By BassFan Staff
Scott Martin didn't think that a 15-pound bag, such as the ones he caught on days 2 and 3, would be enough for him to close out a wire-to-wire win on day 4 at the Potomac River FLW Tour Major. It turned out that a pound and a half less than that would've been sufficient as his two closest pursuers faltered and Justin Lucas' furious 3-day charge from the bottom half of the standings came up just short.
Martin, the reigning Forrest Wood Cup champion, secured his fifth career tour-level triumph as his 13-07 stringer gave him a 4-day total of 66-06. He edged out Lucas, his National Guard teammate who weighed a day-best 16-09, by 3 ounces.
David Dudley, the 2011 Angler of the Year (AOY), took over the lead in this year's race with his 3rd-place finish. He sacked 15-10 today for a 65-07 total.
Jim Moynagh finished 4th with 64-07 after weighing 15-14 today. Rookie Colby Schrumpf completed the Top 5 with a 14-09 bag that gave him a 63-12 total.
Here are the final weights for the 10 anglers who competed today:
1. Scott Martin: 66-06
2. Justin Lucas: 66-03
3. David Dudley: 65-07
4. Jim Moynagh: 64-07
5. Colby Schrumpf: 63-12
6. Bryan Thrift: 62-08
7. Clark Wendlandt: 61-11
8. Dave Lefebre: 61-10
9. Clifford Pirch: 61-10
10. Ron Shuffield: 61-04
Dudley's bid for ground-breaking back-to-back Tour wins was thwarted, but his quest for consecutive AOY titles – another unprecedented feat on the circuit – is alive and well. He holds a 4-point lead over Martin with two-thirds of the season in the books (to see the updated standings, click here).
Lefebre and Pirch were 2nd and 3rd, respectively on the tournament leaderboard coming into today, but both brought in 11-pound stringers to make Martin's chore a bite easier. Dudley's bag, although solid, was a pound shy of what he needed and Lucas' downfall was day 1, when a 12 1/2-pound sack left him in 90th place.
Justin Lucas' rally came up just 3 ounces short and he had to settle for a runner-up finish.
The Tour will take the next 2 weeks off before resuming at Kentucky Lake June 7-10. The season's final Major will be contested June 28-July 1 at Lake Champlain.
Martin Relieved
> Day 4: 5, 13-07 (20, 66-06)
When he was on his way back to the launch today, Martin was convinced that he didn't have enough weight in his livewell to win.
"I figured it would be close and I'd kind of conceded the idea that I was going to get beat," he said. "I thought somebody would have 18 pounds or more on the final day fishing by themselves (with no co-anglers). I also lost a couple of really good bites that would've helped me a bunch, and I thought that was going to haunt me big-time.
"I said early on in the week that I wanted to win this one for my wife. I put a lot of pressure on myself to fulfill that and I'm so glad I did it."
He caught four fish this morning at the spot where he started each day – two solid ones and a couple of 2-pounders that he knew he'd need to replace. Then he ran to the south end of the river and fished his way back toward the ramp.
"I'd get bit about every 20 minutes and I was culling up 3 or 4 ounces at a time. I kept thinking that if I could get a 4 1/2- or 5-pounder, that would give me what I need.
"I made it back a little earlier than I'd planned to and I had 45 minutes to fish around the ramp, and I didn't catch anything. I thought I was done. What a blessing to pull it off."
He did most of his damage throwing a Z-Man ChatterBait trailed by a Bruiser Crazy Craw or flipping a Bruiser Paddle Tail. Details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published soon.
2nd: No Regrets for Lucas
> Day 4: 5, 16-09 (20, 66-03)
Lucas' finish was easily his best in 3 seasons on the circuit and gave him a much-needed boost after lackluster outings at Beaver (110th) and Table Rock (88th). Counting the Guntersville Southeastern EverStart earlier this month, it was his second straight runner-up showing.
David Dudley's 3rd-place finish put him atop the Angler of the Year Standings.
"I lost by 3 pounds at Guntersville after those two bad tournaments, so that one felt pretty good," he said. "This one hurts a lot more, but I can't be ashamed or regret anything about it. I was 10 pounds behind after day 1, and that's a lot at a place like this."
He had almost all of his weight by 11:00 today after not having a single keeper when that hour arrived on any of the first 3 days. He boated about 35 keepers and his best fish was a 4 1/2-pounder.
"I lost one on a swimjig that was as big as the biggest one I caught – out of 50 fish I caught today (including about 15 shorts), it was the only one I hooked and lost."
3rd: Dudley Disappointed
> Day 4: 5, 15-10 (20, 65-07)
Dudley put himself in a position to win going into the weekend, and the fact that he didn't pull it off left a somewhat bitter taste in his mouth.
"It was a good finish," he said. "But am I happy? No. I'm not happy unless I win.
"If I'm going to lose, I'd rather lose by way more than a pound. Losing by less than a pound eats at my craw."
He caught an early limit off woody cover today and ended up culling all of those fish in favor of ones he pulled from a grassbed. The biggest fish in his bag weighed about 3 1/2 pounds.
He's looking forward to the challenge of trying to claim a third career AOY, which would tie him with Wendlandt for the most in Tour history.
"I've learned a lot about deep-water fishing (which will be required at Kentucky Lake), and I've had some Top 10s at Champlain in that same time period."
4th: Moynagh Needed Heavier Gear
> Day 4: 5, 15-14 (20, 64-07)
It was an up-and-down tournament for Moynagh, who had to throw back some quality fish at mid-day on Saturday and undergo a restart because his co-angler had mistakenly placed a fish on his side of the livewell. On the positive side, he notched his highest finish since 2009 and moved up from 12th to 3rd in the AOY race.
Jim Moynagh felt like he was on the fish to win, but wishes he'd used some heavier tackle.
"The incident with the mix-up in the livewell, I should've totally overcome that," he said. "I'm not using that as an excuse. I believe I had the fish located to win and I believe I had the timing of the tides right, but I believe my tackle set-up was wrong.
"I think I needed to be beefed up a little more in gear – using a heavier rod and heavier line might have made a difference. My tackle was fine for 2 12-pounders, but above that it wasn't fine."
He spent the final day in two areas where he knew he'd get few bites, but felt he had a chance for some big fish. He caught eight keepers, including a 4-pounder, but also lost one about that size.
"I had that one right at the net. With a (co-angler) in the boat, that one goes into the livewell 95 times out of a hundred, but that's fishing."
5th: Schrumpf Satisfied
> Day 4: 5, 14-09 (20, 63-12)
Schrumpf, who'd finished no higher than 92nd in any of his first three pro events, was thrilled to end up in the Top 5.
"I'm real happy and satisfied with the way everything turned out," he said. "My main goal at first was to get a check, then after the tournament started I wanted to keep catching at least 15 pounds a day and keep moving up the board."
He went through about 25 keepers today and the five he weighed in were nearly identical – all just under 3 pounds apiece.
"We had a little cloud cover and I think that scattered my fish – the afternoon bite wasn't as good as it had been. This morning I lost one that was probably 3 1/2 and that was before I had any good ones in the livewell, so that was disappointing. The way the standings ended up, though, it wouldn't have made any difference."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 10 limits.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 22-10 (5) -- 15-01 (5) -- 37-11 (10) -- 15-04 (5) -- 13-07 (5) -- 66-06 (20) -- $125,000
2. Justin Lucas -- Guntersville, Al -- 12-09 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 31-04 (10) -- 18-06 (5) -- 16-09 (5) -- 66-03 (20) -- $33,776
3. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 16-11 (5) -- 18-07 (5) -- 35-02 (10) -- 14-11 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 65-07 (20) -- $28,943
4. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 17-07 (5) -- 16-10 (5) -- 34-01 (10) -- 14-08 (5) -- 15-14 (5) -- 64-07 (20) -- $24,110
5. Colby Schrumpf -- Highland, Il -- 17-13 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 34-08 (10) -- 14-11 (5) -- 14-09 (5) -- 63-12 (20) -- $19,276
6. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 15-07 (5) -- 17-03 (5) -- 32-10 (10) -- 15-02 (5) -- 14-12 (5) -- 62-08 (20) -- $16,376
7. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, Tx -- 16-11 (5) -- 17-08 (5) -- 34-03 (10) -- 13-08 (5) -- 14-00 (5) -- 61-11 (20) -- $15,410
8. Dave Lefebre -- Erie, Pa -- 17-11 (5) -- 16-00 (5) -- 33-11 (10) -- 16-15 (5) -- 11-00 (5) -- 61-10 (20) -- $14,443
9. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, Az -- 14-11 (5) -- 18-05 (5) -- 33-00 (10) -- 17-04 (5) -- 11-06 (5) -- 61-10 (20) -- $13,476
10. Ron Shuffield -- Bismarck, Ar -- 16-06 (5) -- 17-15 (5) -- 34-05 (10) -- 12-14 (5) -- 14-01 (5) -- 61-04 (20) -- $12,510
