Clifford Pirch, of Payson, Ariz., shows off the big bass, weighing at 9 pounds, 13 ounces.

On opening day, it was a South Carolina angler on top in the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork.

On Friday, a fisherman north of the Palmetto State is atop the field gathered in Quitman.

Brandon Card, of Salisbury, North Carolina, came up all aces in snatching the top spot away from first-round leader Patrick Walters of Summerville, South Carolina, on a chilly, rainy East Texas day.

Card committed to a spot he called the “Hammer Hole” and bagged a limit of 28 pounds, 1 ounce to lead Day 2 of the Bassmaster Elite event.

The Tar Heel State resident had a weight of 27-6 on Thursday and has a two-day total of 55-7. He leads Quentin Cappo of Prairieville, Louisiana, by 11 ounces.

First-round leader Walters had a tough day with a catch of 15-7, but still is third with a total of 48-5. Taku Ito (Chiba, Japan) is fourth at 48-4, followed by Chad Morgenthaler (46-11), of Reeds Springs, Missouri.

Working in Little Caney Creek, Card’s key spot was a subtle point adjacent to multiple spawning pockets with a creek channel in close proximity. What’s interesting is that Card encountered this fish-laden staging area on his way to inspect other spots.

“I’m really fortunate I found this spot,” he said. “It didn’t look like much when I saw it on my side scan, but it looked like just enough to make me want to make a cast in there.

“I caught them at the mouth of Little Caney really good (during the Elite event) in 2019. I had two giant schools, so I checked that out and they weren’t there. So, I just kept going farther in there.”

With two fish over 6 pounds in his bag, Card did most of his work with a Yo-Zuri 3DB 110 jerkbait. He also caught fish on a 3DB 110 Deep, a Yo-Zuri Hardcore Crank 3+ and a 4-inch hand-poured swimbait on a 1/2-ounce lead head.

Having won his first Elite title on Fork last year with a four-day total of 104 pounds, 12 ounces, Walters remained committed to the game plan of hunting fish with his Garmin Panoptix LiveScope. He’s throwing jerkbaits over contour breaks for staging prespawners.

“I guess it was the weather conditions; something changed pressure-wise,” he said. “The fish are still there on all the spots I fished today. The bad thing was they would come look at your bait and almost take a nip at it. They would follow your bait for 40 feet and never commit.

“I’m going all in (tomorrow) because if I can catch them, it’s going to be a big bag. If I don’t, it’s going to be a very little bag.”

Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., took the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with his 9-13 largemouth.

Seth Feider of New Market, Minnesota, leads the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 432 points. Walters is second with 431, followed by Kyle Welcher of Opelika, Alabama, (385), Lee Livesay of Longview (377) and Chris Johnston of Peterborough, Ontario, (375).

Joshua Stracner of Vandiver, Alabama, leads the Rookie of the Year standings with 332 points.

Saturday’s takeoff is scheduled for 6:45 a.m. CT at Sabine River Authority (SRA) — Lake Fork. The weigh-in will be held at SRA at 3 p.m.

Only the Top 10 anglers after Saturday’s weigh-in will advance to Championship Sunday with a chance to win the $100,000 first-place prize.

Live coverage of the event can be streamed on Bassmaster.com and the FOX Sports digital platforms. FS1 will also broadcast the action live with the leaders beginning at 7 a.m. CT.

The tournament is being hosted by the Sabine River Authority and Wood County Economic Development Commission.

David A. Brown of Bassmaster contributed to this report.