FLORENCE, Ala. — It is safe to say Dylan Nutt has a good thing going on Pickwick Lake right now.
With a two-day total of 53 pounds, 14 ounces, the University of North Alabama junior leads the Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier presented by Lowrance. After landing 25-15 on Day 1, Nutt landed a 27-15 limit on Day 2, the tournament’s biggest bag thus far, and anchored it with a 7-pound largemouth.
Nutt holds a 3-4 advantage over second-place Nick Dumke and a nearly 8-pound lead over Eli Lubbehusen in third place.
“Today was a good day,” Nutt said. “Everything went to plan.”
This will be the former Bassmaster All-American’s third major tournament victory on Pickwick this season after winning a Toyota Series event on the Tennessee River impoundment in February and the Bill Dance Giant Bass Open last Saturday.
Limits were tough to come by for the 155-boat field on Thursday, with only 37 boaters landing five bass on Day 2. Quality continued to show up at the top half of the field, however, as 13 bags of 20 pounds or better crossed the weigh-in stage.
As temperatures have warmed across the region over the past week, Nutt has been targeting prespawn bass in multiple different staging areas. A mix of cover has been productive in these staging areas including stumps, brushpiles and points. He has caught bass anywhere between 5 and 15 feet of water. The majority of his areas have multiple bass staging in them. Five different baits came into play on Day 2.
“I fished some new water today,” he explained. “I’m just fishing a lot of staging areas where they are getting set up to spawn. Some of them are on the bottom, some are a foot off the bottom and then others are a little higher in the water column.”
The majority of his bass have been largemouth, with some bigger smallmouth also counting toward his total.
Bright, calm conditions made the fishing tough on Day 1, Nutt said, but overcast and rainy conditions made for a better Day 2.
“I think they were just in a feeding mood,” he said.
Nutt opened the morning by fishing one of his primary schools, and on the second cast he landed a 5 ½-pounder. From there, he proceeded to fill out a quick limit, which included the 7-pounder. From there, he made several upgrades throughout the afternoon before check-in time.
“That bass was sitting down there on the bottom and ate my bait,” Nutt said. “When I got him up, I realized I didn’t have the net ready, so I had to play it around the boat and grab it.”
Another weather change is expected tomorrow in northern Alabama as a massive storm system approaches. Winds are forecast to blow between 15 and 25 mph out of the southeast with higher gusts possible, which will make it difficult for Nutt to execute his milk run.
“It’ll be pretty crazy. The lake will get huge,” he said. “I like to move around a lot out here, so that will definitely hurt me.”
Meanwhile, Dumke has been consistent so far this week, catching bags of 25-3 and 25-7 to move from fourth to second on Day 2.
Dumke has visited Pickwick Lake plenty during his college career at the University of Montevallo but has never been here this time of year.
Prespawn bass have also been the key to his success, landing quality bass anywhere from 8 to 14 feet of water around multiple types of cover. Three baits have proved to be the most productive.
On the way back to check-in on Day 1, Dumke’s trim sensor malfunctioned, limiting how fast his boat can go. After attempting to fix it with no success Wednesday evening, Dumke puttered to his starting spot on Day 2. The wait was worth it, however, as the Minnesota native landed a 6 3/4-pounder within his first five minutes of fishing.
“I fished around from there,” he said. “I ran some areas close to that spot. It was a blessing in disguise almost because I was forced to hunker down and pick apart my areas. I had my whole bag around 11 o’clock. It got really tough after that.”
While he is certainly within striking distance, Dumke knows it will be a tough task to unseat Nutt as the leader on Championship Friday.
“The stars are going to have to align a little bit for sure,” he said. “Dylan obviously has a crazy track record here. Him and his brother (Carter) are probably the most dialed anglers out here. You can’t let that get to your head. I’m just going to see what I can put together. I know there are giant ones in my areas.”
Illinois angler Corey Bohlmann continues to hold Big Bass of the Tournament honors with his 8-3 largemouth from Day 1.
Wisconsin’s Gabriel Fabbri leads the nonboater division with a two-day total of 23-9. He is followed by Wisconsin’s Kacey Meyer in second with 23-3 and Florida’s Dustin Shuler in third with 18-1. Tennessee’s Bill Scharton Jr landed a 6-14 bass on Day 2, which leads the Big Bass of the Tournament standings.
The Top 20 boaters and Top 20 nonboaters will return to Pickwick tomorrow for Championship Friday. Anglers will launch at 7 a.m. CT and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m. The Top 17 in each division will advance to the Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship at Upper Mississippi River presented by Lowrance in October.
Visit Florence is hosting the tournament.