Stewart Still Leads; Dudley Claims 4th AOY

By Sean Ostruszka
Special to BassFan

Dudley officially stands alone.

FLW’s all-time leading money winner can now also call himself the only FLW Tour pro to have won four Angler of the Year titles after officially being crowned on day 3 of the regular-season finale at Lake Champlain. He was previously tied with Andy Morgan and Clark Wendlandt with three apiece.

“I really wanted this one,” said Dudley, who sealed the title by qualifying for the final round in 6th place while John Cox, the only other angler with a shot at the AOY going into the day, concluded the event with a 28th-place finish. “To have separated myself and be the first to win four is pretty special and humbling experience.

“My kids have been teasing me that it’s been 6 years since I last won a tournament. Well, I didn’t win a tournament, but I’ll take Angler of the Year.”

Of course, sitting in 6th, Dudley has a chance at breaking his tournament non-winningstreak, as well. In fact, the last time he won AOY was in 2012, when he won the final tournament of the year to cap it off. The location of that event? Lake Champlain.

There’s no doubt where the best area on Champlain has been this week. What’s in doubt is if the anglers who are fishing there can get there and back tomorrow.

The tournament has been all about the Ticonderoga area on the south end of Champlain. Amazingly, seven of the top 10, including three-round leader Tyler Stewart, have been making the hour-long run down there to fish for largemouth.

In fact, the fishing has been so good down there that the top tour pros were able to still crack big weights of green fish despite a local tournament launching down there today (along with a number of locals fun-fishing).

Stewart may have gotten some of the worst of that local pressure, yet he was able to grind out another 18-05 bag to retain his lead for the third straight day with 58-06 total.

Right behind him are Casey Scanlon (56-08) and Eric Jackson (55-13), in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. They’ll be joining Stewart down in “Ti” along with 5th-place Daryl Biron (55-02), 8th-place Tom Redington (54-15), 9th-place Christopher Brasher (54-11) and 10th-place Hensley Powell (54-04).

Of course, smallmouth are typically winners at Champlain, which is exactly what Bryan Thrift (4th with 55-06), Dudley (6th with 55-02) and AJ Slegona (7th with 54-15) are all banking on tomorrow.

Basically, the final day of the regular season will be a classic battle between largemouth and smallmouth (or Ticonderoga versus the rest of the lake). That is, if the anglers can even get down to Ti.

The forecast for the final day has it starting off calm, but a strong north-northwest wind into the teens is supposed to hit late morning, which could make the ride back treacherous. Still, with the entire top 10 separated by little more than 4 pounds, all the Ti guys said they’re willing to risk it for the win.

“Twenty pounds or 2 p.m.; whichever one happens first will determine when I come back tomorrow,” said Jackson in response to questions as to whether he’ll head in early because of the waves.

Stewart joked on day 2 he’d be running down to Ti even if a hurricane hit. He hasn’t changed his tune.

“I don’t care if I go down there and zero,” Stewart said. “I’m swinging for the fences, waves and all.”

That go-big mantra has served him well so far, along with a little meditation today to deal with the locals.

“I don’t want to say I got spun out today, but I got pretty aggravated,” he said. “It wasn’t so much the local tournament guys but more the guys just fun-fishing.”

Most notably was a local fishing from shore on a bridge that Stewart has relied on throughout the event to catch a limit. The local repeatedly was casting close to Stewart, which prompted him to leave in frustration. Fortunately, the Louisiana pro’s other key limit spot – a large drain pipe – came through today.

He then was able to “push through and grind out 18 pounds” by flipping willow trees for most of the rest of the day.

“Hopefully, I don’t have the locals tomorrow so I can catch a quick, big limit and then have plenty of time to make it back driving in 5-foot waves,” Stewart said.

What’s been particularly interesting about the Ticonderoga pros is that each seems to have his own game plan. For instance, Scanlon has been working a reaction bait along the bank, while Jackson has been milking one area.

“I have a shallow bay where the bass are bailing on it because the water is dropping,” Jackson said. “They have a pretty specific exit strategy, and I can sit in one spot and catch them as they feed into me.”

Jackson’s weights have been increasing every day, making him all that much more excited about day 4, especially since this is his first top 10.

“I’m confident in my spot and what I’m doing,” Jackson said. “I don’t care about the weather. In four years my best finish was 55th. I'm going for the win.”

Notable

> Day 3 stats – 30 anglers, 29 limits, 1 three.

Weather Forecast

> Sun., June 30 – Thundershowers - 72°/58°
- Wind: From the NNW at 12 mph

Day 3 Standings

1. Tyler Stewart -- West Monroe, La -- 22-3 (5) -- 17-14 (5) -- 18-5 (5) -- 58-6 (15)

2. Casey Scanlon -- Lake Ozark, Mo -- 20-0 (5) -- 17-11 (5) -- 18-13 (5) -- 56-8 (15)

3. Eric Jackson -- Walling, Tn -- 17-6 (5) -- 18-8 (5) -- 19-15 (5) -- 55-13 (15)

4. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 18-9 (5) -- 17-6 (5) -- 19-7 (5) -- 55-6 (15)

5. Daryl Biron -- South Windsor, Ct -- 19-12 (5) -- 18-7 (5) -- 16-15 (5) -- 55-2 (15)

6. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 19-3 (5) -- 17-1 (5) -- 18-14 (5) -- 55-2 (15)

7. AJ Slegona -- Pine Bush, NY -- 18-10 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 17-10 (5) -- 54-15 (15)

8. Tom Redington -- Royse City, Tx -- 20-7 (5) -- 16-8 (5) -- 18-0 (5) -- 54-15 (15)

9. Christopher Brasher -- Longview, Tx -- 17-10 (5) -- 18-5 (5) -- 18-12 (5) -- 54-11 (15)

10. Hensley Powell -- Whitwell, Tn -- 19-14 (5) -- 18-4 (5) -- 16-2 (5) -- 54-4 (15)

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

11. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, Md -- 17-10 (5) -- 17-2 (5) -- 19-6 (5) -- 54-2 (15) -- $12,000

12. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, Mn -- 19-0 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 16-2 (5) -- 53-13 (15) -- $12,000

13. Joseph Webster -- Winfield, Al -- 18-0 (5) -- 17-9 (5) -- 18-4 (5) -- 53-13 (15) -- $12,000

14. Ron Nelson -- Berrien Springs, Mi -- 18-7 (5) -- 18-4 (5) -- 17-1 (5) -- 53-12 (15) -- $12,000

15. Kurt Dove -- Del Rio, Tx -- 19-5 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 18-5 (5) -- 53-4 (15) -- $12,000

16. John Voyles -- Petersburg, In -- 20-7 (5) -- 18-5 (5) -- 14-4 (5) -- 53-0 (15) -- $11,500

17. Nick Lebrun -- Bossier City, La -- 18-6 (5) -- 18-10 (5) -- 16-0 (5) -- 53-0 (15) -- $11,500

18. Charles Sim -- Nepean, On -- 16-12 (5) -- 18-8 (5) -- 17-6 (5) -- 52-10 (15) -- $11,500

19. Chad Warren -- Sand Springs, Ok -- 19-3 (5) -- 16-0 (5) -- 16-10 (5) -- 51-13 (15) -- $11,500

20. Joel Willert -- Prior Lake, Mn -- 18-2 (5) -- 17-4 (5) -- 16-1 (5) -- 51-7 (15) -- $11,500

21. Jeff Dobson -- Bartlesville, Ok -- 19-9 (5) -- 15-11 (5) -- 16-0 (5) -- 51-4 (15) -- $10,500

22. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 18-8 (5) -- 16-9 (5) -- 16-2 (5) -- 51-3 (15) -- $10,500

23. Tommy Dickerson -- Orange, Tx -- 19-8 (5) -- 17-1 (5) -- 14-7 (5) -- 51-0 (15) -- $10,500

24. Matt Becker -- Finleyville, Pa -- 18-5 (5) -- 16-4 (5) -- 16-4 (5) -- 50-13 (15) -- $10,500

25. Shawn Murphy -- Nicholasville, Ky -- 18-14 (5) -- 16-5 (5) -- 15-9 (5) -- 50-12 (15) -- $10,500

26. Kurt Mitchell -- Milford, De -- 19-15 (5) -- 15-6 (5) -- 15-4 (5) -- 50-9 (15) -- $10,500

27. Joshua Weaver -- Macon, Ga -- 16-12 (5) -- 18-7 (5) -- 14-0 (5) -- 49-3 (15) -- $10,500

28. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 17-6 (5) -- 17-0 (5) -- 14-11 (5) -- 49-1 (15) -- $10,500

29. Ryan Salzman -- Huntsville, Al -- 18-4 (5) -- 17-8 (5) -- 11-8 (5) -- 47-4 (15) -- $11,000

30. Robert Behrle -- Hoover, Al -- 14-3 (5) -- 20-11 (5) -- 7-2 (3) -- 42-0 (13) -- $10,500