Twelve anglers lost their bracket battles yesterday and failed to advance for the final day of the FLW Tour Championship (FLWTC) at Lake Logan Martin near Birmingham, Ala.
Here's what they had to say about day 3.
Kilby Caught Others
> Day 3: 5, 6-12
> Lost to George Cochran by 2-13
Rob Kilby had a good practice and felt he'd get the better bites. They never really materialized.
"If this was an all-species tournament, I'd have run away with it," he said. "I caught about 40 pounds of others (on day 3). I caught a catfish that was about 25 pounds."
"My co-angler won, so I was on them pretty good," he added. "I just didn't get the right bites. He caught them behind me, so I had the opportunities."
Rojas All Small
> Day 3: 5, 4-14
> Lost to Steve Kennedy by 3-11
"My day was terrible," Rojas said. "I could not get a big bite. Everything was small.
"I threw the frog some but they wouldn't bite it. So I flipped around on all the good stuff I had. All I could catch was little fish."
His co-angler caught a lot of fish behind him, and Rojas noted: "Either you get the bear or bear gets you. It got me today."
He has no regrets about the way he fished on day 3. "I went for it. I don't think I could have done anything more than I did. I just didn't get the key bites I needed.
"My congratulations go out to Steve for moving into the final round."
Clausen Kind of Devastated
> Day 3: 5, 12-12
> Lost to Shinichi Fukae by 2 ounces
Luke Clausen of course won the FLWTC here in 2004. The brackets were kind to him then. This year, they were not. He caught the fourth-best weight on day 3 but failed to advance.
"It's kind of devastating," he said. "I'm happy with how I caught them – I had to figure out something different each day. And I'm happy with how well I did. I was just faced with some tough brackets."
About his day 3, he said: "I had a great day (on day 2),catching a lot of 2 1/2- to 2 3/4-pound fish, then a big one now and then. (On day 3) I struggled to catch 2-pounders.
"I couldn't get any big bites. Everywhere I pulled in, I'd catch a 12- or 13-incher. I was beside myself at the end of the day."
He did regret one thing about his fishing yesterday – that he panicked. "In the morning I went to my good area where I'd caught one big one each morning. Shinichi was already there. That kind of got me scared and I ran around. I feel I should have stayed there and prefished a little in the same area."
Namiki and the Banana
> Day 3: 5, 4-06
> Lost to Clark Wendlandt by 5-15
Toshinari Namiki's limit weighed less than 5 pounds, and he knows the reason. He forgot to eat his banana before launch.
Bananas are well-known for bringing bad luck to ships and boats.
"I missed a big fish, and my (co-angler) caught three good keepers," he said. "I know the reason. I forgot to eat my banana and I kept it on the boat all day long."
Yamamoto Weighed Four
> Day 3: 4, 10-02
> Lost to Andy Morgan by 1-13
Gary Yamamoto's day started right when he whacked a 4-pounder. But it died about 3 hours later, and he went nearly all day without another keeper. He caught three "squeakers" toward the end, but never caught a limit.
He was assessed his fourth dead-fish penalty of the tournament.
"Today it was an accident," he said. "I didn't hit the switch on the livewell. When you're not fishing in your own boat, those things happen.
"It just didn't pan out."
Hibdon Tapped Out
> Day 3: 5, 8-15
> Lost to Brennan Bosley by 1 pound
Dion Hibdon ended the regular season with a hard-fought 3rd-place finish at Lake Champlain. He noted there wasn't much gas left in his tank after that.
"I think I was kind of tapped out after Champlain," he said. "I haven't caught enough here this week to stink a skillet. I got beat by the better man, that's for sure."
He did improve on day 3 in terms of the bites he got, but he broke off about 7 pounds.
"So many of these guys are catching them under boat docks, and that's what I've been fishing all week. I felt I had to stay with it.
Ramie Colson Jr. would rather lose by pounds than ounces.
"I just alternated through different baits and stuff, and I think maybe they were just throwing a different cricket than I was. I changed a lot of baits today and tried to make something happen."
Martin Lacked Morning
> Day 3: 5, 10-00
> Lost to David Dudley by 14 ounces
Scott Martin finished 2nd at the 2004 FLWTC on Logan Martin. He said his problem then was a lack of morning bite. The same hole in his pattern stung him again this time. He also noted he fished too fast.
"I really thought I'd catch 12 pounds every day, with the opportunity to catch 15," he said. "(On day 3) I only had one real good bite.
"Looking back, I think what got me (yesterday) was I fished a little too fast. I missed a lot of fish. They weren't hitting it on the fall, but after you worked the bait a little bit.
"I was working it fast and it was hard to detect strikes. They'd just sneak up and grab hold of the bait."
He saved one special place for the afternoon and lost a 3-pounder there. Then lost another at the boat with 2 minutes to go.
"I had some unfortunate things happen, but I think it boils down to fishing too fast. That, and I was never really able to establish an early bite. Guys were catching one solid fish in the morning, but I was never able to get that going.
"In 2004 the morning bite really stumped me too. Maybe next time I'll figure it out."
Couch Wants To Forget
> Day 3: 5, 6-07
> Lost to Kim Stricker by 10 ounces
Tony Couch was another who mustered just a small limit on day 3. He had the opportunities for a better bag, but the day was an overall disaster.
"I just didn't put them in the boat," he said. "I had my chances and didn't execute.
"It was a hard day – one you try to forget, but you can't. It keeps playing in your mind. There was lost fish, and I lost a rod and reel – when I went to pick one up, the other went over the side into the lake. Two guys were live-bait fishing on my best spot this morning.
"It was one of those days. Murphy ruled."
Correia Fished Like He Wanted
> Day 3: 5, 6-02
> Lost to Anthony Gagliardi by 2-06
Put Danny Correia in the small-limit crowd too.
"I was fishing against a guy who's probably the hottest guy on the trail right now," he said. "The first day I had 11 pounds, then 7 pounds. (Gagliardi's) been weighing more than that every day.
"Unfortunately, I made the wrong decisions. But you can't Monday-morning quarterback it.
"I fished the way I wanted to," he added. "Even though I could have gone out and caught 7 or 8 pounds, I knew I would have needed more to proceed on. So I went and caught a limit, then went and practiced the rest of the day."
He has no regrets. "I feel pretty good about the tournament. Everything I caught was something I found myself, so that made me feel good. In my mind, I know I can still find them."
Notable
> Thanh Le caught 11-01 but lost to Jay Yelas by 3-02. "It's been fun," Le said. "I had a great time here. I'm happy with my year.
> Ramie Colson Jr. caught 7-10 and lost to Brent Ehrler by 5-10. "If a person's going to get beat, you'd rather have it be by several pounds than a few ounces," Colson said.
> Chip Harrison caught 9-08 and lost to Ray Scheide by 1-07. "I can't complain," Harrison said. "I found a little shallow deal (on day 2) and stayed with it for a few hours (on day 3). I caught two good ones doing ait. It almost worked."
