Topwater's a great way to catch a big bag at Arkansas' Lake Ouachita right now. It's also a great way to bust with a two- or three-fish bag. That's just how unpredictable it can be. Lost fish. Fish that miss the bait. Fish that won't bite after a storm. Fish that spook within 100 feet of the boat.
Every angler who's tossed topwater has spun tales of woe and glory, and now only a few remain to make a final run at the Forrest Wood Cup tomorrow.
Against them stand anglers on different bites – suspended fish and deep-brushpile fish.
Which pattern will ultimately win? Tomorrow, the final day of competition, will deliver the answer. For now, here's a rundown of today's action within the Top 5.
Here's a look at the Top 10 who made the final cut. Total weight is followed by distance from leader in red.
1. Scott Martin -- 15, 46-12
2. Luke Clausen -- 15, 41-14 (4-14)
3. Randall Tharp -- 15, 41-06 (5-06)
4. Mark Rose -- 15, 41-05 (5-07)
5. Jason Christie -- 14, 40-12 (6-00)
6. Todd Auten -- 15, 38-09 (8-04)
7. Cody Meyer -- 15, 37-13 (8-15)
8. David Dudley -- 15, 37-13 (8-15)
9. Andy Montgomery -- 14, 37-12 (9-00)
10. Andy Morgan -- 12, 37-03 (9-09)
Luke Clausen changed gears today and it didn't work, so he went back to topwater and caught a limit in 45 minutes.
Today was largely overcast with some rain and moderate winds. Tomorrow's forecast calls for bright sun and light winds. But thus far, specific weather hasn't created a proven advantage for anyone.
Martin obviously enjoys a tremendous advantage, but he could be caught. His critical weight tomorrow is about 14 pounds. If he catches that, Clausen, Tharp or Rose would need to produce 19 pounds, and only three 19-pound bags have been caught thus far. Martin could do it with less, but 14 would likely seal it.
Then again, if Martin catches 11 1/2 pounds, like he did yesterday, Clausen, Tharp or Rose could upset him with 16 to 17 pounds – a weight both anglers produced once. Of course, the task is that much more difficult for Rose and Tharp, because they have more warm bodies to move past on the leaderboard.
For everyone but Martin, 20 pounds is the goal tomorrow.
Martin Rides Deep Bite Again
> Day 3: 5 16-01 (15, 46-12)
Martin went back to the swimbait today and his deep suspended fish ate it. He didn't camp in the area that's produced nearly all his weight so far (as well as 18 pounds for his co-angler yesterday). He stops there in the morning, then returns periodically after giving it time to rest.
And although the bite was tougher, it's obvious some quality still swims there. However, Martin did add a 5-pounder from a spot he hadn't fished yet. After that, he "milled around or moved around" on some stuff he'd been saving and caught a few more.
"I feel very blessed and very fortunate to have what I have," he told BassFan. "In these multi-day events, it seems to get tougher and tougher every day. This was day 3. I just needed to make the cut. It's just a maintain day.
"The quality's been great all week," he added. "It was good through practice and again through the tournament. I'm just very dialed in. I'm very focused on what I found and I feel good about it. I really do. I just have to get out there and fish hard tomorrow."
He doesn't plan to camp in that one spot tomorrow, he said. He'll continue to move around and revisit it.
He possesses one of the FLW crown jewels – the 1999 Angler of the Year title – but has only truly threatened for the Cup once, when he finished 2nd in 2004. When asked if he understands the opportunity at hand, he said yes.
"I do realize the opportunity that's here. And it's kind of neat for me because there's a lot of other reasons I want to win this tournament, more so than money and the trophy. My mom has a lot of history on this lake – she actually used to guide here when she was 20 years old. My grandfather fished here a lot. My grandmother Mary was baptized in the Ouachita river. I spent some summers here as a kid growing up, waterskiing and fishing for bluegill.
"So I want to win this for my mom, and my grandma who passed away a few years ago around the Champlain (Tour event). And we lost my father-in-law Harold White about a month ago on July 4. He was always a big supporter of me and I want to win it for him as well. I have a lot of family and friends who've passed on to Heaven, and I want to win this for them."
2nd: Clausen Connected on Top
> Day 3: 5, 16-03 (15, 41-14)
Clausen can't quite figure out a strategy. The first 2 days he went until late morning without a fish. Today, he reversed course and tried for a limit first in the grass. He struck out on that, went to his big-fish topwater pattern and had a limit in 45 minutes.
He sits 5 pounds in back of Martin and if he connects with all the fish he's seeing up shallow, he could weigh a 20-pound bag.
"There's one part of the lake where you get more bites, but I think I weighed only half my fish from up there," he said. "I saw Montgomery and Christie up there today again, and they failed to catch a limit there. I think I'll probably spend a lot more time down the lake tomorrow. If I catch five down there I could have a really big bag."
Interesting is Clausen's perspective. He accomplished a lot in a hurry when he was quite young. He wasn't sure then what it all meant, but as his career wore on he understood, and tried too hard to replicate that success. He thinks that intensity hurt him and now he takes a more relaxed attitude – almost like he did when he was younger, he said.
"I was never really nervous then, and I'm not now," he added. "I'll just go out tomorrow and look around for 8 hours. Hopefully I can catch 25 pounds and take some $600,000 and a big trophy."
3rd: Tharp Went 6 For 7
> Day 3: 5, 12-05 (15, 41-06)
It was cloudier today, so Tharp couldn't see many fish up shallow, but he's convinced the big ones are still hunting around the bream.
"This is still anybody's game," he said. "I've been around this game a lot and anybody in the Top 10 can win. Anything can happen tomorrow.
"To win, I'd have to catch 19 to 20 pounds. That's possible. They're swimming around and I've been looking at them every day. It would have to be a magic day to catch that kind of weight here, but it can be done."
Mark Rose keeps plugging along on his brush bite and trails Martin by 5 1/2 pounds.
He lost a ton of fish the first day, did better yesterday and converted on six of his seven bites today. But he's getting few and fewer bites.
"It definitely seems to be getting tougher," he noted. "If you look at today's weights, they're lower overall than they have been, except for a couple of guys. Tomorrow could be the total opposite. We might smoke 'em all day long tomorrow."
4th: No Big Changes for Rose
> Day 2: 5, 14-04 (15, 41-05)
Rose continues to plug away on his brushpiles and although he hasn't passed the 15-pound mark, his consistency delivered a final-day appearance.
"Two 3-pounders were my best fish today," he said. "I did the same thing I'd been doing, but I did go shallow and catch a decent fish on topwater. I'm not saving anything. I saved one little spot for today, to try to assure I'd make the cut, so now I've hit everything.
"I've kind of milked it for all it's worth. I just hope there's enough left to get me a decent limit. You never know what can happen. But I know the man that made all these fish, so anything's possible."
5th: Christie Tumbled
> Day 2: 4, 9-05 (14, 40-12)
A light four-fish bag today may have crushed Christie's chances.
"I ran the same pattern and had a chance for about 17 pounds, but my first two bites this morning were a 4- and a 5-pounder," he said. "I didn't get them in the boat. You boat those fish, mentally, you take off running. You don't boat those fish, mentally, it kills you.
"After those two, I got one hung on a stump and it broke the line. I didn't even have a fish until 11:00. It was one of those days."
Jason Christie lost two mules this morning and nothing went right after that.
Today was also a sort of flashback, at least for Christie followers. At last year's Lanier Cup, he lost a 5-pounder in the last half-hour of day 3, weighed four fish and missed the cut by a single spot.
6th: Auten Stayed Shallow
> 5, 14-05 (15, 38-09)
Auten's made a career out of fishing shallow, and that's what he's doing this week. It's his belief that some fish live shallow year-round no matter what, but during the deep summer, oxygen depletion and bait scarcity force extra fish shallow. He feels that's what's happening at Ouachita and there are far more shallow fish than many anticipated.
"This lake has a thermocline at about 24 feet," Auten said. "I tried all the deep stuff and couldn't catch anything but little spots. I just abandoned that and went with my strengths and fished shallow.
"The only way I could win is if Scott stumbles. There's an 18- to 20-pound bag out there, but you have to get all the right bites and everything has to go your way. Yesterday I lost five fish in a row before I caught my first one. Today I didn't lose any. So that's the difference in having a good day and a bad day."
9th: Montgomery Still Shallow
> Day 3: 4, 10-15 (14, 37-12)
Montgomery got the bites today to have a good bag, but couldn't execute on every one. He brought in four fish, one of which was a 5-pounder, but he lost a 5-pounder that would have gone a long way.
"I'm running new water and had more bites today than any other day, so it's just frustrating," he said. "It was just one of those days. I caught a 5-pounder and my four weighed 10 or 11. I'm pretty confident I had 20 pounds bite me today."
The only difference in conditions, he said, was that boat traffic muddied his banks some.
10th: Morgan Went Dead
> Day 3: 3, 8-08 (13, 37-03)
The storm that blew through last night had at least one consequence: It knocked out the power at Morgan's house and his batteries only got half a charge. He fished his regular water this morning, but when he went to fish new water at 1:00, his batteries were dead.
He came in with just three topwater fish.
He said he feels like Junior Samples of Hee Haw: If it wasn't for bad luck, he'd have no luck at all.
"I could still get them going a little bit, but I couldn't cover any ground," he said. "So I couldn't fish new water, and there I be with three. I had five good bites and lost one that was in the 4-pound range. I had another knock it out of the water, but it never ate again – it was too close to the boat.
"Yeah I'm disappointed," he added. "If you go out there trying to win a championship and don't catch five every day, it's just lackluster. But what do you do? I ran new water practically every day. I think it was just bad luck running into those thunderstorms."
Notable
> Day 2 stats – 20 pros, 8 limits, 7 fours, 4 threes, 1 two.
> The winner tomorrow receives $500,000 plus a $100,000 bonus if Ranger Cup qualified. The only pro in the Top 10 not Ranger Cup qualified is Morgan, who runs a Bass Cat.
> Two of the Top 10 have a chance to become the first in the sport to win the Forrest Wood Cup (FLW Tour Championship) twice – Clausen and David Dudley.
> Jay Yelas brought three fish to the scales, but they weighed an impressive 11 pounds. For his day-3 report, click here to go On Tour With the BassFan Big Sticks.
Weather Forecast
> Sun., Aug. 14 - Sunny - 95°/69°
- Wind: From the N/NE at 8 mph
Day 3 Standings
1. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 5, 19-02 -- 5, 11-09 -- 5, 16-01 -- 15, 46-12
2. Luke Clausen -- Spokane, Wa -- 5, 13-15 -- 5, 11-12 -- 5, 16-03 -- 15, 41-14
3. Randall Tharp -- Gardendale, Al -- 5, 16-00 -- 5, 13-01 -- 5, 12-05 -- 15, 41-06
4. Mark Rose -- Marion, Ar -- 5, 14-09 -- 5, 12-08 -- 5, 14-04 -- 15, 41-05
5. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, Ok -- 5, 18-01 -- 5, 13-06 -- 4, 9-05 -- 14, 40-12
6. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, Sc -- 5, 13-09 -- 5, 10-11 -- 5, 14-05 -- 15, 38-09
7. Cody Meyer -- Grass Valley, Ca -- 5, 14-02 -- 5, 13-01 -- 5, 10-10 -- 15, 37-13
8. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 5, 11-00 -- 5, 13-02 -- 5, 13-11 -- 15, 37-13
9. Andy Montgomery -- Grover, Nc -- 5, 12-05 -- 5, 14-08 -- 4, 10-15 -- 14, 37-12
10. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 4, 9-12 -- 5, 18-15 -- 3, 8-08 -- 12, 37-03
The following anglers didn't make the cut and won't be fishing tomorrow:
11. Jay Yelas -- Corvallis, Or -- 5, 17-05 -- 2, 7-01 -- 3, 10-14 -- 10, 35-04 -- $20,000
12. Jacob Wheeler -- Indianapolis, In -- 5, 14-10 -- 5, 12-02 -- 4, 8-02 -- 14, 34-14 -- $20,000
13. Justin Lucas -- Guntersville, Al -- 5, 14-14 -- 5, 8-12 -- 5, 11-00 -- 15, 34-10 -- $20,000
14. Robbie Dodson -- Harrison, Ar -- 3, 7-11 -- 5, 15-14 -- 4, 10-10 -- 12, 34-03 -- $20,000
15. Brandon Coulter -- Knoxville, Tn -- 5, 18-00 -- 5, 8-00 -- 4, 7-11 -- 14, 33-11 -- $20,000
16. Jon Strelic -- El Cajon, Ca -- 5, 14-12 -- 5, 9-07 -- 4, 8-09 -- 14, 32-12 -- $15,000
17. Jacob Powroznik -- Prince George, Va -- 5, 13-06 -- 5, 11-00 -- 4, 7-08 -- 14, 31-14 -- $15,000
18. Brent Ehrler -- Redlands, Ca -- 5, 11-11 -- 5, 15-04 -- 2, 4-02 -- 12, 31-01 -- $15,000
19. Ron Shuffield -- Bismarck, Ar -- 5, 11-01 -- 5, 13-07 -- 3, 5-06 -- 13, 29-14 -- $15,000
20. Shane Long -- Sarcoxie, Mo -- 5, 12-08 -- 5, 10-11 -- 3, 4-15 -- 13, 28-02 -- $15,000
