Schmitt maintains lead on Day Two of FLW Tour at Lake Okeechobee
Category: press release
Jan 27th, 2018 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jan 27th, 2018 at 12:00 AM
Day One leader Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Maryland, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Friday weighing 23 pounds, 8 ounces, to slightly extend his lead after Day Two of the FLW Tour at Lake Okeechobee presented by Evinrude. He’ll bring a slim 14-ounce lead over General Tire pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Arkansas, into Day Three of the four-day event that featured a field of 376 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals casting for top awards of up to $125,000.
Local pro Brandon McMillan of Clewiston leads the local contingent with 36-13, good for eighth place, while Clewiston’s Scott Martin sits in 12th place with 33-13. Brandon’s little brother, Jared McMillan of Belle Glade, also made the top-30 cut and will start Day Three in 15th place with 33-8. The field is now cut to 30 for Saturday’s competition with only the top 10 anglers advancing to championship Sunday.
“I went back to my same spot where I caught them yesterday and kind of expanded on my area today,” said Schmitt, a two-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “There was a little more boat traffic in there today, and it took me a while to get into a new comfort zone. I caught probably 12 fish today – five good ones – but most of my weight came between 12 and 3.”
Schmitt is sharing the area with many of the tournament leaders, including the Johnston brothers from Canada. He said that all of his fish that he weighed in came on a different bait than yesterday.
“I had to change to a different bait today – a Riot Baits Recon (vibrating jig),” Schmitt continued. “At this point there aren’t many secrets and we all know what each other are doing. It’s going to come down to whoever gets lucky over the next two days. The winning fish are there. The potential for a 30-pound limit is sitting right there.
“There are definitely some fish spawning. And there are still some coming in. I think it’s the perfect storm.”
The top 30 pros that made the cut and will fish Saturday on Lake Okeechobee are:
1st: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 10 bass, 48-3
2nd: General Tire pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 10 bass, 47-5
3rd: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 43-1
4th: Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., 10 bass, 42-3
5th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, 10 bass, 38-15
6th: Power-Pole pro Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 36-15
7th: Brandon Mosley, Choctaw, Okla., 10 bass, 36-15
8th: Brandon McMillan, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 36-13
9th: Tyler Stewart, West Monroe, La., 10 bass, 35-1
10th: Brett Preuett, Monroe, La., 10 bass, 34-13
11th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 33-15
12th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 33-13
13th: Casey Scanlon, Lake Ozark, Mo., 10 bass, 33-12
14th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 33-9
15th: Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 10 bass, 33-8
16th: Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury, Odenville, Ala., 10 bass, 33-6
17th: Chad Morgenthaler, Reeds Spring, Mo., 10 bass, 33-2
18th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 33-1
19th: David Nichol, Gainesville, Ga., 10 bass, 32-2
20th: James Watson, Lampe, Mo., 10 bass, 31-15
21st: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 31-4
22nd: Jay Kendrick, Grant, Ala., 10 bass, 30-10
23rd: Kerry Milner, Bono, Ark., 10 bass, 30-6
24th: J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 10 bass, 30-5
25th: Zell Rowland, Montgomery, Texas, 10 bass, 30-3
26th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 10 bass, 30-1
27th: James Niggemeyer, Van, Texas, 10 bass, 29-15
28th: David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 10 bass, 29-11
29th: Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 10 bass, 29-8
30th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 29-1
Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.