>Day 2: 5, 18-14 (10, 39-07) It was another day of sight-fishing for Rojas, who’s among the best in the sport at it. They didn’t come as quickly or as easily as they did Thursday and he’s not sure what he’ll catch tomorrow if he remains committed to that style, but he’s happy where he’s at.
“The fish are just running out,” he said. “Even though there are a lot of fish in this lake, the big ones are getting caught.”
He caught his biggest fish right away today, then added another one an hour later.
“I had to move around quite a bit,” he added. “It’s hard with so many boats out there. Everything got covered up. I had to keep moving. I found a spot and caught three more, then just went hunting.”
He spent the last two hours largemouth fishing in an attempt to formulate a backup plan for Saturday in the event the smallmouth he’s been catching dry up.
“It’s going to be interesting,” he said. “I know what I’m going to do, but I’m not certain of the weight I can catch (tomorrow).” Read more
> Day 1: 5, 20-09 With how practice went for Rojas, he felt 20 pounds was a real possibility today, so he was pleased to hit his goal and he’s confident that he can transition away from sight-fishing tomorrow if need be and stay in contention.
“It put me in a good position for the rest of the week,” he said. “I’m glad I’m not down there where a lot of guys are. Every time we come (to New York), it’s always about ounces. You have to balance-beam every fish because that 1 ounce can make a big difference.”
He had his weight in the boat by 9 a.m. and spent the rest of the day trying to upgrade while formulating a plan of attack for Friday.
“I did some flipping and sight-fishing,” he said. “I know that it’s probably going to be won flipping so I wanted to get the sight-fish out of the way.”
He said he fished around many of the anglers in the Top 5 today so he knows there are quality fish in the area he’s focusing on. If the wind isn’t a factor tomorrow, he may try to pick off more spawning fish. Read more
Admitting they throw gasoline on the fire, Mark Zona and Tommy Sanders reignited the war of words on who is the best frog fisherman in the world. Zona mentioned he and Sanders both made statements on a Bassmasters show a few years back that Dean Rojas was the top angler with a frog. Not long after, Ish found Zona at an event. "Ish pulled me aside. 'I need to talk to you. Just FYI, I am,' " Zona said. "And he was not joking." Well, Rojas was just on LIVE with Dave Mercer, and was asked to respond to that. "He can say whatever he wants," Rojas said, "but I thinkn everybody knows who's No. 1." Rojas was asked, then, who falls behind him. "I'll give Ish the benefit of the doubt and give him second," he said. "Crochet, probably third." He said there's some other secret frog hammers out there. With that, the LIVE feed went right to Monroe and asked him about who's tops with a frog. "They ask every single time and they know my answer," Ish said, "so I'm not going to answer."
Mid-March in Florida means two things — bed fishing and probably topwater. Dean Rojas may throw his favorite frogs around the St. Johns River and also stare down some fish that are bedding. It seemed that the first big wave of fish went to the beds in Palatka, but waves should continue to move in over the next month or so. Rojas could be deadly this week. A second-place finish here in 2014 should also sweeten the deal.
Gut tells me: Rojas
He may not win the event, but I expect him to make some noise and be in contention at some point in this event.
