By BassFan Staff

Bryan Schmitt has caught the heaviest bag of the day on each of the last two days at the Mississippi River FLW Tour. If he can turn that trick for a third consecutive day, he'll be a tour-level champion for the first time.

Schmitt, a five-time winner at FLW's triple-A level, boxed 15-12 on a chilly, wet day 3 to switch places on the leaderboard with Andy Morgan. Schmitt's 46-12 total gave him a 12-ounce edge over the three-time Angler of the Year (AOY).

Morgan weighed a 14-12 sack for a 46-00 aggregate. Austin Felix was 3rd with 44-03 in the wake of a 13-15 stringer.

Joshua Weaver and day-1 leader Matt Stefan were tied for 4th with 44-03 – Weaver caught 14-03 on day 3 and Stefan scaled 13-05.

1. Bryan Schmitt: 46-12
2. Andy Morgan: 46-00 (0-12)
3. Austin Felix: 44-10 (2-02)
4. (tie) Joshua Weaver: 44-03 (2-09)
4. (tie) Matt Stefan: 44-03 (2-09)
6. Todd Auten: 43-14 (2-14)
7. Wesley Strader: 43-03 (3-09)
8. Larry Nixon: 42-12 (4-00)
9. David Dudley: 41-12 (5-00)
10. Justin Atkins: 41-10 (5-02)

Weather conditions were miserable – the air temperature in the La Crosse, Wis. area remained in the 40s for most of the day and the rain fell constantly. The heavy precipitation ensured that the water level will continue to rise through the tournament's final day and more areas will likely become inundated with mud.

Nonetheless, the bite was still fairly strong as 19 of the 20 competitors weighed limits. Weights among the top 10 aren't quite as tight as they were after day 2, but they're still separated by just a little over 5 pounds.

Grizzled veteran Larry Nixon and first-year pro Justin Atkins were the only anglers who moved into the top 10 on day 3. Nixon sacked 14-00 to improved by six places and Atkins was up seven slots with a 13-11 haul.



FLW
Photo: FLW

Schmitt was able to expand a bit on his primary area and he hopes that'll pay off on day 4.

Moving out were Jeff Sprague (tied for 4th to 15th with a 9-07 bag) and Matt Arey (9th to 11th, 11-12).

The remaining competitors should be able to stay dry on the final day, but it won't warm up much. The WeatherChannel.com forecast calls for cloudy skies, a high temperature of 53 degrees and a west/southwest wind that'll top out at 14 mph.

Schmitt Staying Put

> Day 3: 5, 15-12 (15, 46-12)

Schmitt continued to exploit the same area in Pool 8 (the launch pool) that's produced for him throughout the derby.

"I made one little move at the end of the day and caught my second-biggest fish, but it was only that one bite," he said. "Tomorrow I'll try to expand on that a little more – I'll hit my main stuff first and then hit that deal.

"The water was up a ton in the pool I'm in. It's changing by the minute."

He boated 15 keepers and his sack was topped by a pair of 3 1/2-pounders (he's yet to catch a 4-pounder in the tournament). He didn't lose anything that would've aided his cause.

FLW
Photo: FLW

Andy Morgan fell out of the lead on day 3, but he'll start the final day with a deficit of less than a pound.

He's fishing "standard moving baits" and has no company whatsoever. He said the ever-changing conditions have him a bit nervous about the final day.

"If everything was stable and we didn't have the rising water and all these other variables, I'd feel really good. If you gave me 15 pounds tomorrow, I'd take that right now."

2nd: Morgan Scored in Pool 9

> Day 3: 5, 14-12 (15, 46-00)

Morgan again spent time downstream in Pool 9 as well as the launch pool.

"I caught most of them on 9 today and if I'm going to have a shot to win I'm going to have to catch them on 9 again tomorrow," he said. "I gave myself 2 hours to fish on 8 at the end of the day and I never got anything going that was all that good.

"We about got locked out today, too. Everybody made it back (to check-in) by the skin of their teeth."

He weighed three largemouths and two smallmouths for the third straight day. All of them went about 2 3/4 pounds.

"I caught most of them flipping the (Zoom) Z-Craw today. had a limit by 9:03 and I improved it just a little bit – I think I culled one time for half a pound.

"The guy who wins will probably a bag in the high 14s to 16 pounds. The thing I'm fighting is my best water is getting dirty; I've only got one little corner that's stayed clear."

3rd: Felix Running Low

> Day 3: 5, 13-15 (15, 44-10)

The spawning bank that's been so good to Felix has given him about everything it can, so he'll have to adopt a new strategy for day 4 that involves some risk.

"I'm just running out of fish," he said. "I'd saved some stuff, but there was a club tournament today and some of those people were on it.

"I've got a crazy idea that I'm going to put into action. I've got a little backwater area that nobody's been able to get into for the last four days, but now that the water's come up I should be able to make it in there. I could blank, but I know in practice there was a 13- to 14-pound bag of largemouths in there.

"I'll have to push over a sandbar and get through a stump field and I'll have to use my trolling motor for a lot of it. I might get stuck."

FLW
Photo: FLW

Austin Felix had another good day, but fears he's running out of fish.

He caught about a dozen keepers on day 3 and had a smallmouth and a largemouth that both weighed about three pounds. He caught the largemouth at the end of the day.

"It was a solid day, but it was definitely tougher than the previous ones."

4th: Weaver Loaded Up Quickly

> Day 3: 5, 14-03 (15, 44-03)

Weaver had all of his weight by 8 o'clock, fishing the same rock jetty that's surrendered everything he's taken to the scale.

"I couldn't cull for the rest of the day, and yesterday I only had one fish at 2 o'clock," he said. "That kind of confuses me as to what these fish are thinking. They do seem to be replenishing, though."

He's throwing a Zoom Z-Craw on a Biffle HardHead swinging jighead. His stringer contained three largemouths and two smallmouths.

"I caught 12 keepers, which was the most of any day – the first day I had five and yesterday I caught seven. I lost one that might've culled, but not by much.

"I'll try for another 14 pounds tomorrow and pray for 16. I think I'll need 16 to have a shot at winning."

4th: Stefan Did Some Looking

> Day 3: 5, 13-05 (15, 44-03)

Stefan, the day-1 leader, spent the early part of the day catching small bedding fish that he'd marked in Pool 9 before making some significant upgrades in the afternoon.

"I culled up three times in the last hour with some better-quality fish, and that might've told me a little something," he said. "It was a brand new area and I think I'll need to run all new water tomorrow and see if I can make something happen."

He handled 10 keepers, the best of which was a 3-pounder. His bag consisted of four smallmouths and a largemouth.

"There's one area that I'd seen through practice and the tournament that kind of fits what I'm doing. I went in there yesterday, 10 minutes before I had to lock, and my co-angler caught a 4-pound smallie, so I decided to leave and not beat it up. Today I swung in there for 20 minutes and caught a 2 1/2 and a 2 3/4.

"There's still a lot more water and I really wasn't fishing it thoroughly. I'll start in there tomorrow and see what happens."

His primary tactic has been throwing a Pop-R and following it up with a Senko for fish that show themselves but don't commit.

"The water was dirtier today and the topwater wasn't as good, and I ended up catching everything on the Senko. I've tied on a couple of small jigs for tomorrow and I think I'll fish a little slower."

Notable

> Day 3 stats – 20 anglers, 19 limits, 1 two.

Weather Forecast

> Sun., May 21 – Cloudy – 53°/46°
- Wind: From the WSW at 14 mph

Day 3 Standings

1. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, Md -- 14-12 (5) -- 16-4 (5) -- 15-12 (5) -- 46-12 (15)

2. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 16-11 (5) -- 14-9 (5) -- 14-12 (5) -- 46-0 (15)

3. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, Mn -- 15-1 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 44-10 (15)

4. Joshua Weaver -- Macon, Ga -- 15-9 (5) -- 14-7 (5) -- 14-3 (5) -- 44-3 (15)

5. Matthew Stefan -- Junction City, Wi -- 18-0 (5) -- 12-14 (5) -- 13-5 (5) -- 44-3 (15)

6. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 16-11 (5) -- 13-1 (5) -- 14-2 (5) -- 43-14 (15)

7. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, Tn -- 13-15 (5) -- 15-12 (5) -- 13-8 (5) -- 43-3 (15)

8. Larry Nixon -- Bee Branch, Ar -- 14-11 (5) -- 14-1 (5) -- 14-0 (5) -- 42-12 (15)

9. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 15-13 (5) -- 13-8 (5) -- 12-7 (5) -- 41-12 (15)

10. Justin Atkins -- Florence, Al -- 14-5 (5) -- 13-10 (5) -- 13-11 (5) -- 41-10 (15)

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 4.

11. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 17-14 (5) -- 11-9 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 41-3 (15) -- $12,000

12. Alex Davis -- Albertville, Al -- 15-6 (5) -- 13-6 (5) -- 12-2 (5) -- 40-14 (15) -- $12,000

13. Jim Moulton -- Merced, Ca -- 14-8 (5) -- 13-8 (5) -- 12-5 (5) -- 40-5 (15) -- $12,000

14. Jeff Sprague -- Point, Tx -- 15-13 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 9-7 (5) -- 40-2 (15) -- $12,000

15. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 15-14 (5) -- 12-15 (5) -- 11-5 (5) -- 40-2 (15) -- $12,000

16. Clark Reehm -- Huntington, Tx -- 14-11 (5) -- 13-3 (5) -- 12-4 (5) -- 40-2 (15) -- $12,000

17. Joey Cifuentes -- Clinton, Ar -- 13-14 (5) -- 14-8 (5) -- 10-8 (5) -- 38-14 (15) -- $12,000

18. Jimmy Houston -- Cookson, Ok -- 12-15 (5) -- 16-2 (5) -- 8-9 (5) -- 37-10 (15) -- $12,000

19. Cody Meyer -- Auburn, Ca -- 15-9 (5) -- 12-3 (5) -- 9-8 (5) -- 37-4 (15) -- $12,000

20. Michael Wooley -- Collierville, Tn -- 12-4 (5) -- 15-7 (5) -- 4-1 (2) -- 31-12 (12) -- $12,000