2013 BASSMASTER ELITE Sabine River Day 2: Todd Faircloth Jumps into Lead.

Leader Todd Faircloth culls and calls it a day by noon

By Deb Johnson

BASS Press Release

Faircloth's big bag helps Texan lead on difficult fishery.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)

It was a short workday for Todd Faircloth on Friday. By noon, the Bassmaster Elite Series pro from Jasper, Texas, had a five-fish limit. He decided they weighed enough, and they were all he should take from his prime fishing area on the Sabine River system, so he called it a day.

He was right: At the scales, his fish weighed 16 pounds, 8 ounces, bringing his two-day total to 26-15. It was enough for the Friday lead in the Sabine River Challenge presented by STARK Cultural Venues in Orange, Texas, the season opener of the Elite Series.

Enough, yes, to jump over first-day leader Dean Rojas, but by only 7 ounces. Rojas, of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., had a two-day total of 26-8. He slipped to second place after his Day Two catch of 10-14 was almost five pounds lighter than his big Day One bag of 15-10. Cliff Crochet of Pierre Part, La., is third with a two-day total of 25-0.

Faircloth said he left his area after he caught his eighth keeper and had culled for his best five. His largest, a 4-6, was his first keeper of the day.