Today the weather stayed constant during the final, 10-man round of the FLW Tour event at Lake Okeechobee. The day-to-day weather changes that compelled the bass and the fishermen to change over the prior three days were not a factor, and as a result the field barely changed either.

Yesterday's leader and FLW rookie, J.T. Kenney of Frostburg, Md., took it home with a limit that weighed 21-13, 3 ounces better than he caught on day 3. Fellow FLW rookie "Spinnin' Jimmy" Leuthner climbed a spot to 2nd.

Jay Yelas and Gary Klein were 3rd and 4th, and 21-year-old Joe Don Setina ended up in 5th and that much closer to his dream of being a full-time pro.

Following are the tournament's final standings.

1) J.T. Kenney -- Frostburg, MD -- 21-13 -- $110,000
> 21-10 and 1st yesterday

2) Jimmi Leuthner -- Vernon, VT -- 20-04 -- $40,000
> 15-05 and 3rd yesterday

3) Jay Yelas -- Tyler, TX -- 13-11 -- $24,500
> 13-00 and 5th yesterday

4) Gary Klein -- Weatherford, TX -- 12-02 -- $20,000
> 13-03 and 4th yesterday

5) Joe Don Setina -- Pittsburg, TX -- 9-00 -- $17,500
> 19-14 and 2nd yesterday

6) Keith Green -- Arkadelphia, AR -- 8-04 -- $15,000
>11-12 and 7th yesterday

7) David Dudley -- Manteo, NC -- 10-03 -- $12,500
> 10-03 and 10th yesterday

8) Jim Tutt -- Longview, TX -- 7-14 -- $11,000
> 12-00 and 6th yesterday

9) Sam Newby -- Pocola, OK -- 6-13 (4 bass) -- $9,500
> 11-11 and 8th yesterday

10) Anthony Gagliardi -- Prosperity, SC -- 6-11 (4 bass) -- $8,000
> 11-07 and 9th yesterday

Kenney Flips To Victory

Most competitors tried flipping or pitching but gave it up in favor of longer casts. That was not true of J.T. Kenney, who found cover conducive to flipping and pitching.

The cover he fished was scattered bullrushes and arrowhead plants within a big hydrilla bed. He pitched at the small clumps and flipped the big ones.

He fished the same pattern: a black/blue Gambler crawdad with a 5/16-ounce Gambler screw-in weight, and a no-name soft jerkbait so the bass had "something different to look at." He flipped and pitched both baits, so the no-clouds, no-wind, high-sun day helped his pattern. "It really helped position the bass" tighter to cover, he said.

Kenney said the only difference between yesterday and today was that today he had "a lot more" spectator boats on him. Not only that, by the afternoon, apparently the spectators couldn't stand it anymore and started to fish in his areas.

(Editor's note: Not only is fishing around competitors discourteous, spectator boats were bad on this lake because competitors were often deep in flooded vegetation. So getting close enough to see meant disrupting the area, which is why a few photographers chose not to go out on today's final round.)

On the weigh-in stand, he said, "I never knew I had the tournament won. I always thought that if I was catching fish that day, everyone else was too." He lost a big bass early today, and it haunted him. "I kept thinking, 'I'm just going to lose it by a little bit. A little bit.'"

He said he's going to use his winnings to enter more tournaments.

Other Comments

> Jimmi Leuthner -- "It was the best day of my life," he said, "the most fun I ever had. I caught 30 fish today, all quality fish, all day long." On why he uses a spinning gear: "Because it's more accurate. I can put my cast within 6 inches of where I want it to be. It's also faster -- I can cover more water with it."

> Jay Yelas -- "I had a little better day today," Yelas said. "I only caught five all day, but I've been catching only 5-6 every day." Yelas fished the same pattern as he'd been fishing (the full patterns of places 1-5 will be posted soon).

> Gary Klein -- Klein said his day was "about the same as yesterday. I wasn't pleasantly surprised today." Yesterday he said that he would have to fish a new area to win, but today he started in the same area to first catch a limit. That done, he "expanded" his productive area, but managed to cull only two bass. He didn't move far because at some point today he realized that "you never know how these things turn out."

> Keith Green -- Green had a tough tournament, especially because his mother is fighting cancer and he could not be with her. He's also battling a chronic lack of sleep caused by newborn twins. Naturally, at today's weigh-in he was fried. Green characterized his day as "terrible." Fishing a Rat-L-Trap across his staging area flat produced only one 12-inch bass in 2 hours, which jumped off. He figured it was because the wind wasn't blowing, but it also could have been the non-competitors fishing on the flat yesterday. He moved shallow, caught one on a soft jerkbait and then ran 35 miles from the north side to the south side of the lake. He caught 10 small keepers in an hour (same soft jerkbait pattern), then had to leave to check in.

> Joe Don Setina -- Setina fell the most places today vs. yesterday (2nd to 5th) of any other angler, apparently because he used up his spot. "I fished the exact same place every day, but didn't catch near as many fish today," he said. "The first day wasn't really good, but on days 2 and 3 I probably caught 100 fish out of there. I had to go through that many to get to the big ones." Though his spot appeared to have run out, he said, "I had to stick with what got me here." Also hurting him today were spectator boats who moved into his area and started fishing.

> David Dudley -- Dudley also said he had a "bad day. I had a good day of fishing, I fished well, but I didn't catch any big ones. I saw a bunch of pairs on beds, but only the bucks would bite, not the females. They hadn't dropped their eggs yet." When asked what he was using, he said, "I threw some Zoom worms."

> Sam Newby -- Newby flipped a Rite Bite tube (smoke/red flake) at bass he couldn't see. Some of the fish were spawning, and some were post-spawn, he said. The calm conditions today were "worse" for him. "I needed a little wind to make my fish bite."