Syracuse.com - Alabama angler takes lead on Day 2 of Bassmaster Ramada Challenge on Oneida Lake

[HuntingNY-News]

Today's and Sunday's weigh-ins will take place at 4 p.m. at the State Fair. The stage will be set up on the infield at the southwest corner of the fairgrounds near the go-carts area.

Courtesy of B.A.S.S. Randy HowellAlabama angler Randy Howell jumped from sixth to first place on Day 2 of the Bassmaster Ramada Championship on Oneida Lake.

After turning in a bag of five fish weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces the first day, he bettered it on the second day of the preliminaries with 16 pounds, 6 ounces. He lead the field going into Day 3 with a total weight of 32 pounds, 2 ounces. He caught four smallmouths and one largemouth bass both days.

"I love this lake," he said.

The field was cut to 49 for Saturday's competition on Oneida. By Sunday, only the Top 12 will compete for the event’s $100,000 first-place prize and an entry in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

Mike Iaconelli, from New Jersey, who finished Day 1 Thursday with a commanding lead with 20 pounds, 3 ounces, fell to fifth with a mediocre day Friday when he turned in five smallmouth bass weighing 10 pounds, 6 ounces.

He said his first day was magical.

“Today was the opposite of magical. I didn’t have a keeper in the boat by noon,” he said. “I went into survival mode.”

Moving into second place was Boyd Duckett, of Alabama, who rose in the standings from a 27th finish on Day 1, courtesy of the heaviest, five fish bag of the day Friday – 17 pounds, 11 ounces.

Duckett caught two largemouths and three smallmouth. One of his largemouths, which tipped the scale at 5 pounds, 1 ounce, was the largest fish of the day among the 97 anglers in the contest.

Scott Rook, of Arkansas, moved into third place after finishing 8th on Day 1. He turned in a bag Friday weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces. On both days, all his fish have been smallmouths.

At 4 p.m. today and Sunday the anglers will weigh-in their catches at the state fair. The stage will be set up on the infield at the southwest corner of the fairgrounds near the go-carts area.

With the warm weather, the anglers will take precautions as they transport their fish in their boats. Ice will be provided to help them keep the water in the live wells cool. A dead fish will result in a penalty — a 4-ounce deduction from the angler’s total weight.

Once the fish are weighed at the fair, they will immediately be put back into water tanks on two trucks and taken back to Oneida Lake, where they will be put back into the lake.

Click here for complete results.

For more on this story, see Saturday's edition of The Post-Standard

&raquo: Previous bassmaster tournament coverage.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog