Weights Down On Day 3, Evers' Lead Slips To 2-15

It was bound to happen and whether it was Mother Nature, the 200-boat BFL tournament that launched this morning or the TVA dam schedule, the weights at the Guntersville Bassmaster dropped substantially today. Only two sacks came in at over 20 pounds and two pros failed to weigh over 5-00. Evers, who led days 1 and 2, caught 15-02 today to defend the No. 1 spot with 62-09. But his lead was

cut in half.

Zell Rowland caught 22-06 today – the day's heaviest sack – and climbed to the No. 2 position with 59-10. In 3rd is Bud Pruitt, who weighed a 21-15 limit today and has 59-02 total. Morizo Shimizu weighed three fish today (12-01) and fell two spots to 4th with 55-04. David Fritts is 5th with four fish for 15-07 (51-14 total). Michael Hicks will also fish tomorrow. He's 6th with three fish for 10-14 today (50-14 total).

The rest of the Top 12 missed the cut and will not fish tomorrow. Here's a look at the standings after day 3:

1. Edwin Evers, 62-09
2. Zell Rowland, 59-10
3. Bud Pruitt, 59-02
4. Morizo Shimizu, 55-04
5. David Fritts, 51-14
6. Michael Hicks, 50-14
7. Rick Clunn, 48-12
8. Davy Hite, 48-03 lb
9. Gerald Swindle, 46-14
10. Jason Quinn, 42-02 lb
11. Tommy Biffle, 41-15
12. Tim Horton, 40-08

A quick scan of the leaderboard reveals a tight pack in the 1, 2 and 3 spots, then there's a drop-off. Hicks (in 6th) is about 12 pounds behind Evers, but by no means out of it. This is Guntersville – a lake where anything can, and probably will, happen.

The wildcard is tomorrow's weather. Bluebird skies have clearly hurt the bite, but rain and 17 mph winds from the south are expected tomorrow. Plus, the BFL tournament is over, which should relieve a lot of pressure on some holes.

Evers Lost a 6

Evers has won in Alabama before – at the 2003 Eufaula Bassmaster.

"I feel just happy as can be," he said.

He's led each day of the event. "It would just be nice if I'm in the lead on the fourth day, then I'd be real happy. The only lead that matters is the one tomorrow."

He caught less today, but still weighed a limit. "It was just a little tougher bite for me," he said. "I only had eight or nine keeper bites. It was probably the clear skies, and there was a lot of pressure on the fish."

Tomorrow's forecast calls for wind and rain. "I think tomorrow will be a lot better. There should be a lot less boats on the water. I had a lot of boats around me.

"I'm excited about the conditions, and some mud would be good – it certainly won't hurt anything."

He said he'll stick with his spot. "There's fish in my spot, and I think it's replenishing. It's just a matter of if I catch them. I'm not worried that there's not any fish there. I lost a 6-pounder at the boat today. I should have had 20 pounds.

"If it's meant to happen, it'll happen. I'll go out there and try my hardest. It won't be for the lack of want or try, I promise you that."

Rowland Changed Each Day

Zell Rowland caught the day's largest sack and turned up the heat on Evers. "This lake's fishing different every day," he said. "It's really changing every day.

"To give you an example, the first day I caught them jerking a jerkbait. I was throwing a Rogue in about 1 1/2 feet of water. That's what I wound up catching about 18 pounds on.

"On day 2, I changed areas and fished a different pattern. I took a gold Cordell Super Spot and I fished main-lake points and caught the 20-pound bag on day 2 doing that.

"After you make the cut, you really want to win it, so you look at who's leading – what he's got and what you've got. Evers has been pretty consistent. He's had three limits, but I'd watched his weight deplete.

"So I decided today I'd just try to make a run at catching another 20-pound bag. I changed what I was doing and caught that 20-pound bag."

He said the same thing might happen tomorrow – he might change again. "Tomorrow, it could fish totally different. I may even be able to go back and catch them on a Rogue like I did on day 1.

"I heard we're supposed to get rain and overcast conditions. It may be one of those tournaments where I flip a coin and decide which bait I'll throw. If I get the right bites I beat him. If not, he wins."

Shimizu Wants Rain

Shimizu, who slipped two spots to 4th, only caught three fish today. He spoke to BassFan through a translator.

"It was way tougher today," he said. "The weather changed a little bit. There was no wind at all today. If it's too windy, it's not good for me, but (it was) so calm, that wasn't good for me either.

"Plus, there was a BFL tournament going on and there were some boats fishing around me. But that wasn't my problem."

His biggest fish was "about 5 pounds" and he's working three areas.

"If it's only rain tomorrow, I'll be happy, but the (strong) wind will affect me a little bit.

"I felt stress today. Maybe I was a little nervous about making my first cut on the BASS side. But I have been in the finals before in FLW, so I won't have that kind of stress tomorrow.

"If I can have fun fishing, the results will come with it."

He said he's throwing a crankbait, a rattlebait and a spinnerbait. "The spinnerbait is my own design." And despite the 7-pound difference between he and Evers, he "has a feeling about tomorrow."

Fritts Found Late Bite

"It was real slow today," Fritts said. He's in 5th. "But I caught a 6 and a 5 with 10 minutes to go. They didn't move the water today, which made a big difference. The fish are biting late."

He has strong hopes for tomorrow. "I still feel I can catch a 30-pound bag. I still need to keep doing what I'm doing, get my bites, and get them all in. I have a lot to overcome, but I feel pretty confident. Stuff can happen here."

He said the water's clearing even more than yesterday, and he likes the weather forecast. "The wind and rain tomorrow – that's good. I usually do well when that happens.

"I haven't got the bites I got in practice yet. Surely tomorrow I'm going to get them. I don't know – I feel something.

"I'll go fishing again tomorrow – do some gambling. I feel really confident. I don't know why I do. Either I'll have a big stringer or I won't have much.

"I'll change up a little tomorrow – move away from the grass a little more. I've been hanging in there tight. Maybe I'll try some different grass. I know what to look for – what the fish are on – it's just matter of finding it."

Hicks Got Last Minute Fish

This is Hicks' first Top 6 cut. He edged out Clunn by 2-02 for the 6th spot and the right to fish tomorrow.

"Oh man, I'm just happy I got it done," he said. "It was a tough day – not a lot of bites. That's all I can say."

Like Fritts, he got some late help. "I caught a 5-pounder with 10 minutes to go. Without that fish, I wouldn't have made it."

That final bite was only his third fish. "It felt good, but I was still really concerned," he said. "I knew I was struggling. If you don't have a limit here, you're in trouble."

He said he had a lot of BFL boats around him today. "It was pretty tight. One boat caught one about 6 or 7 pounds, but you have to respect them. They're fishing for points too. I know we're fishing for a lot more money, but the guy told me told me right upfront: 'I practiced here, I found these fish.'

"There's not much you can do when a guy says that, so we fished within casting distance. And the area's no secret. Let's just say one of the guys who did really well last year fished this same spot."

He learned something when he caught that late fish. "I caught that big fish real, real shallow today. Yesterday, they pulled water like crazy and I thought the fish had come out. With the clouds tomorrow, hopefully the shallow fish won't be as spooky."

He also said he and Clunn were sharing the area, but since Clunn didn't make the cut – and the BFL tournament is over – he'll be able to fish more water tomorrow. "I don't think I can win. I just want to do the best I can do. I think I can catch a limit – I really do."

Hite Needed Current

Hite was 10th yesterday and improved to 8th today, but couldn't quite get over the mountain. He finished 2-11 behind the cut.

"I didn't catch nearly as many fish as I'd been catching," he said. "Several people kind of fell off today, and the conditions were definitely different than they had been. But a couple of guys still caught them pretty good.

"I was fishing offshore, and my fish were current-related. The water did not move at all today, which made it a lot tougher for me.

"That's the way it goes. On Saturdays, they typically don't pull as much water."

> Gear notes: 7' medium-heavy All-Star rod, Pflueger President casting reel, 20-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon line. "I caught most of my fish on a Berkley Classic Power Jig with a Berkley Power Frog trailer. Both were black/blue."

Swindle Needed Wind

Swindle weighed 3 for 11-00 today and finished 9th. "I didn't get any wind," he said. "I was still fortunate. I had five good bites, but I only caught three of them. That's the price you pay with that little crankbait.

"Don't get me wrong – it was a tough day all the way around. And for about 2 hours this morning when the wind blew, I had four good bites. I caught two and lost two. Once it slicked off though, I could not get anything going. It just didn't happen. I eventually caught one about 4 1/2."

> He said his main baits for the 3 days were a Lucky Craft Flat CBMR crankbait (ghost minnow), a 1/2-ounce Arkie jig with green-pumpkin Zoom Critter Craw trailer, and "a flat little homemade crankbait by Ed Chambers at Zoom, root-beer color."

Weather Forecast

> Sun, Feb 27 – Rain – 56°/44°
- Wind: From the E/SE at 17 mph

Notable

> Day 1 stats – 12 anglers, 5 limits, no zeroes.

> Biffle dropped from 8th to finish 11th. He only caught one fish for 4-14 today. "They were current-related," he said. "The drop in the lake and the two cold nights I believe is what killed it. I was catching most of my fish on a jig, and catching some on a Rat-L-Trap and crankbait. When they were there, you could catch them on just about anything." He said the jig was a Lunker Lure Rattleback jig with a Biffle Mega Craw (both black/blue).

> Swindle on today's crowd: "We had a huge crowd. It's awesome to fish here. All these people come out – it's kick-butt. We had close to 2,000 to 3,000. It was packed."

> In case you missed BassFan Big Stick Jarrett Edwards' wrap up, click here to go On Tour With the BassFan Big Sticks.

Day 3 Standings

1. -- Edwin Evers -- Mannsville, Okla. -- 15, 62-09 -- 315
Day 1: 5, 27-15 -- Day 2: 5, 19-08 -- Day 3: 5, 15-02
2. -- Zell Rowland -- Montgomery, Texas -- 15, 59-10 -- 295
Day 1: 5, 17-01 -- Day 2: 5, 20-03 -- Day 3: 5, 22-06
3. -- Bud Pruitt -- Spring, Texas -- 15, 59-02 -- 290
Day 1: 5, 15-15 -- Day 2: 5, 21-04 -- Day 3: 5, 21-15
4. -- Morizo Shimizu -- Murrita, Calif. -- 13, 55-04 -- 285
Day 1: 5, 21-05 -- Day 2: 5, 21-14 -- Day 3: 3, 12-01
5. -- David Fritts -- Lexington, N.C. -- 14, 51-14 -- 280
Day 1: 5, 16-08 -- Day 2: 5, 19-15 -- Day 3: 4, 15-07
6. -- Mike Hicks -- Mineral, Va. -- 13, 50-14 -- 276
Day 1: 5, 21-10 -- Day 2: 5, 18-06 -- Day 3: 3, 10-14

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not be fishing tomorrow:

7. -- Rick Clunn -- Ava, Mo. -- 15, 48-12 -- 272 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 16-00 -- Day 2: 5, 21-09 -- Day 3: 5, 11-03
8. -- Davy Hite -- Prosperity, S.C. -- 15, 48-03 -- 268 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-08 -- Day 2: 5, 18-06 -- Day 3: 5, 12-05
9. -- Gerald Swindle -- Hayden, Ala. -- 11, 46-14 -- 264 -- $10,000
Day 1: 3, 7-15 -- Day 2: 5, 27-15 -- Day 3: 3, 11-00
10. Jason Quinn -- Clover, S.C. -- 12, 42-02 -- 260 -- $8,000
Day 1: 5, 19-03 -- Day 2: 5, 18-08 -- Day 3: 2, 4-07
11. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, Okla. -- 10, 41-15 -- 257 -- $6,000
Day 1: 5, 25-04 -- Day 2: 4, 11-13 -- Day 3: 1, 4-14
12. Tim Horton -- Muscle Shoals, Ala. -- 12, 40-08 -- 254 -- $5,500
Day 1: 5, 16-04 -- Day 2: 5, 19-03 -- Day 3: 2, 5-01

Big Bass

> Day 3 -- Bud Pruitt -- Spring, Texas -- 8-04 -- $1,000
> Day 2 -- Chris Bielert -- Danbury, Conn. -- 9-11 -- $1,000
> Day 1 -- Gerald Gostenik -- Dearborn, Mich. -- 9-12 -- $1,000