11:56 a.m. Tacoronte cranks up his second keeper, 2 pounds, 2 ounces, off the point on the 1.5. âI felt it tick a little piece of brush and he nailed it.â
2 HOURS LEFT12:01 p.m. Tacoronte casts the Ned rig worm to the point and catches keeper No. 3, 1 pound, 5 ounces. âTheyâre waking up! I swear I just heard a bird chirp!â 12:20 p.m. No more love on the point, so Tacoronte runs to a shaded bank and cranks the Core Strike squarebill. âToo shallow here.â 12:35 p.m. Tacoronte races to a sloping bank with laydowns and cranks a root beer/chartreuse Bomber 200 diver. 12:41 p.m. He moves back to the point where he bagged three keepers and bumps the Bandit across the structure. 12:43 p.m. Tacoronte reverts to the chartreuse 1.5 and catches his fourth keeper, 1 pound, 1 ounce. âThey canât all be the same size in this lake. Surely thereâs a big one out there somewhere!â 12:50 p.m. Tacoronte whacks his fifth keeper, 1 pound, 6 ounces, on the 1.5. âIf this were an MLF tournament, Iâd be leading the pack!â 12:52 p.m. Tacoronte cranks a parrot-pattern Bandit 200 around a nearby rockpile.
1 HOUR LEFT1:03 p.m. Tacoronte runs to a ledge that drops quickly from 5 to 17 feet. He cranks the structure with the Bandit. 1:08 p.m. He roots the chartreuse 1.5 around a shallow flat. âYouâd think a few fish might have moved up shallow, but youâd be wrong.â 1:16 p.m. Tacoronte races into a small cove downlake and cranks the chartreuse 1.5 around shoreline laydowns. 1:35 p.m. He tries the 1.5 on a steep channel bank. âScrew this; Iâm spending the rest of my time on that mud point.â 1:40 p.m. Back on the point, Tacoronte jerks the Megabass 110 and bags his sixth keeper, Â1-4. âI be cullinâ now!â 1:44 p.m. Keeper No. 7, Â2-1, succumbs to the 110 on the point. âIâm jerking it twice, then making a long pause. Theyâre hitting it on a slack line.â 1:45 p.m. Tacoronte catches keeper No. 8, Â1-1, on his next cast with the jerkbait.
1:46 p.m. A better fish whacks the jerkbait; Tacoronte goes to swing it aboard, but it comes unbuttoned. âDang it, that was a Â3-pounder.â 1:50 p.m. With 10 minutes remaining, Tacoronte catches keeper No. 9, 1 pound, on the jerkbait.