PORT ARANSAS, Texas — In most cases, “drifting” implies aimlessly wandering through life. For Clark Jordan Jr. and Easton Fothergill, it meant a decidedly precise strategy that elevated them to the Day 2 lead in the Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter at Port Aransas, Texas.
Jordan and Fothergill, who led the first two days of last year’s event before finishing second, placed second on Day 1 with 15-6. Adding a second-round limit of 13-13 gave them a two-day total of 29-3 and a lead of 1-13 over Mike Lauer and Jesse Craddock.
Fothergill, the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour champion anchored his team’s limit with a chunky red that went 7-4. Precision teamwork paid off, as the hook fell out right as Jordan netted the fish.
“We had way fewer bites than we did yesterday, but we were fortunate to get that good one and a decent one to go with it, so we’re super happy with that weight,” Fothergill said.
Returning to the strategy that delivered their first-round weight, as well as three days of productivity last year, Jordan and Fothergill devoted their day to drifting 2- to 4-foot grass flats in upper Laguna Madre. Jordan said there’s no particular sweet spots; rather, he’s found a few key zones that the redfish seem to favor for reasons undefined.
“Today we hit our key spot and it wasn’t as productive as yesterday, but we ended up picking up a couple” Jordan said. “We extended on out and actually caught our two weight fish a good half mile away.”
With both tournament days bringing partly cloudy to overcast conditions, the sight-fishing techniques common to redfish pursuits offered little opportunity. Jordan was unfazed, as the drifting strategy he’s perfected over a lifetime of coastal Texas fishing made better use of the rapid-fire blind casts that allowed him and his partner to cover the maximum amount of water.
“We knew this was gonna be a grind tournament; it was just gonna be get into a spot where you feel confident that there’s fish and keep your lure in the water,” Jordan said. “With this plan, we knew it was just gonna be chunking blind.”
Fothergill pointed out that even with dim skies, he and Jordan were able to pick out the lighter coloration of deeper, sandy potholes where redfish commonly feed.
“As you see a sand spot coming, you have to make sure you hit it,” Fothergill said. “You just try to hit as many high-percentage places as you’re going along. When I come over a pothole, I’ll stall my bait a little bit and give them a chance to come get it.”
Given the spooky nature of open water redfish, Jordan said he and Fothergill focused on making long casts. They caught all their fish on Berkley Gulp! Ripple Mullets with 1/4-ounce jigheads and the farther they could send those baits the better.
“There’s very few fish where we are and they know your presence,” Jordan said. “We were drifting (broadside to the wind) because that’s the direction that allowed us to get the lure farther away from the boat without them knowing we’re there.”
After two days of blustery conditions, the Championship Sunday forecast indicates a significant wind increase. If the outlook holds up, anglers will be dealing with 20- to 30-mph east-northeast winds and potentially heavy rain.
“We’ll most likely do a lot of the same thing tomorrow,” Jordan said. “More wind shouldn’t hurt us. If it stays under 20 to 25, it’s doable.
“No matter what we do tomorrow, we’re gonna be throwing over grass flats in 2 to 4 feet of water somewhere. If you can grind on ’em here, you can probably run across some fish.”
Lauer and Craddock are in second place with 27-6. Adding a Day 2 limit of 12-1 to the 15-5 they weighed on Day 1, the Florida pros moved up from third.
Also committed to the Laguna Madre, Lauer and Craddock ran nearly to the event’s southern boundary. They attempted to replicate their Day 1 success along the hard edge of spoil islands on the east side of the Intracoastal Waterway, but windy conditions limited their efficiency.
“We started on the hard edge like we did yesterday, we missed a couple good ones and then we made a game shift and we went to a grass flat because the wind was blowing us off the hard edge,” Lauer said. “Yesterday, we had a north wind and that was pushing us perfectly down our hard edge. Today it was out of the east, so we had to bump our trolling motor more than we wanted to.
“That first flat did not produce, so we jumped to another spot, drifted it a few times and ended up drifting into a new area and caught some of our better fish.”
Noting that he and his partner caught all of their fish on spoons, Craddock said they’re committed to their area because they’re confident that it holds better quality redfish.
“We have places we can go catch a lot of 4- and 5-pounders, but we know that’s what’s there,” he said. “We around the right fish.”
Day 1 leaders Chris Smith and Mark Trevino had a tougher time and slipped to third with 26-7. They posted 15-11 in the opening round and added 10-12 today.
Sticking with their Day 1 game plan, Smith and Trevino again made the 60-mile run to Hynes Bay, which extends northwest off San Antonio Bay. Here, the Guadalupe Estuary offers lots of marsh habitat where the anglers caught the fish they weighed on Berkley Gulp! Ripple Mullets on 3/8- and 1/4-ounce jigheads.
“We were working the shoreline and looking for shrimp that were pushed to the top when redfish were beneath them,” Trevino said. “Today, the shrimp were there, but there weren’t as many fish.
“We had a good plan but the tide was out a little more. We’re probably going to swing for the fence tomorrow and see how it goes.”
Sunday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6:45 a.m. CT at Fisherman’s Wharf. The weigh-in will be held at the wharf at 2:45 p.m.
All of the action can be found live on Bassmaster.com.
This event is being hosted by Port Aransas Fisherman’s Wharf.