Logan The New Leader With 1 Day Left

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Wes Logan has been in this position before. A little more than 2 years ago, he led the Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Ouachita going into the final day.

He managed just a single keeper that day and finished 7th as Clent Davis claimed the Cup. He said that memory won't haunt him, however, when he takes a 1-02 advantage into day 4 at the Lake Guntersville Bassmaster Elite Series.

"I was nervous back then, but I'm not now," said the 26-year-old who's competing in his home state of Alabama. "There's really nothing to be nervous about – you either go out and catch them or you don't."

He caught a 16-03 stringer on day 3 for a 49-00 total on a lake that's giving up very few of the hefty largemouths that it's renowned for. His closest pursuer is Texan Randy Sullivan, who's back in the No. 2 position he occupied on opening day after falling to 12th on day 2. Sullivan caught a day-best 17-15 for a 47-14 aggregate.

Luke Palmer is 3rd with 47-04 (15-14 on day 3), followed by day-1 leader Kyle Welcher with 46-14 (15-05). None of the Top 4 have won a tour-level event in their brief careers.

The rest of the Top 10 is made up of Stetson Blaylock with 46-04 (15-01), Frank Talley with 46-01 (15-09), Chad Morgenthaler with 45-08 (16-01), Bob Downey with 44-14 (15-11), day-2 leader Brandon Cobb with 44-12 (10-01) and reigning Angler of the Year Scott Canterbury with 43-11 (12-01). With less than 5 1/2 pounds separating the final-day field, any of them could emerge victorious.

Weights continued their downward trend as the lake progresses through its summer-to-fall transition. It's gotten a lot of pressure, as always, and that factor will ramp up on day 4 when an additional 200 boats take to the water for the annual SPRO Frog Tournament. That event is likely to be a severe test, as frogs haven't been producing at their normal rate of efficiency this week.

Logan stayed with the same program that he's employed throughout the event – flipping and pitching to mats. He caught 10 keepers, including a 4 1/2-pounder.

"I'll start where I've been starting – I got three fish out of there today," he said. "I'll hit it pretty hard in the morning and fish it for all its worth and then start moving around.

"It's definitely an area where I can go catch some and we'll have to see if I can get the right bites."

He lost his biggest bite of the day – a fish between 5 and 6 pounds.

"That one hit me in a bad place. I was watching my line because a lot of them have been hitting on the fall and about 2 feet down my line jumped, then it kept going. When I picked up the fish was completely out of the mat and when I jerked I brought it back through the mat.

"I'm surprised I hadn't lost any before that because it's such a hit-and-miss deal."

Sullivan weighed a stout 18 1/2-pound bag on day 1, but followed that up with a four-fish, 11-07 effort. He got back on track on day 3.

"They're reloading in my area quite a bit, but the whole thing is getting them to bite and keeping them pinned," he said. "I missed a couple today that would've put me over 20 pounds."

He's throwing a crankbait and focusing on cover other than grass. He went through seven keepers and his bag was topped by a 5-pounder.

"I could honestly go out tomorrow and not catch a keeper, but I could go out and get 20 pounds, too. I feel like there's going to be more fish there, but I don't know that. I'm not going to change anything and if it happens, it happens."

Palmer locked up the second Top-10 finish of his 2-year pro career – he was 8th last year at Winyah Bay. He said he'll go into the final round with an open mind and let the day play out.

"I'm just going fishing; that's what I've had to do all week," he said. "I'm not doing a lot of running around and I don't have a lot of spots. I'm just keeping my head down and flipping grass."

He handled eight keepers and one weighed close to 5 pounds. He lost a trio that were in the 3 to 3 1/2-pound range.

"Where I caught my good ones yesterday, I got another one there today. Maybe there will be a few more there tomorrow. It's a place where I got one bite in practice and expanded on it on the first day of the tournament, and it's produced for me.

"There hasn't really been anybody else fishing it, which is kind of shocking. That doesn't mean there won't be a thousand people there tomorrow."

Weather Forecast

> Sat., Oct. 3 – Sunny - 71°/47°
- Wind: From the NNE at 3 mph

Day 3 Standings

1. Wes Logan -- Springville, AL -- 15, 49-00 -- 100
Day 1: 5, 14-04 -- Day 2: 5, 18-10 -- Day 3: 5, 16-02

2. Randy Sullivan -- Breckenridge, TX -- 14, 47-14 -- 99
Day 1: 5, 18-08 -- Day 2: 4, 11-07 -- Day 3: 5, 17-15

3. Luke Palmer -- Coalgate, OK -- 15, 47-04 -- 98
Day 1: 5, 15-11 -- Day 2: 5, 15-11 -- Day 3: 5, 15-14

4. Kyle Welcher -- Opelika, AL -- 15, 46-14 -- 97
Day 1: 5, 19-05 -- Day 2: 5, 12-04 -- Day 3: 5, 15-05

5. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 15, 46-04 -- 96
Day 1: 5, 14-00 -- Day 2: 5, 17-03 -- Day 3: 5, 15-01

6. Frank Talley -- Temple, TX -- 15, 46-01 -- 95
Day 1: 5, 14-03 -- Day 2: 5, 16-05 -- Day 3: 5, 15-09

7. Chad Morgenthaler -- Reeds Spring, MO -- 15, 45-08 -- 94
Day 1: 5, 17-10 -- Day 2: 5, 11-13 -- Day 3: 5, 16-01

8. Bob Downey -- Hudson, WI -- 15, 44-14 -- 93
Day 1: 5, 15-04 -- Day 2: 5, 13-15 -- Day 3: 5, 15-11

9. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 15, 44-12 -- 92
Day 1: 5, 17-00 -- Day 2: 5, 17-11 -- Day 3: 5, 10-01

10. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, AL -- 15, 43-11 -- 91
Day 1: 5, 16-00 -- Day 2: 5, 15-10 -- Day 3: 5, 12-01

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 3.

11. Seth Feider -- New Market, MN -- 15, 43-05 -- 90 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 16-00 -- Day 2: 5, 15-09 -- Day 3: 5, 11-12

12. Drew Cook -- Cairo, GA -- 14, 43-03 -- 89 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 14-00 -- Day 2: 5, 17-07 -- Day 3: 4, 11-12

13. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, ON -- 15, 42-15 -- 88 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 14-05 -- Day 2: 5, 12-09 -- Day 3: 5, 16-01

14. Bill Weidler -- Helena, AL -- 15, 42-03 -- 87 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 11-15 -- Day 2: 5, 13-04 -- Day 3: 5, 17-00

15. Carl Jocumsen -- Queensland, AUS -- 15, 42-02 -- 86 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 14-06 -- Day 2: 5, 15-02 -- Day 3: 5, 12-10

16. Jason Williamson -- Wagener, SC -- 11, 41-11 -- 85 -- $10,000
Day 1: 2, 09-06 -- Day 2: 5, 17-00 -- Day 3: 4, 15-05

17. Brandon Card -- Salisbury, NC -- 15, 41-01 -- 84 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-15 -- Day 2: 5, 15-07 -- Day 3: 5, 10-11

18. Micah Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 15, 41-00 -- 83 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-09 -- Day 2: 5, 11-15 -- Day 3: 5, 17-08

19. Hank Cherry Jr -- Lincolnton, NC -- 15, 40-06 -- 82 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-12 -- Day 2: 5, 15-03 -- Day 3: 5, 10-07

20. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 13, 39-11 -- 81 -- $10,000
Day 1: 3, 11-05 -- Day 2: 5, 16-15 -- Day 3: 5, 11-07

21. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, TX -- 15, 39-05 -- 80 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-06 -- Day 2: 5, 12-08 -- Day 3: 5, 15-07

22. Chris Zaldain -- Fort Worth, TX -- 14, 39-00 -- 79 -- $11,000
Day 1: 4, 14-10 -- Day 2: 5, 10-12 -- Day 3: 5, 13-10

23. Brock Mosley -- Collinsville, MS -- 15, 38-14 -- 78 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-15 -- Day 2: 5, 13-06 -- Day 3: 5, 11-09

24. Garrett Paquette -- Canton, MI -- 13, 38-10 -- 77 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-13 -- Day 2: 5, 14-03 -- Day 3: 3, 08-10

25. Clent Davis -- Montevallo, AL -- 15, 38-05 -- 76 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-06 -- Day 2: 5, 12-01 -- Day 3: 5, 13-14

26. Tyler Rivet -- Raceland, LA -- 15, 37-10 -- 75 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-07 -- Day 2: 5, 13-13 -- Day 3: 5, 12-06

27. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 15, 37-03 -- 74 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-11 -- Day 2: 5, 12-02 -- Day 3: 5, 12-06

28. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, ON -- 14, 36-03 -- 73 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-15 -- Day 2: 5, 12-14 -- Day 3: 4, 09-06

29. Jay Yelas -- Lincoln City, OR -- 15, 35-00 -- 72 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-07 -- Day 2: 5, 11-00 -- Day 3: 5, 11-09

30. Skylar Hamilton -- Dandridge, TN -- 14, 34-15 -- 71 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-09 -- Day 2: 5, 12-08 -- Day 3: 4, 08-14

31. Mike Huff -- Corbin, KY -- 13, 34-11 -- 70 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-14 -- Day 2: 5, 15-02 -- Day 3: 3, 06-11

32. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 14, 34-06 -- 69 -- $10,000
Day 1: 4, 10-14 -- Day 2: 5, 13-08 -- Day 3: 5, 10-00

33. Kyle Monti -- Okeechobee, FL -- 13, 34-04 -- 68 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-09 -- Day 2: 5, 11-02 -- Day 3: 3, 08-09

34. Chris Johnston -- Peterborough, ON -- 12, 33-12 -- 67 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-04 -- Day 2: 5, 15-15 -- Day 3: 2, 05-09

35. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 11, 32-06 -- 66 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-01 -- Day 2: 4, 11-01 -- Day 3: 2, 04-04

36. Randy Pierson -- Oakdale, CA -- 12, 31-13 -- 65 -- $10,000
Day 1: 3, 08-09 -- Day 2: 5, 15-06 -- Day 3: 4, 07-14

37. Hunter Shryock -- Newcomerstown, OH -- 11, 30-14 -- 64 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-15 -- Day 2: 5, 14-07 -- Day 3: 1, 03-08

38. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 12, 30-12 -- 63 -- $10,000
Day 1: 4, 08-00 -- Day 2: 5, 14-10 -- Day 3: 3, 08-02

39. Taku Ito -- Chiba, JAPAN -- 14, 30-05 -- 62 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-04 -- Day 2: 5, 10-04 -- Day 3: 4, 08-13

40. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, MN -- 8 -- 22-04 -- 61 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-06 -- Day 2: 3, 05-14 -- Day 3: 0, 00-00