Cantebury Now Leads; Five Within 2 1/2 Pounds

By BassFan Staff

The 1-04 advantage that Scott Canterbury will carry into the final day of the Beaver Lake FLW Tour is the biggest that any of the three daily leaders have enjoyed in this year's edition of the annual Arkansas event. Not it's up to the Alabamian to try to parlay it into his first tour-level victory.

Canterbury caught a 14-06 stringer on Saturday to push his 3-day total to 45-07. He's been a runner-up four times since he began fishing the circuit in 2008 – including twice in the Forrest Wood Cup – and he badly wants to claim his first trophy and six-figure check.

"I figure I'm going to need to catch at least 15 pounds tomorrow to have a shot at it," he said. "If I could catch 17 pounds, I think I'd have a real good shot at it."

He swapped places in the standings on day 3 with Darrel Robertson, who had a 44-03 total after catching 13-01. Third-year pro Jeff Sprague, who's fared no worse than 15th in any of the past four regular-season tournaments, assured himself of his best career finish with a 15-08 bag that put him in 3rd with a 44-00 aggregate.

Andy Morgan boxed a day-best 16-13 to jump from 17th to 4th with a 43-15 total. Reigning Angler of the Year Scott Martin caught 15-12 to round out the Top 5 with 43-05 and ensure his 10th consecutive finish of 25th or better (including last year's Cup and Toyota Texas Bass Classic).

Here are the totals for the 10 anglers who'll compete on Sunday, with red numbers in parentheses indicating their deficit margins from the leader:

1. Scott Canterbury: 45-07
2. Darrel Robertson: 44-03 (1-04)
3. Jeff Sprague: 44-00 (1-07)
4. Andy Morgan: 43-15 (1-08)
5. Scott Martin: 43-05 (2-02)
6. Chris Whitson: 43-00 (2-07)
7. Matt Arey: 42-02 (3-05)
8. Stetson Blaylock: 41-04 (4-03)
9. JT Kenney: 41-00 (4-07)
10. Andrew Upshaw: 40-08 (4-15)

The strong moving-bait bite that had existed since practice started last weekend seems to have about dried up as more and more fish have transitioned to the beds. Sight-fishing in the rapidly clearing and warming water, along with flipping shoreline cover, will likely be the predominant patterns on the final day.

Morgan, Martin, Whitson (15-10 on day 3) and Upshaw (13-03) were the newcomers to the Top 10. Whitson, a rookie, finished in the 90s in both of the season's first two events.

Falling out of the cut were Jimmy Houston (3rd to 12th with 10-01 on day 3), Bryan Schmitt (6th oto14th, 11-00), Kurt Mitchell (7th to 16th, 9-07) and Jeff Gustafson (10th to 11th, 12-10).

The weather for the final day will be about the same as it's been for the entire event – relatively warm (the predicted high for the Rogers, Ark. area is 74 degrees), cloudy and breezy (wind from the southeast to 17 mph).

Wood has Been Good for Canterbury

> Day 3: 5, 14-06 (15, 45-07)

Canterbury had done most of his damage with a flipping stick around shoreline wood.

"I haven't changed anything the whole tournament," he said. "I'm trying to keep an open mind and I've tried some other stuff and I've caught fish doing other things, but they haven't helped me.

"All of my quality has come the same way, and it's hard to get away from that. I'm probably not going to even try to get away from it tomorrow."

He boated 10 keepers on the day, but culled just once at the very end of the day. He didn't lose anything of consequence.

His bag contained a trio of 3 1/2-pounders along with a pair of 2s. A similar haul tomorrow might bring him his first win at the sport's top level.

"I've been in this situation four or five times and what it comes down to is you've got to catch them all 4 days. All I can do is go out and fish hard.

"It's not like I'm sight-fishing, when you can really tell when one's going to bite. I'm fishing a lot of new water and it's not easy to get keeper bites, and it's even harder to get the really good bites."

2nd: Robertson Scored Late

> Day 3: 5, 13-01 (15, 44-03)

Robertson, who started the day with a 1-ounce lead over Canterbury, considers himself fortunate to still be within a pound and a quarter of him.

"I spent all day not catching much, and then right at the end of the day I got three good ones," he said. "I caught a 4 1/2-pounder at 2:45 (just 15 minutes before his check-in-time) and 2 minutes alter I caught a 3-pounder.

"I had to scrap my pattern I'd been fishing with 45 minutes to go. I just couldn't catch anything on it. But at least I know what I'm going to do tomorrow – the same thing I finished on today. I was just fishing a jig over rocks and brush. I think a lot of other people are fishing the same way."

He handled 10 keepers and didn't lose any.

"I'm a little more than a pound behind Canterbury, so to have a chance tomorrow I think I'll need 16 pounds."

3rd: Sprague Switches Gears

> Day 3: 5, 15-08 (15, 44-00)

Sprague's confidence is high heading into the final day because he believe and adjustment he's made will continue to pay dividends.

"I've got an area where they're coming to me and I've just got to make them bite," he said. "I'd been catching some cranking, but those fish were staging and that deal kind of played out as the water warmed up. Now they're getting on the beds and I've seen some big ones – as big as I've ever seen at Beaver.

"If I can make a couple of those eat, I could do really well tomorrow."

He went through 10 keepers, the biggest of which was a 4-pounder. He figures he might've had another half-pound if he hadn't lost two fish early in the day.

He'll do some sight-fishing on day 4 when the opportunity presents itself.

"Another 15 pounds should give me a legitimate shot. I feel like it's a level playing field again and I just need to go out and catch all I can."

4th: Morgan had Room to Move

> Day 3: 5, 16-13 (15, 43-15)

Morgan's weights have gone up each day, which might be a foreboding sign for the rest of the field.

"The biggest difference today was that 140 boats were gone and there was room to move around," he said. "Beaver's got some fish, it's not a bad fishery, but it's really not big enough to sustain a 160-boat field. It really gets beaten down.

"The local pressure was pretty intense. That's usually not a big problem at Beaver, but the fishing's been good for several weeks and today a lot of people were out fishing."

A 4 3/4-pounder was the biggest of the 10 keepers he caught.

"It's just Junk-Fishing 101 for me. I've caught them on a crankbait, a spinnerbait, a buzzbait, flipping and on jigs and plastics. I've done a little bit of everything.

"I'd love to win this thing, but honestly, I haven't thought too much about it. I've been 2nd and 3rd so many times that it's like what the heck, we'll see how it goes and maybe it'll fall my direction. I've learned not to get too excited or too disappointed however it falls."

5th: Martin's Roll Continues

> Day 3: 5, 15-12 (15, 43-05)

Martin has changed his program from looking to bank-beating.

"I threw moving baits a lot today and covered a lot of water," he said. "I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. It's hard to say what's going to happen, but I think the potential for a big bag is pretty strong.

"My plan was to make the Top 20 off of sight-fishing and then make an adjustment. I've been making good decisions so far and I hope to make some more tomorrow."

He caught about 15 keepers and all three species (largemouths, smallmouths and spotted bass) were represented. He took four largemouths and a bronzeback to the scale.

"I lost a couple that might've given me a little more weight. They were biting funny – not as good as I was hoping.

"I've fished Beaver 16 or 17 times now and I'm ready to try to win this thing. I'm going to do everything I can, and I'm probably going to need a 17- or 18-pound bag."

6th: Whitson Excited

> Day 3: 5, 15-10

Whitson will leave Beaver with by far the best finish of his brief tour-level career.

"The first two tournaments were Top-100s (a 95th at Okeechobee and a 90th at Hartwell), so I'm pretty thrilled," he said.

He caught nine keeper largemouths on day 3 – eight on a jig and one on a spinnerbait. His bag was topped by a 4 1/2-pounder and a 4, which he caught within 10 feet of each other about 90 minutes apart.

"I don't think I lost anything that would've helped – I think the ones I missed were spots or redeyes. The largemouths swim off with the bait, but these bites were like tap, tap, tap."

His primary area has received a lot of pressure – today he saw Canterbury, Martin, Cox and Darrell Davis. Several local anglers were also in the mix.

He said the spinnerbait that produced one keeper on day 3 is very unique.

"It's completely different – it's got big blades and it's a special color and I'm fishing it deeper than where I'm catching most of my other fish. I don't get a lot of bites on it, but when I do get bit, it's a 3 1/2- to 5-pounder.

"In practice I had an 18 1/2-pound day on it when the wind blew 20 or 25 (mph). If I can get that thing going, I could catch 18 and that would give me a chance."

Notable

> Day 3 stats – 20 anglers, 18 limits, 2 fours.

Weather Forecast

> Sun., April 17 – Cloudy - 74°/60°
- Wind: From the SE at 17 mph

Day 3 Standings

1. Scott Canterbury -- Springville, Al -- 12-14 (5) -- 18-3 (5) -- 14-6 (5) -- 45-7 (15)

2. Darrel Robertson -- Jay, Ok -- 14-14 (5) -- 16-4 (5) -- 13-1 (5) -- 44-3 (15)

3. Jeff Sprague -- Point, Tx -- 15-6 (5) -- 13-2 (5) -- 15-8 (5) -- 44-0 (15)

4. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 12-13 (5) -- 14-5 (5) -- 16-13 (5) -- 43-15 (15)

5. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 15-9 (5) -- 12-0 (5) -- 15-12 (5) -- 43-5 (15)

6. Chris Whitson -- Louisville, Tn -- 14-8 (5) -- 12-14 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 43-0 (15)

7. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 12-6 (5) -- 17-8 (5) -- 12-4 (5) -- 42-2 (15)

8. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, Ar -- 14-14 (5) -- 12-13 (5) -- 13-9 (5) -- 41-4 (15)

9. JT Kenney -- Palm Bay, Fl -- 18-5 (5) -- 9-6 (5) -- 13-5 (5) -- 41-0 (15)

10. Andrew Upshaw -- Sapulpa, Ok -- 13-2 (5) -- 14-3 (5) -- 13-3 (5) -- 40-8 (15)

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 4.

11. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, On -- 13-2 (5) -- 14-9 (5) -- 12-10 (5) -- 40-5 (15) -- $12,000

12. Jimmy Houston -- Cookson, Ok -- 17-13 (5) -- 12-3 (5) -- 10-1 (5) -- 40-1 (15) -- $12,000

13. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 11-2 (5) -- 16-3 (5) -- 12-1 (5) -- 39-6 (15) -- $12,000

14. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, Md -- 11-7 (5) -- 16-14 (5) -- 11-0 (5) -- 39-5 (15) -- $12,000

15. Jacob Wheeler -- Indianapolis, In -- 13-0 (5) -- 14-3 (5) -- 11-15 (5) -- 39-2 (15) -- $12,000

16. Kurt Mitchell -- Milford, De -- 17-8 (5) -- 10-7 (5) -- 9-7 (4) -- 37-6 (14) -- $12,000

17. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 11-10 (5) -- 15-7 (5) -- 9-12 (5) -- 36-13 (15) -- $12,000

18. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 11-13 (4) -- 14-15 (5) -- 10-0 (5) -- 36-12 (14) -- $12,000

19. Darrell Davis -- Dover, Fl -- 15-9 (5) -- 11-4 (5) -- 9-0 (4) -- 35-13 (14) -- $12,000

20. Kerry Milner -- Bono, Ar -- 13-2 (5) -- 14-1 (5) -- 8-0 (5) -- 35-3 (15) -- $12,000