Jason Christie's 2011 season hasn't been extremely consistent to this point. But when he's been good, he's been spectacular.
The Oklahoman weighed an 18.35-pound sack today to win the PAA All Star Series event at Lake Ray Hubbard in Texas with a 3-day total of 61.93. It was his second triumph in less than a month – he topped the Hartwell FLW Tour major in late March.
Todd Auten, the day-1 leader, caught a day-best 21.60 today to finish as the runner-up after starting the day in 5th place. His 57.95 total was just under 4 pounds shy of Christie's.
Matt Reed and Ott DeFoe each surrendered one position in the standings today and ended up 3rd and 4th, respectively. Reed boxed 16.54 for a 56.80 total and DeFoe caught 17.95 for a 56.05 aggregate.
Dave Mansue completed the Top 5 with 15.37 today for a 50.91 total.
The event, which began with 48 anglers who qualified either via the 2010 PAA Tournament Series points list or through special invitation, was the second on the PAA's four-tournament circuit. The next stop will be at Table Rock Lake in Missouri in late June.
Christie Wants More
> Day 3: 5, 18.35 (15, 61.93)
Christie has had a couple of lackluster finishes this year (127th at the Okeechobee FLW Tour Open in January, 70th at the Chickamauga Major just 2 weeks ago), but he now possesses the same number of trophies.
"Hopefully there's more still to come," he said. "Both of them are special in their own way, and this one because it had guys from both tours."
Carrying a lead of about 3 1/4 pounds into the day, he got off to a strong start by catching a 5-pounder within the first 15 minutes. Four other keepers followed shortly thereafter, but that quartet included only small fish.
Christie flipped up a 5-pounder to get his day off to a strong start.
"I was getting pretty worried, but then I caught a couple to cull up a little bit and I got another 5-pounder just before I left the area I was fishing on the (East Fork Trinity) River to run down by the dam. I culled three times down there.
"I didn't know I had it won (prior to weigh-in), but I thought I had a chance. I knew somebody was going to catch a big bag because there's so many big fish in that lake, but I ended up having more than I thought. I thought it was only 15 or 16 pounds."
He caught all of his weigh-in fish flipping a 1/2-ounce Booyah jig. Full details of his winning pattern will be published soon.
2nd: Auten's Rally Fell Short
> Day 3: 5, 21.60 (15, 57.95)
Auten made a strong comeback after a mediocre day 2, but came up one spot short of the perch he held after day 1.
"It was a little too late, I guess," he said. "I had a big deficit to try to make up and it didn't work out, but I had a lot of fun, anyway."
He caught 10 keepers for the day, including a 6 1/2-pounder. His bag also contained a 5 1/2.
"I just needed a couple more of those. I caught four fish, including two big ones, and I also lost one in the first 30 minutes. Then it was a long time before I got my fifth bite – probably about lunchtime.
"After I got that fifth one I went back to my primary area and culled up with a couple of good ones."
Todd Auten was the only angler who topped 20 pounds on the final day.
He primarily fished riprap with a 1/2-ounce Chatterbait-style lure tipped with a green-pumpkin Zoom Fluke.
"I'm not sure what stage those fish were in – they were real fat and healthy-looking and none of them had bloody tails. If they'd already spawned, it was a good while back."
3rd: No Big Ones for Reed
> Day 3: 5, 16.54 (15, 56.80)
Reed's best area was less productive today and he never connected with any serious quality.
"I caught what I had the opportunity to catch, but I just didn't ever get a big bite," he said. "But I've got no complaints – I fished a clean tournament and I never lost one that would've helped me."
He started each day in a marina that was hosting a shad spawn.
"I'd been catching three limits in an hour and I'd have about 15 pounds. Today I left there with two fish, and one of them I'd culled before. It had the mark from the ring in its mouth.
"Those strong winds had been kind of hitting the corner of the marina behind the breakwall, and the only thing I can think of that was different was it might've changed the color of the water a little bit. The shad were still spawning and everything looked right, but there just weren't any bass."
He swam a jig in the marina and sought bigger fish on riprap with an XCalibur Xcs200 crankbait.
4th: Mixed Feelings for DeFoe
> Day 3: 5, 17.95 (15, 56.05)
DeFoe didn't expect to lose a place in the standings after catching nearly 18 pounds.
Matt Reed's marina fish were far less abundant today.
"It's either surprising or disappointing – I'm not sure which," he said. "I didn't think I'd win, but I didn't think I'd drop, either.
"I'm happy with it, though, against the field of people that was here."
His bag was topped by a 5-pounder, one of 10 keepers he caught on the day. He fished up the river, primarily with a 1/2-ounce jig trailed by a Zoom Chunk (green-pumpkin). He also caught a few good ones on an old-school Rebel P70 Pop-R.
"The only thing I wish was different was for the water to have been about 2 feet lower. Then I'd have been the only one up there in an aluminum boat."
5th: Decent Finish for Mansue
> Day 3: 5, 15.37 (15, 50.91)
Like Auten, Mansue was hindered by a sluggish middle day.
"Yesterday I lost some really good fish that cost me a higher position," he said. "Overall, though, it was a great tournament and I can't complain too much. It's very heartwarming to have a finish this high against such stiff competition."
He fished a small arm off the main lake that contained several bridges.
"There was a lot of riprap in there and that's what I was targeting. The good thing about the place was it afforded some protection from the wind."
He used Lucky Craft RC 1.5 crankbaits in a couple of different colors to compile numbers and switched to an out-of-production swimjig with a football head to cull up. He caught 10 keepers today and the five he weighed in were all in the 3- to 3 1/2-pound range.
"I tried desperately for a quality bite with that swimjig bait, but I never got it."
Day 3 (Final) Standings
1. Jason Christie -- 15, 61.93
2. Todd Auten -- 15, 57.95
3. Matt Reed -- 15, 56.80
4. Ott DeFoe -- 15, 56.05
5. Dave Mansue -- 15, 50.91
6. Dave Wolak -- 15, 47.93
7. Brian Snowden -- 15, 47.48
8. Dave Lefebre -- 15, 46.22
9. Aaron Martens -- 15, 44.65
10. Woo Daves -- 15, 44.13
11. Harold Allen -- 15, 43.60
12. Stephen Johnston -- 14, 43.37
Big Fish
Day 3: Todd Auten -- 6.35
Day 2: Jason Christie -- 8.37
Day 1: Harley Brigman -- 8.34
