King in second. That could change, though, if King was to move up the standings and VanDam was to drop.

And there’s not an angler in the field, says VanDam, who isn’t hoping he doesn’t start stumbling fast.

VanDam is leading by virtue of making his third consecutive semifinal 12 cut. And if he keeps climbing the standings, he could easily put the E-50 title out of reach from most of the field.

The E-50 title comes with a $150,000 pay day, and while all of the E-50 events are viewed as tournaments, in reality each of them is scored as an individual quarter in the overall event. And midway, through the third quarter VanDam looks unstoppable.

"I’m not sure if anyone can catch him,’’ Hackney said. "He seems to have his legs under him and he’s racing away.’’

VanDam has done that by catching a limit during every day of competition in the Elite 50 series. In this event he’s catching the majority of his bites cranking the drops off the Alabama River channel. But whether it works or not in the course section (much of which is river channel) is anybody’s guess.

That’s pretty much the way it is for the entire semifinal 12, all of whom have used their own little variations of fishing the current along the Alabama River to make the cut. Biffle is flipping wood cover in the main river, Hite is fishing "ambush points" when the current moves in backwater; Auten is fishing topwater baits in the backwater; and of course Swindle is drop-shoting with everyone else falling somewhere in between all that.

 

Day 2 Pro Standings

Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts  Total $$$
 
1.  Tom Biffle             Wagoner, Okla.          9   28-03         $1,000.00
  Day 1: 5   17-01    Day 2: 4   11-02  
2.  Davy Hite              Prosperity, S.C.        8   27-11         $1,000.00
  Day 1: 5   18-03    Day 2: 3    9-08  
3.  Todd Auten             Lake Wylie, S.C.       10   27-05     
  Day 1: 5   12-07    Day 2: 5   14-14  
4.  Dean Rojas             Grand Saline, Texas     9   25-06     
  Day 1: 4   10-02    Day 2: 5   15-04  
5.  Peter E Thliveros      Jacksonville, Fla.      9   25-00     
  Day 1: 4   11-15    Day 2: 5   13-01  
6.  Kevin VanDam           Kalamazoo, Mich.       10   22-07     
  Day 1: 5   12-04    Day 2: 5   10-03  
7.  Gerald Swindle         Hayden, Ala.            9   22-00         $1,000.00
  Day 1: 4    5-13    Day 2: 5   16-03  
8.  Mark Davis             Mount Ida, Ark.        10   21-11     
  Day 1: 5   14-15    Day 2: 5    6-12  
9.  Jim Bitter             Fruitland Park, Fla.   10   21-01     
  Day 1: 5   10-06    Day 2: 5   10-11  
10. Edwin Evers            Mannsville, Okla.       9   20-09     
  Day 1: 5   13-02    Day 2: 4    7-07  
11. Greg Hackney           Gonzales, La.           9   20-03     
  Day 1: 4    4-03    Day 2: 5   16-00  
12. Denny Brauer           Camdenton, Mo.          9   19-13     
  Day 1: 4    7-06    Day 2: 5   12-07  
12. Chad Brauer            Osage Beach, Mo.        8   19-13     
  Day 1: 3    8-10    Day 2: 5   11-03  
14. Todd Faircloth         Jasper, Texas           9   19-12     
  Day 1: 4    9-10    Day 2: 5   10-02  
15. Rick Clunn             Ava, Mo.               10   18-14     
  Day 1: 5    9-14    Day 2: 5    9-00  
16. David Fritts           Lexington, N.C.         7   17-14     
  Day 1: 5   12-15    Day 2: 2    4-15  
17. Larry Nixon            Bee Branch, Ark.        8   17-13     
  Day 1: 5   13-04    Day 2: 3    4-09  
18. Brett Hite             Phoenix, Ariz.          9   17-11     
  Day 1: 4    6-06    Day 2: 5   11-05  
19. Dustin Wilks           Rocky Mount, N.C.      10   17-04     
  Day 1: 5    7-08    Day 2: 5    9-12  
20. Robert Lee             Angels Camp, Calif.     9   16-12     
  Day 1: 5    9-10    Day 2: 4    7-02  
21. Zell Rowland           Montgomery, Texas       9   16-06     
  Day 1: 4    4-13    Day 2: 5   11-09  
22. Stacey D King          Reeds Spring, Mo.      10   16-02     
  Day 1: 5    9-11    Day 2: 5    6-07  
23. Randy Howell           Springville, Ala.      10   15-13     
  Day 1: 5    7-10    Day 2: 5    8-03  
24. Ron Shuffield          Bismarck, Ark.          7   15-00     
  Day 1: 5   10-13    Day 2: 2    4-03  
25. Kelly Jordon           Mineola, Texas          8   14-01         $1,000.00
  Day 1: 5   11-03    Day 2: 3    2-14  
26. Jay Yelas              Tyler, Texas            7   13-08     
  Day 1: 5    5-14    Day 2: 2    7-10  
27. Gary Klein             Weatherford, Texas      7   13-05     
  Day 1: 4    7-05    Day 2: 3    6-00  
28. John Murray            Phoenix, Ariz.          9   13-03     
  Day 1: 4    5-02    Day 2: 5    8-01  
29. Paul L Elias           Pachuta, Miss.          7   12-01     
  Day 1: 2    2-03    Day 2: 5    9-14  
29. Kevin Wirth            Crestwood, Ky.         10   12-01     
  Day 1: 5    5-10    Day 2: 5    6-07  
31. Ishama Monroe          Patterson, Calif.       5   12-00     
  Day 1: 2    3-04    Day 2: 3    8-12  
32. Randy Blaukat          Lamar, Mo.              7   11-15     
  Day 1: 4    8-05    Day 2: 3    3-10  
33. Brent Chapman          Shawnee, Kan.           7   11-14     
  Day 1: 3    5-11    Day 2: 4    6-03  
33. Mike Wurm              Hot Springs, Ark.       7   11-14     
  Day 1: 2    2-01    Day 2: 5    9-13  
35. Roland Martin          Naples, Fla.            7   11-09     
  Day 1: 4    4-10    Day 2: 3    6-15  
36. David Wharton          Sam Rayburn, Texas      7   11-06     
  Day 1: 4    7-07    Day 2: 3    3-15  
37. Bud Pruitt             Spring, Texas           6   10-05     
  Day 1: 2    5-10    Day 2: 4    4-11  
38. Kenyon Hill            Norman, Okla.           7    9-15     
  Day 1: 2    3-14    Day 2: 5    6-01  
39. Mark Menendez          Paducah, Ky.            7    9-02     
  Day 1: 4    5-02    Day 2: 3    4-00  
40. Jack A Gadlage         Benton, Ky.             5    9-00     
  Day 1: 4    8-01    Day 2: 1    0-15  
41. Tim Horton             Tuscumbia, Ala.         7    8-12     
  Day 1: 4    5-08    Day 2: 3    3-04  
42. Brian Snowden          Springfield, Mo.        3    8-11     
  Day 1: 1    1-09    Day 2: 2    7-02  
43. Skeet Reese            Auburn, Calif.         10    8-08     
  Day 1: 5    7-07    Day 2: 5    1-01  
44. Michael Iaconelli      Runnemede, N.J.         6    6-14     
  Day 1: 3    3-02    Day 2: 3    3-12  
45. Ben Matsubu            Hemphill, Texas         3    5-09     
  Day 1: 2    4-09    Day 2: 1    1-00  
46. Bernie Schultz         Gainesville, Fla.       6    5-08     
  Day 1: 5    4-12    Day 2: 1    0-12  
47. George Cochran         Hot Springs, Ark.       4    4-15     
  Day 1: 4    4-15    Day 2: 0    0-00  
48. O T Fears III          Sallisaw, Okla.         2    3-13     
  Day 1: 0    0-00    Day 2: 2    3-13  
49. Alton Jones            Waco, Texas             2    3-10     
  Day 1: 2    3-10    Day 2: 0    0-00  
50. Shaw E Grigsby, Jr     Gainesville, Fla.       0    0-00     
  Day 1: 0    0-00    Day 2: 0    0-00  
 

By Steve Bowman, FishFactory.com