Even though there's a 25-pound sack swimming around in Lake Champlain, today's competition at the Champlain FLW Tour Open pretty much dwindled the race to three pros.
Dave Wolak walloped 19-13 and moved into sole possession of the lead.
The pro who shared the lead with Wolak yesterday,
Gary Yamamoto, sacked a modest 17-05 and now trails Wolak by 2 1/2 pounds.
Daryl Biron, who began and ended the day in 3rd, moved 6 ounces closer to the lead pace after a 20-03 catch – the day's best. He's now tied with Yamamoto in weight, although Yamamoto claims the first tiebreaker (heaviest 1-day catch).
Then there's Glenn Browne, who weighed 19-02 today and climbed two spots to 4th. Browne trails Wolak by 5-05. That's not a huge gap on other lakes, but at Champlain, where Wolak could probably catch 16 pounds on a Barbie rod and his eyes closed, it's a massive gap.
If Wolak boxes 16 tomorrow, Browne would need almost 22 pounds – and only two bags have eclipsed that mark over the 3 days. And those were caught on day 1, after the fishery had a day to rest. The Top 10 pros are already talking about fishing new water tomorrow, so clearly, areas are wearing down.
And even if Browne can outfish Wolak tomorrow, he still has to contend with Yamamoto – a wily veteran – and Biron, who's an old hand in these parts.
So like it or not, the event is most likely a three-horse race between Wolak, Yamamoto and Biron.
Here's a look at the Top 10 who made the cut and will fish tomorrow. Total weight is followed by distance from leader in red.
1. Dave Wolak: 61-09
2. Gary Yamamoto: 59-01 (2-08)
2. Daryl Biron: 59-01 (2-08)
4. Glenn Browne: 56-04 (5-05)
5. Scott Canterbury: 55-08 (6-01)
6. J Todd Tucker: 52-11 (8-14)
6. Kyle Mabrey: 52-11 (8-14)
8. Wesley Strader: 52-06 (9-03)
9. Brian Bylotas: 52-05 (9-04)
10. Bryan Schmitt: 52-02 (9-07)
Only one pro came in with less than 10 pounds today – Steve Kennedy. He weighed 7-13, fell eight spots to finish 20th, and noted that he was running past Ticonderoga each day. Kennedy theorized that the drop in water temperature there killed the bite.
In terms of patterns, both Wolak and Biron are bouncing between separate deals for separate species. Each has a smallmouth pattern working and each has a largemouth pattern working.
Yamamoto seems to be exclusively targeting largemouths, as does Browne, who loves to fish grass.
Wolak Calm, Collected
> Day 3: 5, 19-13 (15, 61-09)
Wolak's had his Champlain triumphs, including a win last year at a Bassmaster Northern Open, as well as his Champlain heartaches, like when he lost to Guido Hibdon at the 2007 FLW Series, when Hibdon caught a miraculous, last-minute, final-day 6-pounder under a dock.
With all that behind him, Wolak tonight said all is well mentally.
"I'm pretty calm and collected. Champlain's about going out and doing a lot of work. What it comes down to is weeding through numbers, fishing productive areas and the outcome is the outcome. You have to capitalize on key bites and I did that today. I had one I could have lost, but I got her in. She was close to 5 pounds and I actually unhooked her underwater – the line was wrapped around wood.
"So tomorrow's about just going out there and working as hard as I possibly can and doing whatever is the right thing to do at any given time. Maybe I'll even run new water. I think I need 18 to 20 pounds to stay in it. I know the other guys will probably be running a lot of new water and just kind of swinging, and I'll do the same."
He started on smallmouths and was able to jump-start his day with a solid brown limit. Then he went largemouth fishing and culled all but two of those smallmouths. And he equated his underwater unhook to Hibdon's last-minute grace.
About what a win tomorrow would mean to him, Wolak said: "It would definitely be career-affirming. I haven't won an FLW event. I fished the whole tour in 2006 and I enjoy fishing over here. A lot of the guys in the hunt in the Top 10 are a lot of big names in the sport and in the Northeast and I'm accustomed to fishing against them. I'm just really excited about it."
4th: Browne Realistic
> Day 3: 5, 19-02 (15, 56-04)
Faced with a 5 1/2-pound deficit and two other pros between him and Wolak, Browne minced no words in describing his plight.
"I'd need 25 pounds to have a shot and I think that's dreaming," he said. "If I can move up a spot or two, great, but I'm probably fishing to at least hold my own. I'm around the right stuff. If I could have executed better on a couple other bites, I probably could have weighed 21 or 22 today, but I lost two good ones."
He noted he's fishing largemouths in the north end and has seen quite a bit of Yamamoto, 5th-place Scott Canterbury and 8th-palce Wesley Strader. Which means the area as a whole has seen pressure, not to mention the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation divisional that was held here earlier in the week.
The best news for Browne, perhaps, is that he'll emerge from the event as the leader in the Tour Open points, and the Top 5 in the points after the Guntersville finale lock up a berth in the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup.
Additional Notes
2nd: Gary Yamamoto
"It was a good day. I've had a wonderful time here and Dave is just a little bit tougher than I am I guess. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I need to break the record again and get 25 pounds or something to beat Dave."
3rd: Daryl Biron
"I'm thinking tomorrow I can go out and catch them, (but) I don't know if I should go for green fish, brown fish or a combination of both. Today I went for largemouths first thing, got a good kicker, then stuck with smallmouths the rest of the day."
5th: Scott Canterbury
"This lake is just phenomenal. My fingers are chopped up and bleeding every day. It's getting tougher on me – I didn't get many bites today. But this is the only place in the country you can go and have a mixed bag every day. It's just been a blast. Tomorrow's I'll run all new water. I'm on a pattern and I'll just go fishing."
10th: Bryan Schmitt
"I may run some new water. I blew my powerhead yesterday and had to get my buddy to tow my boat back to the ramp. I got to the service trailer at 7:30 last night and got the new powerhead on. I got the boat back at about 10:30 last night, thanks to Mercury. I'm just thankful to be fishing today."
Notable
> Day 3 stats – 20 pros, 20 limits.
> J Todd Tucker, who made the cut in 6th, is fishing an interesting pattern. He said he's catching his smallmouths in the current, but the key is it's the muddiest water in the lake.
> Mabrey, who rocked 18-03 today, made the run to Ti again. He made the cut in 7th. "I'm like 1,300 miles from home. I've driven so many miles on this lake – I spent more time driving than fishing. I've been to Ticonderoga every day, so that's 12 days, 1,800 miles in a bass boat. Just insane."
> Mike Iaconelli finished 13th: "I've fished all over the country, and whenever somebody asks me what's my favorite lake, I always say it's Champlain."
> Greg Hackney (18th) noted he fished his Hack Attack jig all week and threw "at anything that looked good."
> Dave Lefebre, who finished 19th, tipped his hat to the stout field. "This is probably one of the most stacked fields I've ever fished against, so it's an honor just to make the Top 20."
> Kennedy again made the run to Ti and beyond – almost to South Bay – but got burned. He scrambled in the final 2 hours to scrape together 7 pounds and finished 20th. He noted how much the water temps there had dropped.
Weather Forecast
> Sun., Sept 18 - Sunny - 68°/45°
- Wind: From the E at 5 mph
Day 3 Standings
1. David Wolak -- Wake Forest, Nc -- 5, 22-08 -- 5, 19-04 -- 10, 41-12 -- 5, 19-13 -- 15, 61-09
2. Gary Yamamoto -- Palestine, Tx -- 5, 24-04 -- 5, 17-08 -- 10, 41-12 -- 5, 17-05 -- 15, 59-01
3. Daryl Biron -- South Windsor, Ct -- 5, 21-04 -- 5, 17-10 -- 10, 38-14 -- 5, 20-03 -- 15, 59-01
4. Glenn Browne -- Ocala, Fl -- 5, 17-02 -- 5, 20-00 -- 10, 37-02 -- 5, 19-02 -- 15, 56-04
5. Scott Canterbury -- Springville, Al -- 5, 19-03 -- 5, 18-03 -- 10, 37-06 -- 5, 18-02 -- 15, 55-08
6. J Todd Tucker -- Moultrie, Ga -- 5, 18-12 -- 5, 17-07 -- 10, 36-03 -- 5, 16-08 -- 15, 52-11
7. Kyle Mabrey -- Mccalla, Al -- 5, 18-13 -- 5, 15-11 -- 10, 34-08 -- 5, 18-03 -- 15, 52-11
8. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 5, 16-11 -- 5, 17-03 -- 10, 33-14 -- 5, 18-08 -- 15, 52-06
9. Brian Bylotas -- Olyphant, Pa -- 5, 18-04 -- 5, 18-02 -- 10, 36-06 -- 5, 15-15 -- 15, 52-05
10. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, Md -- 5, 20-11 -- 5, 17-08 -- 10, 38-03 -- 5, 13-15 -- 15, 52-05
The following anglers didn't make the cut and won't be fishing tomorrow:
11. Joe Lucarelli -- Center Harbor, Nh -- 5, 18-14 -- 5, 16-13 -- 10, 35-11 -- 5, 14-13 -- 15, 50-08 -- $11,079
12. Thanh Le -- Lake Havasu City, Az -- 5, 15-08 -- 5, 17-05 -- 10, 32-13 -- 5, 17-01 -- 15, 49-14 -- $11,079
13. Michael Iaconelli -- Pittsgrove, Nj -- 5, 18-08 -- 5, 16-01 -- 10, 34-09 -- 5, 15-04 -- 15, 49-13 -- $11,079
14. Dion Hibdon -- Sunrise Beach, Mo -- 5, 17-10 -- 5, 15-06 -- 10, 33-00 -- 5, 16-09 -- 15, 49-09 -- $11,079
15. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 5, 18-04 -- 5, 17-03 -- 10, 35-07 -- 5, 13-07 -- 15, 48-14 -- $11,079
16. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 5, 18-00 -- 5, 17-06 -- 10, 35-06 -- 5, 13-03 -- 15, 48-09 -- $10,629
17. Jason Cordiale -- Orinda, Ca -- 5, 16-08 -- 5, 17-00 -- 10, 33-08 -- 5, 14-14 -- 15, 48-06 -- $10,629
18. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, La -- 5, 15-06 -- 5, 17-12 -- 10, 33-02 -- 5, 13-10 -- 15, 46-12 -- $10,629
19. Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa -- 5, 18-01 -- 5, 14-13 -- 10, 32-14 -- 5, 13-06 -- 15, 46-04 -- $10,629
20. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, Al -- 5, 19-13 -- 5, 14-13 -- 10, 34-10 -- 5, 7-13 -- 15, 42-07 -- $10,629
