Wagener, S.C. angler makes cut to fish on Day 3
South Carolina angler Jason Williamson caught a 5-fish limit today at the 2017 Bassmaster Classic, an improvement over his 4-fish day yesterday. Today’s bag was smaller than yesterday’s though, as he weighed in 13-2 today, giving him a total weight of 30-3 with one day left in the tournament.
The good news for Williamson is that today’s weight moved him up from 17th into the 12th spot. He is doing considerably better than any of the other three Carolina anglers that made it to the big show in Houston.
After catching three fish yesterday for 7-11, Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C. caught three more keepers today, and this bag was bigger than yesterday’s. Ashley weighed in 9-11 today and finished the day in 36th place with a two-day total weight of 17-6.
Hank Cherry of Maiden, N.C. slipped to 43rd after bringing two fish to the scales today that totaled 5-9, giving him a two-day total of 13-8.
Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C. also slipped today, catching two keeper fish weighing 4-13 for an overall total weight of 13-0. Montgomery ends Day Two in 44th place.
Brent Ehrler, who lead the field after Day One, maintained his lead with another solid day. Ehrler brought another 5-fish limit to weigh-in, and while this bag didn’t match his 23-3 from the first day, it was plenty enough at 20-1 to keep him in the top spot with a 2-day total weight of 43-4.
Dave Lefebre has a total weight of 41-1 and sits in 2nd place, followed by Edwin Evers in 3rd with 39 pounds. James Elam is in 4th place with 37-13, and Bradley Roy fills out the 5th spot with 37-10.
Williamson’s jump to 12th place is significant because only the top 25 anglers move on to fish the final day of the Bassmaster Classic. This is only Williamson’s second trip to the Classic. His first was in 2011, and he finished in 47th place, so this is the first time he’ll be fishing on Championship Sunday during the Bassmaster Classic.
More than 13 pounds behind Ehrler’s two-day weight of 43-4, Williamson wouldn’t find many people to bet on him coming out on top tomorrow, but not many would have bet on him making it to Day 3 either. And while every single thing would have to go right for him tomorrow, and almost every single thing would have to go wrong for Ehrler in order for Williamson to take over 1st place, Williamson said he’s going to give it his all, and look for a couple of big bites.
“This is Lake Conroe. Anything can happen,” he said.
This is the list of anglers who will be fishing tomorrow, along with their weights after two days:
1.Brent Ehrler:43-04
2.Dave Lefebre: 41-01
3.Edwin Evers:39-00
4.James Elam:37-13
5.Bradley Roy:37-10
6.Mike Iaconelli:37-08
7.Kevin VanDam:36-03
8.Steve Kennedy:33-02
9.Justin Lucas:31-07
10. Drew Benton:31-01
11.Cliff Crochet:30-10
12.Jason Williamson:30-03
For more information on the 2017 Bassmaster Classic, visit www.bassmaster.com.
