Hays Moves Into Lead, But It's Tight At The Top

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

The lead changed hands for the first time on day 3 at the Lake St. Clair FLW Tour, but a handful of anglers still have a shot at the victory with 1 day to go. Whoever prevails is almost certain to make history – he'll become the first Tour winner to accumulate more than 90 pounds of smallmouths.

Dylan Hays, a second-year pro from Arkansas, moved to the top of the standings sheet with a 22-06 stringer that gave him a 72-03 total. He has a 15-ounce advantage over Chad Grigsby, the leader after the first 2 days who sacked 21-03 on day 3 for a 71-04 aggregate.

There's been one 25-pound-plus stringer to come to the scale each day, and former Forrest Wood Cup champion caught it on day 3. His 25-05 haul gave him a 70-06 total that moved him up from 6th to 3rd.

St. Clair hammer Scott Dobson stayed in the 4th-place position he's occupied for the entire derby with a 22-05 bag that pushed his total to 68-10. Bryan Thrift completed the top 4 for the second straight day with 66-02 (19-14 on day 3.

Here are the totals for the 10 anglers who advanced to the final day, with their deficit margins from the leader denoted by red numbers in parentheses:

1. Dylan Hays: 72-03
2. Chad Grigsby: 71-04 (0-15)
3. Brad Knight: 70-06 (1-13)
4. Scott Dobson: 68-10 (3-09)
5. Bryan Thrift: 66-02 (6-01)
6. Todd Castledine: 65-10 (6-09)
7. Ryan Chandler: 64-00 (8-03)
8. Cody Hahner: 63-11 (8-08)
9. Joey Cifuentes: 63-07 (8-12)
10. Jeremy Lawyer: 62-15 (9-04)

Mark Rose, who finished 67th in the tournament with 18-05 and 18-00 stringers, wrapped up the Angler of the Year title as Scott Martin failed to qualify for the final day (he ended up 17th). Martin needed a top-2 finish in the event to surpass Rose on the points list; if he'd finished 3rd, it would've come down to a tie-breaker (total weight for the season).

It was the first points title for Rose, who's been a stalwart on the circuit for two decades. The title is accompanied by a $100,000 check.

"Now that all the nerves have settled, it's a great feeling," he said. "This is a tough place to try to finish out an AOY if you have a lead because you can fish real conservatively on St. Clair – there are a lot of places that have a lot of 3-pounders. I fished a little too conservatively and that strategy almost cost me. I was very blessed that I was able to maximize my area and that I was able to catch some 4-pounders in there.

"I'd been catching 20 pounds every day in practice, but it was taking a long time and those areas weren't stacked with fish. That was a more risky plan, so I stuck with the conservative strategy and that's usually not me. I'm not going to say it was the wrong strategy because I've got the trophy in the back of my truck, but it used up almost all of my cushion."

He had high praise for Martin, the 2015 AOY, and Thrift, the two-time points kingpin who won the title in 2017 and will finish 3rd this year.

"They make you perform at a top level and I didn't expect anything less. They proved once again that they're among the best."

Twelve of the 30 anglers who competed on day 3 caught at least 20 pounds and 29 weighed limits. Cody Hahner, a rookie from Wisconsin who's alternated solid finishes with triple-digit bombs throughout his maiden season, and Jeremy Lawyer were the newcomers to the top 10, climbing 10 and 16 places, respectively.

Darrel Robertson, who'd been among the top 3 after each of the first 2 days, dropped to 15th after weighing a four-fish, 13-14 stringer.

Several of the leaders will be competing for the final berth in the Forrest Wood Cup in addition to the trophy and the six-figure paycheck on day 4. With double-qualifiers factored in, it appears that the cutoff will fall at 43rd place on the points list. Grigsby is currently tied for 42nd with Andrew Upshaw, with Castledine one point behind them in 44th. Hays is another point back in 45th.

The day-4 weather forecast for the Detroit area calls for a mostly sunny sky, a high temperature of 91 degrees and a southerly wind topping out at 14 mph.

Hays Lighter, But Moves Up

> Day 3: 5, 22-06 (15,72-03)

Hays' bag was 4 pounds lighter than the one he caught the previous day, but it nonetheless took him to the top of the standings. He's sharing water with Knight – it's a large area where the fish group up in specific places, but they're not in the same precise locales each day.

He'd pulled out by 10 o'clock on each of the previous 2 days, but he spent all of day 3 there.

"It seemed to be a little bit tougher," he said. "I still got 10 to 15 quality bites, but I didn't do a great job executing today. I lost four fish and 2 days in a row I've lost my biggest bite."

His sack was topped by a 5 1/4-pounder. He revealed that he's throwing a dropshot rig, a tube and a Ned rig.

"I had two little flurries where I caught two or three in a row and they were all quality fish, but I think Brad would agree that it was a little slower today. We're rotating around a little bit, but we're not in each other's way. The fish move around, too, and if you hit them right, you have an opportunity to improve your weight really fast."

He believes he'll have to spend another full day in that locale to have a shot at closing out the win.

"It feels good to have the lead, but that doesn't matter until the last day's over. I wish it was a little bigger lead."

2nd: Grigsby Got 'Funny' Bites

> Day 3: 5, 21-03 (15, 71-04)

Grigsby said he lost about 10 bites as he settled for a weight that was 3 pounds under his lightest effort from the first 2 days.

"They just bit funny," he said. "I'd reel into a good one and it would just pull off. I botched one up myself after I caught a pike on my third cast and didn't check the line and that fish came up and broke me off two casts later.

"It was one of those deals where they were hitting it weird and I don't know why. Still, I had the bites to have another good stringer, but I missed to many of them."

A 5 1/2-pounder was the biggest of the five fish he took to the scale.

"I don't know how many fish I have left. I don't need 50 bites tomorrow, I just need five of the right ones and I need to catch them.

"The spot I'm fishing, me and my co-anglers (weighed) 97 pounds for 20 bass the first 2 days, but I think there are still some big ones there."

3rd: Good Day for Knight

> Day 3: 5, 25-05 (15, 70-06)

Knight believes that the place he and Hays are sharing will hold up for another day.

"I feel like that's where the tournament is going to be won," he said. "The winning fish are there."

He had a 6-pounder in his day-3 sack and lost one about that size. He's alternating between a dropshot rig and a tube.

"I've had a chance each day for a big stringer, but they're jumping and I'm using light line and getting them in is pretty much the whole thing. I probably left a pound and a half or maybe 2 pounds on the table today."

Another 25 pounds will be his objective for the final day.

"I'm down like 2 pounds and Dylan could have a good day and catch 23, so I'll need that. You have to have good things happen to win, but I'm definitely around the right fish."

4th: Tough Road for Dobson

> Day 3: 5, 22-05 (15, 68-10)

Dobson is just a little over 3 1/2 pounds out of the lead on his home lake, but says he'll have a tall task in front of him in trying to overtake the trio in front of him on the final day.

"Things are set up too good for them and they're going to smash them," he said. "I know what they're doing and the areas they're fishing and I'm not going to go down and move in on those guys or anything like that.

"It's not out of the question, but it'll be hard to do. Brad caught an epic bag today and Dylan had another good bag – they're on good fish. The pressure's totally off for me and I just need to go out and execute. Miracles can happen and maybe I'll land everything I hook, which hasn't been the case the last 3 days."

He's fishing near the mouth of the St. Clair River and occasionally venturing into the river itself. His day-3 bag contained a 6-pounder.

"In one of my best areas, I lost good fish on my first two casts with a swimbait. Those fish have big, hard mouths and they clamp down like nobody's business, then they run down current and open their mouth and it's 'see you later.'

"Those fish have seen a lot of baits and I don't know if they're the same fish every day, but I think they're migrating. I could get fortunate and have a bunch of dumb ones move in. I regret that I didn't get in on the deep bite, but I'll go out tomorrow and have fun and get frustrated and laugh and cry about it."

5th: Thrift Doesn't Like His Chances

> Day 3: 5, 19-14 (15, 66-02)

Thrift got smaller bites than he had on either of the first 2 days when he weighed a pair of 23-02 stringers. He'd mentioned after day 2 that he felt like his quality was waning.

"I caught a bunch of 14-inchers to 2 1/2-pounders today," he said. "Those fish had all be at least 3-pounders. I had the five I weighed by 9 o'clock and I tried to look for other stuff, but I never found anything."

He said his chances of victory are extremely slim.

"It's almost completely out of the equation. I'm 6 pounds back and that's going to be terribly hard to make up. It'd be a total shot in the dark.

"If I could catch 30 pounds, maybe I'd have a slight chance."

He's undecided as to whether he'll abandon his main area on the final day.

"I really don't know what I'm going to do – I'll just wing it. Maybe I'll just run out into the middle of the lake and start fishing."

Notable

> Day 3 stats – 30 anglers, 29 limits, 1 four.

Weather Forecast

> Sun., July 1 – Mostly Sunny - 91°/75°
- Wind: From the S at 14 mph

Day 3 Stats

1. Dylan Hays -- Sheridan, Ar -- 23-6 (5) -- 26-7 (5) -- 22-6 (5) -- 72-3 (15)

2. Chad Grigsby -- Maple Grove, Mn -- 25-13 (5) -- 24-4 (5) -- 21-3 (5) -- 71-4 (15)

3. Brad Knight -- Lancing, Tn -- 22-1 (5) -- 23-0 (5) -- 25-5 (5) -- 70-6 (15)

4. Scott Dobson -- Clarkston, Mi -- 23-7 (5) -- 22-14 (5) -- 22-5 (5) -- 68-10 (15)

5. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, NC -- 23-2 (5) -- 23-2 (5) -- 19-14 (5) -- 66-2 (15)

6. Todd Castledine -- Nacogdoches, Tx -- 20-12 (5) -- 22-13 (5) -- 22-1 (5) -- 65-10 (15)

7. Ryan Chandler -- Hebron, In -- 23-10 (5) -- 19-11 (5) -- 20-11 (5) -- 64-0 (15)

8. Cody Hahner -- Wausau, Wi -- 20-13 (5) -- 20-11 (5) -- 22-3 (5) -- 63-11 (15)

9. Joey Cifuentes -- Clinton, Ar -- 22-11 (5) -- 21-10 (5) -- 19-2 (5) -- 63-7 (15)

10. Jeremy Lawyer -- Sarcoxie, Mo -- 22-0 (5) -- 19-11 (5) -- 21-4 (5) -- 62-15 (15)

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

11. Cody Meyer -- Auburn, Ca -- 21-0 (5) -- 21-1 (5) -- 20-5 (5) -- 62-6 (15) -- $12,000

12. Wes Logan -- Springville, Al -- 17-12 (5) -- 21-13 (5) -- 22-13 (5) -- 62-6 (15) -- $12,000

13. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, Al -- 21-14 (5) -- 20-5 (5) -- 19-11 (5) -- 61-14 (15) -- $12,000

14. Chris Johnston -- Peterborough, On -- 23-1 (5) -- 18-4 (5) -- 20-8 (5) -- 61-13 (15) -- $12,000

15. David Williams -- Maiden, NC -- 20-5 (5) -- 21-3 (5) -- 20-2 (5) -- 61-10 (15) -- $12,000

16. Darrel Robertson -- Jay, Ok -- 24-0 (5) -- 22-9 (5) -- 13-14 (4) -- 60-7 (14) -- $12,000

17. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, Fl -- 21-8 (5) -- 20-12 (5) -- 17-10 (5) -- 59-14 (15) -- $12,000

18. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 20-1 (5) -- 21-1 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 59-13 (15) -- $12,000

19. Shane Lehew -- Catawba, NC -- 19-13 (5) -- 21-8 (5) -- 18-5 (5) -- 59-10 (15) -- $12,000

20. Carl Jocumsen -- Frisco, Tx -- 21-7 (5) -- 20-6 (5) -- 17-7 (5) -- 59-4 (15) -- $12,000

21. Justin Atkins -- Florence, Al -- 22-6 (5) -- 19-5 (5) -- 17-5 (5) -- 59-0 (15) -- $10,000

22. Craig Rozema -- Simpsonville, SC -- 15-8 (5) -- 23-13 (5) -- 19-3 (5) -- 58-8 (15) -- $10,000

23. Miles Howe -- San Juan Capistrano, Ca -- 16-3 (5) -- 23-1 (5) -- 19-3 (5) -- 58-7 (15) -- $10,000

24. Clark Reehm -- Elm Grove, La -- 21-3 (5) -- 17-15 (5) -- 18-15 (5) -- 58-1 (15) -- $10,000

25. Zack Birge -- Blanchard, Ok -- 15-7 (5) -- 25-6 (5) -- 17-0 (5) -- 57-13 (15) -- $10,000

26. Matt Becker -- Finleyville, Pa -- 20-8 (5) -- 19-11 (5) -- 16-10 (5) -- 56-13 (15) -- $10,000

27. JT Kenney -- Palm Bay, Fl -- 21-12 (5) -- 18-5 (5) -- 16-8 (5) -- 56-9 (15) -- $10,000

28. Ramie Colson Jr -- Cadiz, Ky -- 21-1 (5) -- 21-6 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 56-6 (15) -- $10,000

29. Clent Davis -- Montevallo, Al -- 21-6 (5) -- 18-7 (5) -- 14-10 (5) -- 54-7 (15) -- $10,000

30. Jeff Dobson -- Bartlesville, Ok -- 19-13 (5) -- 20-7 (5) -- 13-14 (5) -- 54-2 (15) -- $10,000