FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — Brothers Thomas Oltorik III and James Oltorik of Daytona State College took the Day 2 lead Sunday at the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Southern Regional on the St. Johns River with a two-day total of 29-2.
Daytona State is located just 40 minutes up the road from where the college anglers have had takeoff at Bull Creek Fish Camp on Dead Lake the past two days. Some might think that close proximity gives the Oltorik brothers an advantage, and in a way it does, but by no means has it made leading the Southern Regional easy.
Brothers Thomas (left) and James Oltorik of Daytona State College lead Day 2 of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Southern Regional on the St. Johns River out of Flagler County, Fla.
Photo by Shaye Baker/Bassmaster
“We caught them all in about 2 hours,” Thomas said. “We went real slow on the way back because I didn’t want to have to re-fuel. My boat holds almost 60 gallons, and we made it back on fumes.”
That move certainly paid off for Daytona State, but Thomas isn’t sure if the same long run will take place tomorrow, the final day of competition.
“We’ll stop on a few places to see if we can get bit,” Thomas said. “I don’t like to have to make that long run, but if they don’t bite in Crescent Lake we’ll have to. If the ones in the lake bite, we could have more than our Day 1 weight of 15-9.”
For leading after Day 2, Daytona State’s 29-2 earns the Oltoriks the Livingston Lures Leader Award.
The lighter weight on Day 2 was harder to come by. After having only one fish by 8:30 a.m., the Oltoriks decided to pack up and make a two-and-a-half hour run down the St. Johns River past Lake George. That run didn’t leave the brothers a lot of time to fish.
Clemson’s Baylor Ronemus and Cole Tinsley brought in 16-15 Sunday to jump from 19th on Day 1 to second place at the end of Day 2. Their Day 2 bag of 16-15 was one of six limits that exceeded anything brought to the scales on Day 1, showing that the fishing is certainly improving here on the St. Johns.
Jacob Reome and Matthew Garvin of Clemson University backed up their Day 1 weight of 14-4 with 11-7 on Day 2 to retain their third-place position from Day 1.
One of the biggest moves of Day 2 came from Florida StateUniversity’s Cody Spears and Justin Mahon, who brought in 19-15 to move from 60th all the way into fourth place. Their weight of nearly 20-pounds took over the Bass Pro Shops Nitro Big Bag lead, which will be awarded at the end of the event for the largest one-day weight of the week.
CJ Knight and Tim Ward of Auburn University round out the Top 5 with a two-day total of 24-8.
On a day of big bags and come-from-behinds, Grant Galloway and Joe Marty of Mississippi State University made the biggest move, jumping 77 spots with a total of 20-15 to finish Day 2 in 16th place after starting the day in 93rd.
The Top 20 move on to fish the final day, which will start tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. ET from Bull Creek Fish Camp on Dead Lake. The weigh-in will begin at 3 p.m. ET when the winner of the Southern Regional and the Top 18 teams will be determined. Those 18 teams will advance to the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship to be held later this summer.
For the complete results as well as photos, videos and stories from the event, visit Bassmaster.com.
