Mosley retains lead with all-largemouth stringer on day 2

Quality bites still at a premium across tightly packed leaderboard

February 13, 2026 By Staff Report

Brock Mosley figured another 15-pound stringer was unlikely today at Lake Martin. It’s just the nature of the sprawling impoundment in east-central Alabama.

After setting a strong pace on day 1 with 15-7, the Mississippi native backed it up with a 10-15 assortment of largemouth to retain the lead entering the weekend with 26-6.

“There’s still two days of fishing left, and I’m surprised to even be in this position,” he said. “I’m just going to go fishing; I really don’t have any pressure.”

Mosley is seven ounces ahead of Joey Cifuentes III, who caught 13-00 today. Emil Wagner jumped into third with 25-11, aided by a day 2-best 14-10. Rookie Pake South caught 14-3 and moved up to fourth with 25-6 while Caleb Hudson, another rookie, bagged 14-00 to push his total to 24-10.

Less than three pounds separates Mosley from Robert Gee in 10th place and it’s less than 3 1/2 pounds from Gee to Scott Canterbury in 50th.

BassFan caught up with Mosley as well as rookies Tristan McCormick and Sam Hanggi to reflect on the first two days of competition. McCormick, who was the first angler out of the top-50 cut last week at Lake Guntersville, earned a spot on the weekend in 40th place with 20-11. Hanggi, meanwhile, couldn’t crack the 10-pound mark either day and settled for 63rd with 19-5.

Describe your level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with where you stand after day 2?

Mosley: “I went out with a goal of catching 10 pounds and I achieved that. You can’t go out and expect to catch 15 pounds (every day) on Lake Martin. I didn’t expect that. The only thing I was missing today was running into a 3-pounder.”

Tristan McCormick: “I’m stoked. I figured 10 pounds per day would be good. And after I had 10 on day 1, if I backed it up I figured I could move up and I did, so I’m pretty happy with it.”

Sam Hanggi: “I’m not necessarily happy with the results but with it being my second Elite Series event, today was the first day feeling comfortable out there. I know it wasn’t reflected in the results, but I’m satisfied with how I was mentally.”

What has been the most challenging aspect of this event so far?

Mosley: “All through practice, just catching a little bit of quality. Anything over 1 1/2 pounds has been pretty difficult to do.”

McCormick: “I go to the bank every day trying to catch a big one, but I wind up catching the same size as I would out deep. I’ll give myself two hours up there tomorrow from noon on after it warms up to see if they get up under the docks.”

Hanggi: “Just finding better than average-size fish to catch. Finding consistent two-pound bites was the challenge.”

Mosley: “Today, I decided to start shallow. The cool night last night cooled the water off four or five degrees and that had the whole shallow bite off. I had started deep on day 1 and ran into a few. I’m going to start deep tomorrow and watch the weather for when I decide to move up. Today I was all in on fishing to win. I’m just more confident trying to catch 3-pound largemouth than I am 3-pound spots. I tried to create some separation.”

McCormick: “With what I’m doing out deep, it’s easy to go by a good school of fish, like 2-pounders. The challenge is knowing when to pull the trolling motor and when to stay. Today, I had a Florida mentality. I just kept it down and stayed in one area.”

Hanggi: “I wish I would have kept the trolling motor in water more and not moved around as much.”