Two guys who would've needed to combine their fish on day 1 to come up with a single decent limit took command of the FLW Tour Walmart Open at Beaver Lake in Arkansas today. One has been around this game a long time and enjoyed great success, but is still in search of his initial FLW victory. The other looks to further cement his status as the top angler on the circuit and one of the very best in the world.
Arkansan Ron Shuffield, a seven-time winner with B.A.S.S. who's fished with FLW exclusively since 2006, caught an 18-10 bag today to leap from 5th place into the lead with a 3-day total of 41-06. Just 13 ounces back is 2010 Angler of the Year (AOY) Bryan Thrift of North Carolina, whose tournament best 20-08 stringer – the biggest ever weighed in an FLW Tour event at Beaver – gave him a 40-09 aggregate.
Everyone else is now more than 5 1/2 pounds in arrears.
Missouri veteran Stacey King moved up one spot and into a tie for 3rd today with a 12-05 bag for a 35-10 total. Matt Arey, like Thrift a resident of Shelby, N.C., caught a 13-08 sack that left him deadlocked with King at 35-10.
Day-1 leader Dave Lefebre's weights continued to backslide (just 7-06 on four fish today), and he dropped to 5th with 33-12.
Here are the anglers who'll fish the final day, with red numbers in parentheses indicating their deficit margin from the leader:
1. Ron Shuffield: 41-06
2. Bryan Thrift: 40-09 (0-13)
3. Stacey King: 35-10 (5-12)
4. Matt Arey: 35-10 (5-12)
5. Dave Lefebre: 33-12 (7-10)
6. Randy Blaukat: 33-11 (7-11)
7. Justin Lucas: 33-06 (8-00)
8. Stetson Blaylock: 31-13 (9-09)
9. Wesley Strader: 31-12 (9-10)
10. David Dudley: 31-04 (10-02)
Shuffield and Thrift caught just three keepers each on day 1, but they've combined to amass nearly 67 pounds worth of Beaver bass over the past 2 days. Everyone else must now hope that the bluebird weather conditions predicted for tomorrow slow them down.
The 20 anglers who hit the water this morning were greeted by chilly conditions as a cold front moved into the Rogers, Ark. area overnight, reversing the warming trend of the past several days. Temperatures will dip in the mid-20s tonight before a high-pressure system takes over and produces partly cloudy skies with a high of 57 and relatively little wind for the tournament's final day.
Thrift, Blaylock (11-00 today) and Dudley (11-05) debuted in the Top 10 today. Moving out were day-2 leader Shad Schenck (two fish for 2-09, dropping him to an 11th-place finish), Roy Hawk (one fish, 5-13; from 3rd to 15th) and Shane Long (9-05, 10th to 14th).
The winner will be determined tomorrow by highest cumulative weight.
Shuffield Wants a Win
An FLW Tour win in his home state would have special significance for Shuffield.
"The biggest thing for me would be becoming one of the guys who've won one on both tours," he said. "There's still not a whole lot of guys who've done that. Besides that, a win is a win and they're always great.
"I'm in position and now I have to go out and close the deal. Maybe I'll be able to do that tomorrow."
He's relied on a combination of a jerkbait and a crankbait throughout the tournament. He said the fish bit the crankbait better today because of a stiff wind, and it produced three of the fish he brought to the scale.
He had four largemouths and a smallmouth, and the best among them was a 5-pounder.
"All I'm doing is changing water. I've got three or four places that I make repeat visits to, but everything else is new. I spent a good bit of the afternoon running to different places to see if I could find what I'm looking for and I found a couple more areas that have that kind of water."
He had the majority of his weight by 9:00.
"I don't know if there's another bag like that out there – I don't know if there's a 12-pound bag. But I'm optimistic because I'll have some new water with the same ingredients and I've got one area in particular where I've caught a big one and lost one.
"Whatever's going to happen, it'll probably all go down by 10:00. My day will be based on what happens early."
He said he had no crowding issues whatsoever today.
"I had everything all to myself. I saw some other contestants running around, but nobody was fishing those areas.
"I've tried to avoid the obvious areas because I knew those would get beat up."
2nd: Thrift Comes in Heavy
Thrift's record-setting bag, which topped the 19-08 stringer caught by Cliff Pirch in 2005 by a pound, consisted of five largemouths, all between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 pounds. All were enticed by a jerkbait.
Four were in the boat by 9:00 and the other one joined them right around lunchtime. Like Shuffield, he had no company.
"I'll do the same thing tomorrow – I think it's working everywhere and I can run it wherever I go," he said. "Just like today and yesterday, I'll just go fishing and when I see the right thing, I'll stop there.
Bryan Thrift continued his charge up the leaderboard after a bad decision on day 1 put him in a hole.
"If it was going to be cloudy and windy again tomorrow, I think that would be better, but I'm not sure what's going to happen with not much wind. That might affect things a lot, but I'm going to stay with (his pattern) because I think it's my only chance to win. All my quality fish have come on the jerkbait.
He said he made a major tactical error on day 1, when he left his primary stuff on the main lake and went up the White River with just three keepers in his boat. He never added to that total.
"I went to the dirty water thinking I had 6 hours to get two bites. I didn't think (the main-lake stuff) was that strong.
"Then I stayed down yesterday and caught eight or nine keepers, and that's when I knew I'd screwed up."
4th: Tons of Bites for Arey
Unlike many in the field this week, Arey has had no trouble getting bites. He's enticed as many as 50 in a day and had more than 25 today.
"I (weighed) all largemouths today, but it's a neat little area because I've also caught smallmouths, spots and meanmouths," he said. "That place is just slammed full of fish and I'm working a jerkbait real fast and triggering a lot of reaction strikes. I'm catching them in the mouth, in the eyes, on the back – all over the place.
"I'm jerking it down real hard, but every third or fourth time I'll jerk upward real quick to make it more erratic. It seems to be getting a reaction out of them."
He's had no company to speak of on any of the 3 days so far and thinks he can get his fish to bite again tomorrow, no matter the predicted change in weather.
"I found these fish in practice during post-frontal conditions, when it was probably the worst fishing day we've had conditions-wise, so I think they'll still pan out. My saving grace could be that the water has a little bit of color in it.
"If the wind doesn't blow, it might be a little tougher on those guys in the clearer water down the lake."
6th: Blaukat's Move Paid Dividends
Blaukat said some of the competitors in the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament beat him to his primary spot today, so he bailed at about 8:30 and went looking for something else. He came to a bank at about 1:00 and caught his entire bag within an hour.
Like the other leaders, he's relying on a jerkbait.
"If you're not throwing a Megabass jerkbait, you're not catching many fish," he said. "The guys who made the Top 10 have figured out the rhythm, the pace, the cadence and the color, along with the area. That's why it's worked for some and not for others."
He's had only five keeper bites each day.
"The weights you've seen the last couple of days aren't indicative of the bite. There was a pretty big shad kill here 3 or 4 weeks ago, and I think the fish stuffed themselves. They haven't burned all that off yet in the cold water and they're not biting well.
"I'll have to play it by ear in the morning. I'll probably stay close to the ramp for the first hour or so, and then run up the bank. I'm not really locked into anything."
11th: Cold Costly for Schenck
Schenck tumbled from the top slot right out of the Top 10 with today's two-fish showing. Those were the only bites he got.
"It's disappointing obviously and you always wish you'd done things differently," he said. "There wasn't a movement of fish last night because of the cold front and my brushpiles didn't replenish. That made it tough, but I decided to stick it out.
"In hindsight, I should've made a move and gone to some other fish. But I also knew I wanted to win and if I could've gotten three more bites in that area, odds are good that I'd still have a chance at that."
He threw a weighted Megabass Vision 110 and worked it slowly.
Notable
> Day 3 stats – 20 anglers, 11 limits, 3 fours, 3 twos, 3 ones.
> Keeton Blaylock, brother of Stetson, won the co-angler title with a 3-day total of 23-06. That was also his 2-day weight as he blanked today, but still prevailed by more than 5 pounds.
Weather Forecast
> Sun., March 6 - Partly Cloudy - 57°/38°
- Wind: From the SE at 7 mph
Day 3 Standings
1. Ron Shuffield -- Bismarck, Ar -- 3, 6-08 -- 5, 16-04 -- 5, 18-10 -- 13, 41-06
2. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 3, 8-11 -- 5, 11-06 -- 5, 20-08 -- 13, 40-09
3. Stacey King -- Reeds Spring, Mo -- 5, 12-04 -- 5, 11-01 -- 4, 12-05 -- 14, 35-10
4. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 5, 8-13 -- 5, 13-05 -- 5, 13-08 -- 15, 35-10
5. Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa -- 5, 16-04 -- 5, 10-02 -- 4, 7-06 -- 9, 33-12
6. Randy Blaukat -- Joplin, Mo -- 5, 9-05 -- 5, 11-13 -- 5, 12-09 -- 15, 33-11
7. Justin Lucas -- Guntersville, Al -- 5, 15-13 -- 4, 5-10 -- 5, 11-15 -- 14, 33-06
8. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, Ar -- 1, 2-13 -- 5, 18-00 -- 4, 11-00 -- 10, 31-13
9. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 5, 8-02 -- 5, 13-08 -- 5, 10-02 -- 15, 31-12
10. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 4, 10-06 -- 5, 9-09 -- 5, 11-05 -- 14, 31-04
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not be fishing on day 4.
11. Shad Schenck -- Waynetown, In -- 5, 13-09 -- 5, 14-14 -- 2, 2-09 -- 12, 31-00 -- $12,500
12. Brad Roberts -- Nancy, Ky -- 5, 8-04 -- 5, 11-08 -- 5, 10-15 -- 15, 30-11 -- $12,500
13. Nick Larson -- Ball Ground, Ga -- 2, 5-15 -- 5, 14-05 -- 5, 10-05 -- 12, 30-09 -- $12,500
14. Shane Long -- Sarcoxie, Mo -- 5, 10-14 -- 5, 10-01 -- 5, 9-05 -- 15, 30-04 -- $12,500
15. Roy Hawk -- Salt Lake City, Ut -- 5, 12-00 -- 5, 11-12 -- 1, 5-13 -- 11, 29-09 -- $12,500
16. Sean Hoernke -- The Woodlands, Tx -- 4, 6-11 -- 5, 13-07 -- 5, 8-15 -- 14, 29-01 -- $12,000
17. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 1, 2-00 -- 5, 17-14 -- 2, 6-07 -- 8, 26-05 -- $12,000
18. Bo Cross -- Knoxville, Tn -- 4, 5-09 -- 5, 14-05 -- 2, 4-14 -- 11, 24-12 -- $12,000
19. George Cochran -- Hot Springs, Ar -- 5, 11-02 -- 3, 9-06 -- 1, 2-02 -- 9, 22-10 -- $12,000
20. Mark Rose -- Marion, Ar -- 5, 9-13 -- 4, 10-05 -- 1, 2-05 -- 10, 22-07 -- $12,000
