Stren- Day-2 Wth a commanding 7 pound, 4 ounce lead, Russell Cecil of Willis, Texas is in the driver's seat heading into the final round of the Stren Series Texas Division tournament on Sam Rayburn Lake (Photo by Vince Meyer)Is it over before it's over? Not on Sam Rayburn, where seemingly insurmountable leads could be an illusion By Vince Meyer - 20.Mar.2009 A look at the leader board at the Stren Series Texas Division tournament on Sam Rayburn Lake might lead an observer to think that the winners are a foregone conclusion. In first place on the pro side is Russell Cecil of Willis, Texas with a commanding 7 pound, 4 ounce lead over second place. On the co-angler side, Randy Hicks of Lumberton, Texas is leading by 9 pounds, 3 ounces over second place. But with the way the bite has gone on Sam Rayburn this week it would be a mistake to write out those first place checks to Cecil and Hicks just yet. Friday’s top 10 in the pro division had four new members while on the co-angler side three new guys crashed the top 10 party. Yesterday’s pro leader, Charles Bebber, is now in third place while yesterday’s co-angler leader, Donny Cherry, has packed up his vehicle for the ride home after falling to 11th place. Only the top 10 in each division after the first two days fish on the final day. Sam Rayburn is a lake in transition and that always throws anglers a curve. Bedded fish accounted for a lot of the weight in yesterday’s bags, and many of those fish have been picked over, certainly those that are easily visible. Other fish are in transition from pre-spawn to spawn and from spawn to post-spawn. But the indisputable lure of the tournament so far has been the Rattle Trap crankbait, which has been used by almost every angler in the top 10 for at least part of the tournament. The sight anglers are throwing soft plastics, mainly the Senko, and hoping that pattern holds for one more day. It should, as the weather forecast calls for continued sunny, warm weather. But pressure is taking its toll on those shallow fish, and tomorrow being Saturday there will also be college tournament anglers and other recreational anglers also working the shallows. Whoever can tough it out for one more day will take home the top prize. Cecil would certainly be a good bet in the pro division. After Day 1 he was in second place with 23 pounds, 4 ounces, which was 2 pounds, 3 ounces behind the leading weight. Today’s sack weighed 23 pounds, 9 ounces, a five ounce improvement that was enough to vault him into first place and give him a two-day total of 46 pounds, 13 ounces. With a 7 pound, 4 ounce lead heading into the final day, the tournament is his to lose. He’s a three-time winner of Texas bass tournaments. His last win came in 2007 at a Stren Series event on Toledo Bend. Prior to that he won two other tournaments on the old Texas Tournament Trail. But Cecil is taking nothing for granted. “I knew I would be fishing tomorrow,” he said after weighing in Friday, “but tomorrow’s another day. I’m going to go fishing and see what the bite dictates.” Friday’s bite changed for Cecil and like a seasoned pro he went with the flow. He was not alone in the area where he was fishing – indeed, at least eight of the top 10 pros are working the same general area -- and he had to show the fish something different. A Big Bite Swimming Minnow accounted for four of his fish and the other came on a Rattle Trap. He said he saw fish on beds, but chose to fish deeper for fish that were coming and going in 5-7 feet on the edge of the hydrilla. “If I see a good one I’ll go for it, obviously,” Cecil said. “I caught some off the beds today but they all got culled out.” Villines looks to break through In his fourth year as a pro, Scotty Villines of Ponca, Ark. Is looking for his first top 10 finish. His best tournament ever came here in 2004, when while fishing as an amateur he placed ninth. Things didn’t look too good after Day 1, when he was in 32nd place with 14 pounds, 3 ounces. But a 25 pound, 6 ounce sack, the heaviest weighed by any pro Friday, vaulted him into second, and now he’s wondering how to keep that momentum going. “I was on the same size fish yesterday,” Villines said, “but couldn’t get them to bite. So I switched from a Wacky Worm to a watermelon fluke and that seems to have made the difference. These are post-spawn fish; I’m not seeing the fish I’m catching." Bebber hopes for better day tomorrow Charles Bebber of Willis, Texas fell into third place today with a sack weighing 13 pounds, 6 ounces, considerably less than his Day 1 weight of 25 pounds, 7 ounces. But at a total weight of 38-13 he’s still within 8 pounds of the lead and believes he has a good chance to make up that weight. “I’ll do tomorrow what I did yesterday and today,” said Bebber, who is assured of his first top 10 finish in a Stren Series tournament. He also had three top 10 finishes in the Cowboy Division of the Walmart Bass Fishing League. Lupe Garcia brings in the big bass of the day Lupe Garcia of Springdale, Ark. weighed 24 pounds, 11 ounces Friday, the second heaviest in the pro division, and 9 pounds, 3 ounces of that weight was supplied by one fish, the biggest caught so far by angler in this tournament. Lupe hooked the brute on – you guessed it – a Rattle Trap and he said he lost another fish that would have went about 6 pounds. Not bad for an angler who started the day in 40th place and who’s now in fourth. Remarkably, all the big bass Lupe is targeting are schooled in an area about 40 feet square. He’s spent the entire tournament in that one spot. “Yesterday I had it to myself,” Lupe said, “but then a guy saw me catching them and he was there today, too.” Gaia comes on late Andy Gaia of Tomball, Texas is in fifth place with 38 pounds, 3 ounces. His Day 2 started slow, as he was sight fishing and early winds made it tough. But once the wind stopped blowing his bite turned on, and he used it to good advantage and brought in 16 pounds, 8 ounces. “I got my biggest at 3:25,” Gaia said. Rest of the best 6th: Wade Grooms, Bonneau, S.C., 36 pounds, 8 ounces 7th: Stephen Johnston, Hemphill, Texas, 34 pounds, 7 ounces 8th: Robert Baney, Montgomery, Texas, 34 pounds, 5 ounces 8th: Toby Hartsell, Livingston, Texas, 34 pounds, 5 ounces 10th: Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 34 pounds, 2 ounces Hicks keeps his cool When Randy Hicks drew Todd Castledine as his Day 2 partner he reasoned he might be in for a tough day. Castledine is by preference a sight angler, and being in ninth place after Day 1 he had every right to make a strong attempt at his favorite method. But sight fishing is tough from the back of the boat, where the angler doesn’t have the advantage of a raised bow platform. Sure enough, as of 12 noon Hicks had just two small fish in the livewell. But his fortunes soon would change. Castledine caught his limit and then focused on helping Hicks. Specifically, he set him up with a red Rattle Trap. “I whacked ’em,” Hicks said. Indeed, his 26 pound, 9 ounce sack was the best weighed by any angler on Day 2 and it vaulted Hicks from ninth place into first place. Like Cecil in the pro division, Hicks lead of almost 10 pounds over second place would appear to be insurmountable. He has three previous top 10 finishes and is looking for his first win. You can bet he’ll be throwing a Rattle Trap at least part of the day Saturday. Rest of the best 2nd: Will Welch, San Angelo, Texas, 27 pounds, 9 ounces 3rd: Steve Hope, Ovilla, Texas, 27 pounds, 4 ounces 4th: Joe Embry, Tyler, Texas, 27 pounds, 1 ounce 5th: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, 27 pounds 6th: Rusty Harvey, Nederland, Texas, 26 pounds, 12 ounces 7th: Kevin Carter, Spring, Texas, 26 pounds, 9 ounces 8th: Claude Rabb, Vidalia, La., 25 pounds, 8 ounces 9th: Stephen Francis, Brookeland, Texas, 24 pounds, 13 ounces 10th: Bob Snyder, Marion, Ind., 24 pounds, 9 ounces Saturday’s final round begins a 7 a.m. with the launch from the Umphrey Family Pavilion off Route 255. Weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. at the Walmart in Jasper.