On Day 3 of the Wissota Bassmaster Elite 50, the 6-hole course proved to be just as difficult as the rest of the lake. Again the standings flip-flopped in a tournament where no angler can say, with confidence,
that he's on fish. After days 1 and 2, it seemed that only one angler, Mike Iaconelli, had figured out these cheese-land bass. But he missed the cut. Instead, Kevin VanDam's now atop the leaderboard.
VanDam blanked yesterday, but seemed to figure something out today. His four fish weighed 8-07, and he leads by a 1-10 margin. With Iaconelli out of the tournament, VanDam clinched the Elite 50 points title for the second year in a row.
Takahiro Omori is currently 2nd with three fish for 6-13. Shaw Grigsby, who made the cut in 9th, is 3rd after today with three fish for 5-09. Jay Yelas weighed two fish today and is 4th with 5-05. Zell Rowland is 5th with three fish for 4-10 and Davy Hite rounds out the Top 6 with two fish for 3-04. Mark Davis finished first out of the cut with 2-10 (10 ounces behind Hite).
Obviously, it's anyone's tournament to win tomorrow. Threats of zeroes loom large, and limits can be caught. In other words, the weights are super-tight.
KVD Caught Brown Fish
After a dismal day 2, Kevin VanDam dipped into his brown-fish tricks bag and caught the day's heaviest sack.
"This has just been a tough tournament," he said. "Today wasn't any tougher than the prior days. It's just tough fishing and you really have to work hard and be fortunate to get fish.
"Yesterday I had the fish on to stay up the leaderboard," he added. "I had five bites and lost every one of my fish. That hurt, but I still was able to make the cut. Today, though, I had four bites and got each of them in. This is typical smallmouth fishing and it's far from over."
He's not sure how he feels about tomorrow. "I don't know. I'll just try and rely on my knowledge of smallmouth and go from there. Really, it's anyone's game to win and mine to lose.
"The hole course is 180-degrees different than the rest of the lake," he noted.
Grigsby Lost Two
Lost fish have played a major role in this event so far. Grigsby, in 3rd, knows that all to well.
"I should've had a limit today," he said. "I lost two key fish that would've really helped me out. But I figured something out that will definitely play into my hands tomorrow. I don't have to go out tomorrow with no knowledge. I can hit the field running.
"Based on what I figured out today, I have a good gameplan for tomorrow," he added. "The more I fished today, the more it became apparent what I needed to be doing and what bait(s) I need to be throwing.
"This is too tough a tournament to divulge anything right now. I'll be more than happy to talk about it all after it's all over."
Jay Yelas eventually switched over to smallmouths today.
Yelas Changed
"I went into today with the idea that I'd target largemouths on the first four holes," Yelas said. "After I got done in those holes, though, I had nothing to show for it. I had to change tactics.
"By the time I went into my 5th hole, I decided I needed to target smallmouths and that changed everything and I ended up with two fish. Tomorrow I won’t do anything but fish smallies.
"It's still anyone's tournament to win," he added. "You just have to stay in the grind and fish hard. The course is small and it got pounded hard today, so tomorrow could be a lot tougher than it was today."
Hite Squeaked In
Davy Hite's main goal for this E50 was to make the 2006 Bassmaster Classic. Today he achieved his goal.
"My main goal was to finish high enough to qualify for the 2006 Classic here," he said. "I've done that and feel good about it. Now tomorrow I just need to go fish and see what happens.
"The people up here have just been unbelievable," he added. "They've been nothing shy of wonderful. I wish I could say that about the fishing."
Clunn Wanted Classics
Rick Clunn zeroed today and finished 10th. "I came into this season with the desire to qualify for my 29th and 30th Classics," he said.
"From what it appears, I've made my goal. Initially, I wanted to make it 30 in a row, but a couple years ago that goal vanished. But I'm happy with the way things turned out."
He brought a jet boat up for this tournament in order to fish upriver and out of the way of the rest of the competitors.
"I knew I had to make the cut this week in order to have a chance at the (2006) Classic," he said. "I figured a good way to do that would be to bring a jet boat and fish the river. It paid off in the fact it got me to day 3. It may have hurt me though on the hole course today.
"The fish I had were all related to moving water," he noted. "In practice, I couldn't put anything together on the lake and knew that if I did make the cut, I'd have to figure something out. I'm pretty good at that and didn't worry about it too much. I guess I didn't figure it out.
"The fish here are so scared of the musky in the lake you can't draw them out to bite. I caught four musky today and they are supposed to be the fish of 1000 casts.
"This is a small tough lake and I'm glad we came here," he added. "We need tournaments like this to really show us all what we're made of. Not that I want every tournament to be this tough, but still, it's good.
"Ike (Iaconelli) had limits the first 2 days and that shows me this lake can be broken. This is a good tough lake and I like the dichotomy it provided this week."
Notable
> Day 3 stats – 12 anglers, no limits, 1 four, 3 threes, 3 twos, two 1s, three zeroes.
> VanDam has made every Top 12 cut in every E50 ever held (eight total).
> VanDam was impressed with the local support. "The people here have been tremendous. I was talking to (Rick) Clunn today and he told me that some people came down on the dock with a pitcher of margaritas and offered him a drink. At that time he said he didn't have any fish and was tempted to take them up on their offer. That's hospitality I tell you."
> VanDam also pointed out that this is Mercury territory. "This is the land of Mercury Motors. Fond du Lac (Wisc.) isn't very far away from here and a lot of the Mercury employees have shown up for the weigh-ins. I'd love to be able to win this tournament for them."
> Clunn pointed out that seven of the Top 12 anglers that fished today are past Classic winners. "This type of tournament really allows the cream to rise to the top."
> Clunn also praised the fans. "The fans up here have been great. They come out on their docks and cheer us on as we're fishing. These people really appreciate us being here and we are all happy to give them a good show."
> Ray Scott emceed the event today, and will also emcee tomorrow.
Weather Forecast
Here's tomorrow's forecast from the Weather Channel.
Sat., June 18 - Sunny - 81°/59°
> Wind: From the S/SE at 7 mph
Day 4 Standings
1. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, Mich. -- 4, 8-07 -- 305 -- $1,000
Day 1: 4, 9-04 -- Day 2: 0, 0-00 -- Day 3: 4, 8-07
2. Takahiro Omori -- Emory, Texas -- 3, 6-13 -- 295 -- $1,000
Day 1: 3, 5-12 -- Day 2: 4, 7-07 -- Day 3: 3, 6-13
3. Shaw E Grigsby, Jr -- Gainesville, Fla. -- 3, 5-09 -- 290 -- $1,500
Day 1: 1, 2-08 -- Day 2: 2, 5-15 -- Day 3: 3, 5-09
4. Jay Yelas -- Tyler, Texas -- 2, 5-05 -- 285
Day 1: 1, 2-11 -- Day 2: 5, 10-14 -- Day 3: 2, 5-05
5. Zell Rowland -- Montgomery, Texas -- 3, 4-10 -- 280
Day 1: 0, 0-00 -- Day 2: 4, 8-00 -- Day 3: 3, 4-10
6. Davy Hite -- Prosperity, S.C. -- 2, 3-04 -- 276
Day 1: 3, 6-11 -- Day 2: 1, 1-12 -- Day 3: 2, 3-04
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not be fishing tomorrow.
7. Mark Davis -- Mount Ida, Ark. -- 2, 2-10 -- 272 -- $7,000
Day 1: 3, 6-05 -- Day 2: 2, 2-10 -- Day 3: 2, 2-10
8. Gerald Swindle -- Hayden, Ala. -- 1, 2-06 -- 268 -- $7,800
Day 1: 1, 2-07 -- Day 2: 4, 9-15 -- Day 3: 1, 2-06
9. Michael Iaconelli -- Runnemede, N.J. -- 1, 0-04 -- 274 -- $7,600
Day 1: 5, 9-12 -- Day 2: 5, 9-03 -- Day 3: 1, 0-04
10. Rick Clunn -- Ava, Mo. -- 0, 0-00 -- 260 -- $6,200
Day 1: 3, 5-05 -- Day 2: 2, 4-00 -- Day 3: 0, 0-00
10. Randy Howell -- Springville, Ala. -- 0, 0-00 -- 260 -- $6,200
Day 1: 4, 7-04 -- Day 2: 1, 1-15 -- Day 3: 0, 0-00
10. Mike Wurm -- Hot Springs, Ark. -- 0, 0-00 -- 260 -- $8,200
Day 1: 3, 8-02 -- Day 2: 0, 0-00 -- Day 3: 0, 0-00
Big Bass
> Day 3 -- Takahiro Omori -- Emory, Texas -- 3-03 -- $1,000
> Day 2 (tie): -- Gary Klein -- Weatherford, Texas -- 3-01 -- $500
> Day 2 (tie): Shaw E Grigsby, Jr -- Gainesville, Fla. -- 3-01 -- $500
> Day 1: Mike Wurm -- Hot Springs, Ark. -- 3-10 -- $1,000
