Britt Myers has good reason to smile at Douglas Lake

“It was a crazy day out there. I didn’t get many bites but I got the big ones,” said an elated Britt Myers. Myers, of Lake Wylie, SC leads the Bassmaster Elite Series stop on Douglas Lake in the foothills of Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains.

Myers weighed-in 24 pounds and an ounce today. Together with his day effort of 21-1, he carries a total of 45-2 and a lead of 3 pounds, 14 ounces over day 1 leader Aaron Martens.

Myers and Martens are not only neighbors on the leader board, but on the water as well – fishing many of the same spots. Martens admitted that Myers got to a couple of the spots first. The weights reflect the result.

Martens “slipped a little” weighing 17-6 today. With a total of 41-4 he is still in great shape heading into day 3 of the 4-day event.

The lake is changing though. Martens noted that he caught more small fish today than yesterday. And he said the offshore schools that anglers have been taking turns on are starting to break up. On day 2 fish had expanded their areas to 10 times the size of their territories from day 1.

Offshore schools are the target this week on Douglas. Getting them to bite is the challenge. Timing is very important. Lure selection seems to play a big role in many cases. For most guys that means a big, deep-diving crankbait. Martens is using the old ‘kneel-and-reel’ technique popularized by Paul Elias to get that lure down deeper.

Jeremy Starks is 3rd with 39-2. He had a big bag (23-1) and made a big jump today.

Dean Rojas did likewise, with 22-even today. His total stands at 38-7 – good for 4th at the moment.

Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, SC is 5th with 33-15. He fell off of his day 1 pace with 12-14 today. The same reason Montgomery’s weight is down would be the same reason Starks did so well today. They caught the bulk of their better bags from the same spot. Yesterday Starks bailed out early and Montgomery fished the spot later in the day (timing is going to be a big factor). Today Starks got there first and camped on the spot. Who will fish it tomorrow?

This is turning into a most interesting tournament.

The biggest surprise of this tournament season has to be the big weights we are seeing at Douglas. Angler after angler sang praises to the lake.

There is a little topwater bite going. Fred Roumbanis and Steve Kennedy mentioned buzzbaits. Rick Clunn has relied heavily on a Rico popper.

The hook-in-the-hand pattern that worked for Brandon Palaniuk last month seems to have given byron Velvick an edge as well. After letting an estimated 5-pounder stab him with a treble, Velvick had a solid afternoon and brought in the biggest bass of the tourney so far at 6 pounds, 10 ounces.

Also of note – the local trio are fishing well:

Ott Defoe jumped to 7th with 33-11.

Brandon Card moved into 8th with 33-1.

And David Walker delighted the hometown crowd with 16-4 today which, combined with his day 1 weight of 10-1, put him in the cut at 31st place.

“I knew I was fishing the right places the right way,” said Walker. “Yesterday I just couldn’t make it work out.”