The northwest wind kicked up 20 to 30 mph today and folded a new wrinkle into the Ouachita River FLW . For some competitors, it was tough in yesterday's 10 to 13 mph winds to detect the light bites. Today it was hard to cast accurately, let alone feel a bite. And the lake became so roiled, anglers scrambled to find fishable water. The scramble-master today was Toshinari Namiki – who barely squeaked into the cut yesterday. His 20-07 limit was the best today.
All 10 anglers locked through into the Felsenthal pool in Arkansas, but after they arrived, several had to change water because their primary spots were blown out.
Days 1 and 2 leader Matt Herren slipped to 2nd today with his 18-01 limit. Mike Hawkes is 3rd with five fish at 16-02. Jason Kilpatrick is 4th – and 5 pounds behind the lead – with a limit today at 15 pounds even. Darrel Robertson is 5th with his 12-05 limit. Tomorrow looks to be a showdown between Namiki and Herren, but Hawkes is catching good fish too.
The rest of the Top 10 are:
6. Bobby Lane 4, 10-12
7. Mickey Bruce 4, 9-14
8. William Davis 5, 9-10
9. Alvin Shaw 3, 9-02
10. Jeremiah Kindy 5, 7-10
Namiki Bags a 7
Japanese pro Namiki caught a limit of 20-06 to take the Day 3 lead. He had qualified for the Top 10 in 10th. "Conditions have changed every day," he said. "I think that I'm lucky because I had one kicker fish – a 7-pounder.
"Matt (Herren) is fishing more consistent. I had a lucky bite. What will happen tomorrow? I don't know."
He's fishing buckbrush and trees within sight of another competitor, but declined to say what his technique was.
Matt Herren said tomorrow's a short day and there's no way he can fish all his water.
Herren Ran a Pattern
Herren jigged up another solid limit today – this time it weighed 18-01. But he's sniffing at the lead and needed just over 2 pounds more to overtake Namiki.
Herren said he culled through a lot of fish today. "I've got seven areas I'm rotating through. I'm pretty much running a milk run – fishing a pattern that I sure hope holds up another day. I hit six of the areas today.
"It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to really fish what I'm fishing, and then I'm gone. I only went back to one (area) once today.
"Tomorrow it'll be touch and go," he said. "I'll have only 3 hours – stress that, 3 hours – to fish. That'll be tough. I have to be back in the lock at 12:30 and back to the ramp at 1:30, so we can go to Wal-Mart and weigh in.
"There's no way I can fish all my water. The blessing of tomorrow is that I don't have a co-angler, so I don't have to worry about leaving a few shots to let (him) try to get a fish. It's tough on them when you're dialed in and fishing a jig – you just don't leave much. Tomorrow I need to be focused on doing my job."
He said that any of the Top 5 have a good shot at winning. "Whoever gets the big bite tomorrow will win. Namiki got a really good one today. I hope it's my turn (tomorrow). When you consider I only fished an hour the second day, no one is running the kind of average weight that I am.
"If the pattern doesn't change, I'll catch them again. I'm not doing anything different (tomorrow)."
On the subject of big bites, he mentioned he has one spot he hoped to save for the final rounds, but that hope was dashed. "I was going in there first thing in the morning for my bigger bites the first 2 days, and then I'd leave," he said. "Little did I know that Kindy was going in there at about 11:00 or 12:00 and staying.
Jason Kilpatrick's areas were blown out, so he fished new water today.
"He's the reason I didn't catch them any bigger than I did today. He didn't do anything wrong, but it's just unfortunate for me that he got in there."
Kilpatrick Scrambled
The wind ruined Kilpatrick's area, but he scrambled well enough to catch a 15-00 limit and claim 4th place. "I was excited that I had what I had," he said.
"I got to where I caught them yesterday, and it was orange mud. It was unfishable. I ran around a lot looking for similar water, which was hard to find, since so much is wind-beaten now. I caught them all from places I'd never fished before."
He threw a tube and a jig and had six keepers in the boat today, but missed two bites. "I caught two on my handpoured jigs, and four on a tube," he said. "In fact, one of them had taken the tube but I missed it, and I threw back with the jig and caught it.
"The tube was the ticket today. It must be the profile, speed and fall that they want. All the big fish have been on the tube. My biggest fish today was close to 6 pounds.
"I thought I'd legitimately catch 20 to 25 pounds today based on what I left there yesterday," he said. "But unfortunately, that was washed away. But the fact that I can catch 15 pounds scrambling – that's pretty fulfilling.
"Those experiences will help grow you as an angler. You can look back on it and it builds confidence beyond this tournament."
Robertson the Blade Runner
Robertson has caught all his fish over the past 3 days on a spinnerbait, and today's 12-05 limit put him in 5th place.
"I locked through to Arkansas with all 10 boats," he said. "I ended up having to change water. I didn't catch a fish where I'd caught them before, so I had to move. But I stayed in the same lake I've been in, and I got into some really good looking stuff right at the end of the day, so that's where I'll start tomorrow.
Darrel Robertson changed water, but his bait – he stuck with blades.
"I'm keying on ditches and drains, since the lake has been dropping," he said. "I'm throwing a spinnerbait with a big old Colorado blade – fishing muddy water kind of fast. Every once in a while a fish will jump on it.
"Today the wind was blowing too hard to fish good, and my co-angler was doing a better job fishing than I was. I had to try to run the trolling motor. He caught a 6-pounder and then a 3 1/2-pounder and ended up winning the co-angler side."
Davis Running Dry
Davis, an FLW tour rookie, thinks his area is drying up. He caught just five today and they weighed 9-10, which put him in 8th.
"I fished the same area for 3 days," he said. "It's just worn out. It's hammered. I was worried about that happening."
He said his area is "up in the Fensenthal pool." It's a flat with cypress trees, a little current and 1 to 3 feet of water.
"I caught all my fish the first day on a spinnerbait, and all my fish yesterday and today on a jig," he said. "I just don't have confidence in a spinnerbait under these bluebird skies, although the wind helps. We had too much wind today, though. It put a huge bow in 20-pound line and made it really tough to feel the bite. I missed a few fish.
"Tomorrow will be a really short day," he said. "With the early weigh-in (and the run to Arkansas), we'll only have about 3 1/2 hours to fish. I might go back (to my main area), but I won't stay long. There are a few other places I can check, and hope I get lucky.
"It won't be enough time to really look for new water, but if you get on some fish you can catch a lot in a hurry. I had two 20-pound practice days in the week I was here, but I could catch them one day and not the next.
"I need to go for the win now, so I'll either come in with a lot or not much at all. It's been a great week, though. I guess you could call it a roll – after I did well at the Rayburn EverStart." He finished 6th there 2 weeks ago.
Notable
> Day 1 stats – 10 anglers, 7 limits, 2 fours, 1 three.
> This is Namiki's second Top 10 of the season. He finished 4th at Okeechobee, but stumbled at Toho with a 104th-place finish.
> Rookie Bobby Lane is fishing his third-in-a-row Top 10, which is a first for the FLW Tour. He still leads the BassFan.com Rookie of the Year Race. He also leads the FLW points, and is the only angler among the Top 10 in points who made the cut (i.e., he'll still be on top after the event is over).
> There are two rookies in the Top 10 – Lane and Davis.
Weather Forecast
Tonight's low will be around 46°. Here's the rest of the forecast from the Weather Channel.
Sat, Mar 12 -- Sunny -- 74°/55°
> Wind: From the SW at 14 mph
Day 3 Standings
1. Toshinari Namiki -- Hachioji- City, To -- 5, 20-07
2. Matt Herren -- Trussville, Al -- 5, 18-01
3. Mike Hawkes -- Sabinal, Tx -- 5, 16-02
4. Jason Kilpatrick -- Satsuma, Al -- 5, 15-00
5. Darrel Robertson -- Jay, Ok -- 5, 12-05
6. Bobby Lane -- Lakeland, Fl -- 4, 10-12
7. Mickey Bruce -- Buford, Ga -- 4, 9-14
8. William Davis -- Russellville, Al -- 5, 9-10
9. Alvin Shaw -- State Road, Nc -- 3, 9-02
10. Jeremiah Kindy -- Benton, Ar -- 5, 7-10 \
