First it was Terry Baksay, then Glenn Browne, and now Michael Bennett. If your last name doesn't begin with a B, you apparently can't be a daily leader at the Lewis Smith FLW Tour in Jasper, Ala.
Bennett, the 23-year-old Californian who's already notched three Top 10s on the Tour, caught a 14-09 sack today and will take a 2-02 lead into day 4 in search of his first pro-level victory. That might not seem like much of an advantage, but it's a lot bigger at Smith than at most venues.
Rookie Scott Canterbury from nearby Odenville, Ala. sacked 12-07 today and looms as the leader's biggest threat. Florida veteran Koby Kreiger is 3rd with 11-07.
Washington's Luke Clausen, the last angler into the cut, caught 10-12 today and sits in 4th. Oklahoma stalwart Darrel Robertson came in an ounce shy of 10 pounds, but that was good enough for 5th today.
Here's a look at the field with one day to go (red numbers in parentheses indicate deficit margin from leader):
1. Michael Bennett: 14-09
2. Scott Canterbury: 12-07 (2-02)
3. Koby Kreiger: 11-01 (3-08)
4. Luke Clausen: 10-12 (3-15)
5. Darrel Robertson: 9-15 (4-10)
6. Greg Pugh: 9-11 (4-14)
7. Jason Christie: 7-11 (7-11)
8. Danny Pierce: 7-10 (6-15)
9. Glenn Browne: 4-05 (10-04)
10. Brandon Coulter: 3-15 (10-10)
Today was the second straight with no sun, and the sight-fishing conditions were again less than ideal. The water was dingier, too, following the hard rains of yesterday and last night.
It was the first day that Bennett didn't pull any of his weigh-in fish off beds, but he ended up with his best sack so far and just the fifth of the tournament that topped 14 pounds. Some of the other leaders had some success with the spotters, which are reportedly fairly easy to catch once they're located.
Scott Canterbury has had no trouble catching the bed-fish he's found.
Tomorrow's forecast calls for sunny skies, which should help the sight-bite. Temperatures are on the way back up, too, so more fish might migrate toward the bank prior to quitting time.
The winner will be determined by highest combined weight over the final 2 days.
Bennett Came Up Big
Bennett has no good explanation for it, but just about every bite he got today was a better-than-average fish – by this event's standards, anyway.
"I got eight bites and landed five of them, and they were all pretty big," he said. "I think they'll replenish in my main area, and if they do, I don't think it'll be too much of an issue to catch five nice ones tomorrow."
He caught a limit of sight-fish on day 1 and jerked three off of beds on day 2, but didn't look at anything today. Four of his weigh-in fish came from the same bank.
"I fished it once and caught three big ones, and then I came back in the afternoon and caught a couple more. The smallest fish I caught was a little under 2 1/2 pounds, but the others were all 3 or a little better and the three I lost were all over 3.
"We'll have different weather tomorrow and the fish will reposition, and I'll have to go find them again. They move every day and today I was pretty fortunate – I hit it right on the nose where I thought they should have gone."
He said he isn't nervous and won't put any additional pressure on himself tomorrow.
"I'm pretty calm. I'm not going to look at it like I have a lead, but like I'm just going fishing.
"I just want to go out and have some fun and get some bites – and hopefully land them."
2nd: Canterbury Capitalized
Canterbury got five keeper bites today and landed each of them.
"It went well," he said. "Even though I've struggled every day, I'm right where I want to be.
"I'm so excited – I'm on a cloud right now. I've been blessed this week to get the right bites, and I definitely could win it."
He caught three of his weigh-in fish off of beds and the other two on a buzzbait.
"I'm not seeing many (spawners), but if I can find a couple each day, I'm happy. I haven't fished for one yet that I didn't catch.
"I definitely think 15 pounds tomorrow is reasonable. I have a chance to catch 17 or 19 if I get three or four of the right bites."
Koby Kreiger didn't catch a keeper until 10:30 today.
3rd: Kreiger Keeps Rolling 11s
Kreiger has caught between 11 and 12 pounds every day. He'll likely need more tomorrow to have a shot at victory.
"I saw some bigger ones swimming around today, but that doesn't mean I'm going to catch them," he said. "You'd think, though, that sooner or later I have to catch a big one.
"The first goal, though, is to catch five."
That's exactly how many he caught today. He pulled four off of beds and enticed the other with a Bomber Long A.
"It was the worst day I've had. I think I caught my first keeper at 10:30 or 10:45, and then I had a limit at about 1:00
"That left me about an hour and 15 minutes before I had to go in, but I didn't do anything dramatic."
He hopes a couple of those bigger ones he saw today will find their way into his livewell tomorrow.
"I'll go check those pockets and if they don't pan out, I'll just start over again and see what happens."
4th: Clausen Burned Through Worms
Clausen caught seven keepers today, but those were just a fraction of his total bites.
"I caught a lot more shorts than I have been – probably about 24," he said. "I know I went through 40 worms."
He wasn't entirely pleased with his time management – he spent 3 unproductive hours plying the live-release area.
"I made some mistakes. Then I ended up catching my limit in about an hour, and I culled once after that."
He'll stick with his shakey-head pattern tomorrow.
"I'll have seven rods rigged up with them, and that's all I'll throw. Catching 13 or 14 pounds is a possibility if I can get some decent bites.
"I'll run some new water. I've still got places left that I haven't been to, and I won't be able to fish them all in one day."
5th: Lots of Shorts for Robertson
Robertson has been averaging only two or three short fish (under the 15-inch minimum) per day. He caught a bunch of dinks today, though.
"By the time I had two keepers, I'll bet I'd caught 14 fish," he said. "I probably caught 15 that were over 14 1/2 (inches), but wouldn't quite measure."
Luke Clausen's shakey-head pattern keeps producing double-digit bags, but he has some ground to make up tomorrow.
He continued to throw the new Berkley Powerbait Heavy Weight Sinkworm around rocks and buckbrush. His bag contained one 3-pound spot and four 15-inchers, and all of his weigh-in fish came from the same area.
"I'll start out tomorrow in that same place. If I can get a limit, then I'll go try or some bigger bites.
"These fish really like that worm. I didn't have anything at all going in practice, and throwing it has brought me this far."
9th: Browne's Fish Played Hookey
The schooling fish that carried Florida's Browne to the lead on day 2 never showed themselves today. He weighed only two fish, and those were the only keeper bites he had.
"My area is up in a creek and the rain raised up the water and dirtied it, and I'm guessing that was the biggest factor," he said. "I only got one bite in there, and I'd been getting a number of them every day.
"There's a bunch of trees at the mouth of the creek, and yesterday everything was right. The wind pushed the baitfish right up next to the trees."
He'll try it again tomorrow and hope that the more stable weather helps things return to normal.
"I'll have to try it for a little while, anyhow. That's the one place where I think I can catch enough quality to make up some ground.
"I could fish the area just fine today, but they just wouldn't bite."
Notable
> Day 3 stats – 10 anglers, 6 limits, 1 four, 1 three, 2 twos.
> Canterbury has made 11 Top 10s in BFLs, but this is his first at a higher level.
> Jasper resident Lynn Oswalt won the co-angler competition today with a two-fish, 3-05 bag. Two other competitors caught one fish each and the remaining seven zeroed.
Weather Forecast
Here's the weather forecast for the final tournament day. For more weather information, including satellite and radar imagery, visit OutdoorsFanWeather.com.
> Sun., April 6 - Sunny - 78°/50°
- Wind: From the SE at 6 mph
Day 3 Standings
1. Michael Bennett -- Roseville, CA -- 5, 14-09
2. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, AL -- 5, 12-07
3. Koby Kreiger -- Okeechobee, FL -- 5, 11-01
4. Luke Clausen -- Spokane, WA -- 5, 10-12
5. Darrel Robertson -- Jay, OK -- 5, 9-15
6. Greg Pugh -- Cullman, AL -- 5, 9-11
7. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 3, 7-11
8. Danny Pierce -- Greenbrier, AR -- 4, 7-10
9. Glenn Browne -- Ocala, FL -- 2, 4-05
10. Brandon Coulter -- Knoxville, TN -- 2, 3-15
