Entering the day with 33 pounds, 2 ounces and a 3-pound lead, South Carolina boater Derek Lehtonen has found the bite to be a lot tougher than his previous two days of fishing.
Currently he has three fish in the box for an unofficial daily total of 4-0 as shown on BassTrakk.
His first bass of the day came around 8:15 a.m. After a quick move, he landed two fish in three casts of the same stretch of rip rap. That same rip rap produced much bigger bites yesterday, however.
Lehtonen has been rotating through areas in the 18-mile, Beaver Creek and Six and Twenty Creek all week, catching largemouth on mostly a squarebill crankbait and has had bites on a jig today as well.
The attitude of the largemouth is fishing for has changed dramatically.
“They aren’t acting right today,” he said. “Yesterday in his first area they were blowing bream out of the water.
As of 10:30 a.m., Lehtonen is heading offshore to try and fill his limit with spotted bass. He feels he needs around 13 pounds to seal the victory and with the right bites, he will achieve that.
“I’m not going to be stupid about this and not win because I only went for largemouth,” he said. “If I catch two 3-pound spots I might be alright.”
