Some people are just so lucky.

Jimmy Lloyd knew where in the big Southeast Texas water where had lost his life jacket, which had his wallet in there.

“I pulled it off after one of the storms [Thursday], and I cranked up to make a move,” the Lumberton angler said. “I heard something in the back of the motor, but I was too caught up in the moment trying to catch fish.”

He went back later that evening sure of where the jacket and wallet were located, but couldn’t find it because the sky was too dark.

“I wasn’t too worried about the jacket but somebody made a drift fishing,” Lloyd said. “So, I got to the end of the drift and I went ahead and cranked up and went over there and looked for it, and it was sitting right where I thought it would be. Pretty awesome.”

Not only was he lucky to find both, he also took the lead on Day 2 of Border Wars, the Elite Redfish Series’ latest stop in Port Arthur.

Lloyd moved ahead after turning in a three-fish bag of 24.56 pounds Friday, leading a quintet of anglers who qualified for Saturday’s final round. At stake is a first-place prize of $15,000.

“You just put your head down and grind,” Lloyd said. “That’s what it’s all about when the conditions are bad. It’s not whether you’re on the right fish or the right fish is going to eat or not. You’ve got to keep a lure in the water, you’ve got to go through as many as you possibly can and bring the weight you come with.”

Lloyd bagged his fish on a day with heavy winds, following Thursday’s action that was postponed for a few hours because of heavy rains in the area.

Jeff Steckler of Rockport barely made it into the final five after catching a three-fish limit of 23.55 pounds. It was enough to top Steve Smith (30.99 total pounds to 30.92) for the final spot, as a 1.5-pound dead fish penalty from Thursday came back to haunt Smith.

“As I was running, I saw really good  water a bunch of bait in the Intracoastal [Waterway], and I said I would sit here and try this for a minute, try to get three,” Steckler said, a day after catching a lone 7.44-pounder. “I proceeded to wear them out. I stayed on that all day, and it worked.”

First-day leader David Christian (39.98), Kevin Broussard (37.37) and Travis Land (32.93) will also fish Saturday. But as Steckler understands, doing the little things in a big tournament can make a big difference.

“You come over here, and we have it in our heads that we have to have three fish because that’s the only chance you have at winning,” Steckler said. “As proven [Thursday], if I had just caught a three-pounder, I’d have probably clearly made it.”

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews