Canterbury Finally Falters
Fritts Wallops 23-13 To Rally For 10th Tour-Level Win

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson David Fritts' victory at Guntersville was his fifth FLW Tour win and his first since 2001.

Well, the crankbait legend from North Carolina did just that. He slammed a 23-13 sack and high-stepped it through the wide doorway left open by day-3 leader Scott Canterbury of Alabama, who weighed just two fish for 4-03 today after averaging more than 22 pounds a day. Fritts' eight-fish, 38-01 total for the final 2 days left him 1-01 clear of runner-up Sam Newby.

Newby, the Oklahoman who finished with 37 pounds even, was one fish short of a limit for the second straight day. He'd have been the guy raising the big check if he'd caught the fifth one on either occasion, since there's no way a Guntersville keeper (15 inches or better) will weigh less than 1-02.

David Dudley, like Fritts, pulled off a huge final-day recovery, but the Virginian's deficit from the previous day was too much to overcome. His 26-12 stringer was second-best of the tournament (behind David Walker's 29-03 on day 1) and propelled him from a tie for 9th to 3rd with 34-11.

A pair of Juniors rounded out the Top 5. Kentucky's Ramie Colson Jr. caught 19-01 to finish 4th with 34-03, and cut leader Tom Mann Jr. of Georgia boated 19-14 for a 29-13 total.

Here's how the lower half of the final field finished up:

6. David Walker: 28-12
7. John Tanner: 27-12
8. Scott Canterbury: 24-14
9. Mike Surman: 22-08
10. Craig Dowling: 19-08

The victory was the 10th at the tour level of Fritts' illustrious career and resulted in his biggest-ever paycheck ($150,000 for the win, plus a $50,000 Ranger bonus). The 52-year-old has fished like a madman since August, when he had his day-1 catch at the Forrest Wood Cup disqualified for bringing six fish to the weigh-in.

The former Bassmaster Classic champion won the Clarks Hill Eastern FLW Series in October, and then was among the top overall finishers at the Series East/West Fishoff at Falcon Lake. This was his fifth FLW Tour triumph and first since 2001.

Thrill for Fritts

Even though he's won numerous times before, the thrill of victory never gets old for Fritts.

"It's very exciting," he said. "It's pretty much the same feeling I had when I won the Classic (in 1993). I fished good today and executed well.

"I don't really know how to explain it, but it was just one of those things where everything worked out good. I was really in a zone – I'd make 50 casts to one rock, and then I'd catch a fish on the 51st cast."

He was the only angler among the Top 10 who didn't rely primarily on a lipless crankbait. Most of his fish came on a Rapala DT10 and he employed a jig to add a few bigger kickers.

The DT10 accounted for the entire bag today. He weighed three that topped 5 pounds and lost one in that class on the jig. That one that got away haunted him on his way back to the launch.

"I thought I'd be about 2 pounds short, and I really felt like that lost fish was going to cost me."

Details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be posted soon.

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Rob Newell For the second straight day, Sam Newby's bag was one fish shy of a limit.

Newby went into today with the mindset that he'd accept whatever happened, and he wasn't overly stressed about his failure to boat the fish that would've put him over the top.

"It feels great," he said. "I'd said that whatever I got today was going to be good, and I started the year off with a good finish and got some momentum. I can't complain."

He lost a 4-pounder in the first 20 minutes, and then didn't get another bite until 1:00. He caught the four that he weighed over the next 45 minutes, and then lost a big one shortly thereafter.

"It was sure enough heavy – it about yanked the rod out of my hand. I came close (to winning), but there was no lucky horseshoe for me today."

3rd: Dudley Padded Bankroll

The huge sack that allowed Dudley to move up six places in the standings took some of the sting out of his bad day 3.

"It was fine," he said. "I'll still say I lost, but it was good to come back and win a few more thousand dollars."

He caught about a dozen keepers today, including a 6 1/2-pounder. Two of his weigh-in fish came from an area he found just this morning and his best action was under the early-afternoon sun (clouds dominated the first part of the day).

"I knew I had to find something else, and I did. I caught them pretty steady all day, but I was smacking them when the sun came out. This lake likes sun.

"If I'd kept going on the same stuff I had, I knew I didn't have a chance to do what I needed to do."

4th: Colson Pleased

Colson caught 4 pounds more than he did on day 3, but dropped a spot in the standings due to the huge bags brought in by Fritts and Dudley.

"I'm very pleased considering the way the whole week went," he said. "Making the Top 10 was a great feeling to begin with. I didn't think I had a real chance to win it today, but I was hoping I might be able to stay in 3rd."

He stuck to the same pockets he'd fished all week and caught about 10 keepers. His bag was topped by a 6 1/2-pounder.

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson Tom Mann Jr. takes a look inside David Dudley's lipless crankbait box prior to today's launch. Dudley ended up 3rd and Mann was 5th.

"I'd just told the camera guy that if I could catch one with eyes the size of ping-pong balls, I'd be in good shape. Then that happened and I turned around and said, 'There it went.'''

5th: Mann Slightly Disappointed

Mann finished up with a good day on new water that was less than 2 miles from the launch, but still wonders what might've been if he'd been able to fish his primary grass stretch through the weekend. He abandoned it after encountering a bevy of local boats there yesterday morning.

"The good finish is nice, but I'm still a little disappointed about yesterday," he said. "But there's nothing I could do about it and that's just the way it went."

He cranked up his big motor just twice today – once to go from the launch to the far bank and once to get back. In between, he boated 12 keepers.

"I put the trolling motor down and didn't pull it up until 2:30, when it was time to come back and weigh in," he said. "I caught almost 20 pounds, but it's always a little tough when you know you were that close in a tournament that's this big.

"I started out 10 pounds behind, so I knew I had to have a phenomenal day."

7th: Great Week for Tanner

Texan John Tanner had his toughest day of the tournament, but that didn't wipe away the excitement of his first Top 10 in his 30th Tour event.

"It was a great week, just a total blessing," he said. "I felt good coming in because Guntersville is a lot like Fork (where he guides).

"It kind of boiled down to lost fish in the finals. Yesterday I lost a big one and today I lost six fish. But it was a great experience to make my first Top 10 and I'm ready to move on to the next one. It was everything I thought it would be and more."

8th: Canterbury's Hole Dried Up

Scott Canterbury went into the day with a 2 1/2-pound lead, but caught just a pair of 2-pounders and relinquished seven positions.

"It just wasn't meant to be," he said. "It wasn't like I lost the fish – it just wasn't my turn."

He focused on one small area for the entire tournament and plied it with five different lipless cranks to work various depths. He said it was about half the size of a football field and contained scattered clumps of grass, along with some stumps.

It was real good to him for 3 days, but gave out on him today. He had to go to a brushpile and throw a jig to entice the two fish he caught.

"I don't know why – I don't know if the fish left or what," he said. "I think they'd been coming off the river and moving into the creek and I was catching them in 3 to 6 feet of water.

"It was real cold last night and cold all day today, and I just never got a bite there."

9th: Surman Off and Running

Mike Surman had a difficult weekend, but as a veteran, the positives of a Top 10 to open the season weren't lost on him.

"I'm excited about it," he said. "As far as making the (Forrest Wood Cup), I've got a lot easier road to hoe. If you dig yourself a hole in the first one, it just makes it that much more difficult."

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Rob Newell Ramie Colson Jr. surrendered two spots in the standings today despite catching a 19-pound bag.

"I'm sure I could've caught some fish and maybe had a decent stringer, but there's no way I could've caught a big bag unless the locals weren't there. I'd have loved to have a shot at that area the way it was the first couple days, but that stuff happens."

10th: No Complaints from Dowling

Craig Dowling, who lives less than a mile from the lake in Grant, Ala. struggled on both days after the cut. But he chose to focus on the positives of the first 2 days.

"Overall it's been a great week and I can't complain," he said. "I'm a little disappointed with the way the last couple of days went, but I don't think I really did anything wrong. I'm just glad it happened at the end instead of the beginning, or I'd have been 110th instead of 10th.

"I just wasn't getting the bites. At Guntersville you can be in the right area at the wrong time or not make the perfect cast, and you'll catch nothing."

He fished new water today, but didn't go out with an all-or-nothing mentality.

"I wanted to get some bites and catch a good bag and see where I ended up. I tried to go out and have fun and just see what happened. Obviously, not much happened."

Notable

> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 5 limits, 3 fours, 1 three, 1 two.

> FLW Outdoors president and CEO Charlie Evans, who also serves as the emcee for Tour weigh-ins, hinted at the start of today's program that Guntersville could host the Forrest Wood Cup in the near future. The earliest that could happen would be 2011 – this year's event is slated for Pittsburgh and Georgia's Lake Lanier has been tabbed as the 2010 site.

Day 4 (Final) Standings

1. David Fritts -- Lexington, NC -- 3, 14-04 -- 5, 23-13 -- 8, 38-01 -- $150,000 + $50,000

2. Sam Newby -- Pocola, Ok -- 4, 18-01 -- 4, 18-15 -- 8, 37-00 -- $55,000

3. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 2, 7-15 -- 5, 26-12 -- 7, 34-11 -- $45,000

4. Ramie Colson Jr. -- Cadiz, Ky -- 5, 15-02 -- 5, 19-01 -- 10, 34-03 -- $35,000

5. Tom Mann Jr. -- Buford, Ga -- 4, 9-15 -- 5, 19-14 -- 9, 29-13 -- $30,000

6. David Walker -- Sevierville, Tn -- 5, 14-13 -- 5, 13-15 -- 10, 28-12 -- $28,000

7. John Tanner -- Quitman, Tx -- 5, 15-00 -- 4, 12-12 -- 9, 27-12 -- $26,000

8. Scott Canterbury -- Springville, Al -- 5, 20-11 -- 2, 4-03 -- 7, 24-14 -- $24,000

9. Mike Surman -- Boca Raton, Fl -- 4, 8-15 -- 4, 13-09 -- 8, 22-08 -- $22,000

10. Craig Dowling -- Grant, Al -- 3, 7-15 -- 3, 11-09 -- 6, 19-08 -- $20,000