PARIS, Tenn. — There’s no such thing as an insurmountable lead in a B.A.S.S. tournament, but Yui Aoki has put himself in a very enviable position after Day 2 of the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley presented by SEVIIN.
Aoki, a 25-year-old native of Minamitsuru District in Japan, weighed a five-bass limit of 24 pounds, 4 ounces on Friday, which when paired with his 24-pound sack on Day 1, gives him a 48-4 total. That’s 6-1 more than Alabama’s Laker Howell, who’s in second place with 42-3.
Illinois’ Ethan Fields (40-15) and Tennessee’s Sam Hanggi (40-5) are the only other anglers in the field of 226 within 8 pounds of Aoki’s lead.
The 45-degree temperatures and bluebird skies that factored on Thursday gave way to dense cloud cover, occasional sprinkles of rain and steady winds of 10 to 15 mph on Friday. The change hardly bothered Aoki, who had nearly identical weights on the first two days of the three-day tournament.
The only noticeable difference was Aoki’s Friday bag contained three largemouth bass when Thursday’s had all smallmouths. Several pundits predicted catching a mix of bass would be the winning combination on this mammoth Kentucky/Barkley fishery, and Aoki is proving them right.
“I feel very good (about my chances of winning),” Aoki said. “Of course.”
The 6-pound lead gives him reason for confidence. Aoki is fishing flooded timber on the main channel of Kentucky Lake not far from Paris Landing, where daily takeoffs and weigh-ins are being held. He’s throwing a variety of 5- and 6-inch swimbaits (smoke, white) that mimic the shad in the lake, and he mixed in some dropshots on Friday, too.
“It was very windy, very hard to keep my bait on the fish,” he said of the Day 2 conditions. “This is my first time to fish the river channel system and it’s very different to me. But I like it very much.”
Howell, a 23-year-old from Guntersville, Ala., caught a limit of five smallmouth on Friday weighing 21-5. The young gun had only four keeper bass with less than hour of fishing time remaining, but he eventually completed his limit and gave himself the best chance (on paper, at least) of catching Aoki.
Howell was in 11th place after Day 1 with 20-14 but fished his way into Friday’s Top 10 cut with another top-notch bag. His bait of choice has been a 4 1/2-inch paddle-tail swimbait (chartreuse/blue) on a Buckeye Lures J-Will jighead.
“The current was a little bit different today (with the south wind blowing), but things really did set up pretty much the same for me,” Howell said. “I got five bites again and the Good Lord allowed me to land all five of them.”
Howell said he’s targeting a spot that is loaded with shad.
“The birds are swooping down to eat the baitfish, flying off with shad in their mouth,” he said. “It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet spot, and If I can get to it again tomorrow, I think I’ll be good.
“The main thing is getting five bites,” he continued. “If I do, I think they’ll be about the same size as what I’ve had so far. They’re all 3- to 5-pounders that are set up in this particular spot.”
Rounding out the Top 10 anglers competing Saturday are fifth, Tennessee’s Miles Burghoff, 40-1; sixth, Georgia’s Tanner Hadden, 39-14; seventh, Kentucky’s Jordan Hartman, 39-12; eighth, Kentucky’s Clint Knight, 38-13; ninth, Kentucky Elite Series pro Matt Robertson, 38-8; and 10th, Colorado’s Ty Faber, 38-1.
Nebraska’s BJ Miller maintained his lead for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award with an 8-3 he hooked on Day 1. The angler with the heaviest bass will net an additional $750.
A total of $334,028 cash is being split among the Top 45 competitors in the Open, including $50,305 to the winner. Top anglers also will earn valuable points toward a berth in the inaugural Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers this fall.
Championship Saturday is scheduled to begin at 6:15 a.m. CT from Paris Landing State Park, with weigh-in set to start at 2:15 p.m. Bassmaster LIVE will stream the final day’s action on Bassmaster.com and the Roku Sports Channel will air coverage from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. ET and from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Stay up-to-date on all tournament coverage at Bassmaster.com/how-to-watch/.
The City of Paris is hosting the event.