A couple of fish that never made it into the boat on day 3 cost Jared Miller an opportunity to advance to the final day of the Alabama River Bassmaster Elite Series. The second-year pro's 13th-place showing was nonetheless his best to date and marked the third time he's finished in the money this year after cashing just one paycheck during his rookie campaign.
He spent the tournament upriver near the Jordan Dam. Third-place finisher Steve Kennedy was within sight most of the time and runner-up Brent Chapman was about a half-mile downstream.
He missed out on advancing to the final day by a little over a pound.
"I lost a 4-pounder (on day 3) and I broke one off that I never saw," he said. "I caught about 20 drum a day the first 2 days, but none that day after the water went down, so I don't think (the fish that broke off) was a drum."
Like Chapman and Kennedy, he threw a big spinnerbait and a swimbait attached to a jighead. Fellow Oklahoman Kenyon Hill, who won a Bassmaster Tour event on the Alabama in 2003, clued him in on what he needed to be doing.
"I was throwing the spinnerbait on 50-pound braid. I was throwing it on 25, but I figured that the current was so strong it didn't matter."
The Big Bite Lookback, which focuses on the angler who's first out of the final cut at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.
