Alton Jones could only laugh in amazement at Larry Nixon's day. What else can you do when one of the legends of the sport "just goes fishing" and nearly doubles the weight of his closest competitor?

Today in the final round of the Lake Wheeler FLW, that's what Nixon did. "I just went fishing," he said. "When you know you're done and won't win where you've been fishing, you know what to do. I just went fishing and stayed with it, and the good Lord blessed me with that big ol' sack."

He sure did. Nixon caught 16-09, which absolutely crushed the rest of the field. Aaron Martens, in 2nd, had 8-15 (4 bass). And Alton Jones, who led days 1-3, finished 3rd with 8-09 (3 bass). Roland Martin's son, Scott Martin, had an 8-08 limit for 4th, and 5th-place Keith Williams of Conway, Ark. had a limit weighing 7-10.

Fishing With a Plan

Today Nixon abandoned the strategy that got him to the final round, but it wasn't like he just went fishing without a plan.

"I told my wife last night that I couldn't win the tournament where I was fishing," he said. "Me and Mark Rose (who finished 6th with 7-09) were fishing the same 300-yard ditch, and neither one of us could win if both of us were there. If I went up there I could catch 8-9 pounds at most, and might win -- but probably not.

"So I decided to stay by the dam, fish deeper and slower, and try to win the tournament. I know how to catch bass in deeper water. That's my favorite technique, and a jig and plastic worm is my favorite bait." (Nixon mastered deep-jigging as a guide on Toledo Bend, before he turned pro.)

Even though he knew he was going to change tactics, he ran part of the way up to his cranking spot before throwing in the towel. He stopped the boat, thought about it a minute and then headed back down the lake.

Still, he threw his Strike King Diamond Shad for 20 minutes this morning. "Then I thought I'll either win it with a jig or catch no fish. A jig's just that kind of bait," Nixon added. "You fish it all day and hope to get 5 or 6 bites."

The winning patterns of Nixon and the other Top 5 anglers will be up on BassFan.com this week.

Feels Good, Likes Wheeler

"I feel awesome," Nixon said. "When you get older, these wins are sweeter. These young guys have longer careers ahead of them."

He noted that "Wheeler has come back so strong that you can't believe how many fish are in it right now. We just hit it in bad weather and bad conditions. But plenty of fish are here.

"It's probably one of the best lakes in the country right now. We had guys catching fish from 2 feet to 40 feet. What does that tell you."

Jones Stuck With It

Today Jones fished the jig pattern that had caught him nearly 50 pounds of bass over the first three days. But this time he had only three bites for 8-09. It was his worst day of the week, but he had no complaints.

With today's cold front blowing through, "the conditions weren't good for my area, but I knew the bites I'd get would be quality bites," he said. "If I had two bites, that could be 10 pounds. And with 10 pounds I had a chance to win the tournament.

"Plus I'd been catching them so strong, I couldn't second-guess my fish. Larry had the luxury of (completely changing his pattern) because his fish died on him yesterday.

"I have absolutely no regrets," Jones said. He noted that he caught every bass that he hooked this week, and said: "I'll take 3rd place every time.

"It was a great week. It was fun, I got a lot of press by leading all three days and that was good for my sponsors. I'm just thrilled. (His finish) also should boost my ranking on BassFan.com," he noted.

No Current for Wendlandt

Today was "pretty tough," said Clark Wendlandt. Second yesterday with a limit of bass weighing 12-07, today he managed just three bass for 4-05 and finished in 7th. He said he thought his pattern suffered from TVA not pulling as much water today.

"I called the (TVA) number this morning and found out they would only pull water a couple of hours in the morning," Wendlandt said. The result: "My fish didn't bite. They were all on the main river and they related to the current. They feed when there's current, and when you don't have any they just don't feed."

He said that today's higher winds, which affected Jones and other competitors, had no bearing on his pattern. "It didn't seem to matter. I liked it to be a little windy."

Notable

> Species-wise Nixon wasn't taking any chances. His limit consisted of two largemouths, two smallmouths and a spotted bass.

> Nixon has commented in the past that he gets particularly excited when fishing for smallmouths these days, and that fishing the same old lakes for largemouths can sometimes seem like a drag. Asked about this time in light of that, he said: "I just want to set the record straight. My second fish today was a 3-06 smallmouth, so I got fired up!"

> Martens and Jones were the only two Top 5 anglers not to weigh-in a limit. None of the anglers who finished 6-10 weighed in more than three bass today.

Final Standings

1) Larry Nixon -- Bee Branch, AR -- 5, 16-09 -- $110,000

2) Aaron Martens -- Castaic, CA -- 4, 8-15 -- $40,000

3) Alton Jones, Waco, TX -- 3, 8-09 -- $24,500

4) Scott Martin -- Clewiston, FL -- 5, 8-08 -- $20,000

5) Keith Williams -- Conway, AR -- 5, 7-10 -- $17,500

6) Mark Rose -- Marion, AR -- 3, 7-09 -- $15,000

7) Clark Wendlandt -- Cedar Park, TX -- 3, 4-05 -- $12,500

8) Eric Holt -- Galena, MO -- 3, 3-12 -- $11,000

9) Wesley Strader -- Spring City, TN -- 1, 1-09 -- $9,500

10) Basil Bacon -- Springfield, MO -- 1, 1-00 -- $8,000