By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
Bobby Lane said today outranked any other Major League Fishing competition day he’s experienced in terms of pressure.
Dustin Connell, a newcomer to the every-fish-counts format, wishes he had another day to recover from the stress. “I’m so dadgum tired right now,” he said. “I fished my rear off today.”
Gerald Swindle called it the most stressful non-fish catching day he’s ever had shortly after reeling his bait in for the final time.
Welcome to life around the top-20 cutline on the MLF Bass Pro Tour.
While there was little to no drama or movement among the Group B leaders during today’s Elimination Round – day-1 leader Marty Robinson could’ve stayed on the bank today and still finished 4th – all eyes fixated on those around the bubble as the third period played out. Much like Thursday, when Jordan Lee carded a 2 3/4-pounder in the final 5 minutes to nab the last Group A berth in the Knockout Round, there were a couple last-minute catches that swung the outcome in Group B.
Most notably, the 1-14 that Lane hauled in with 4 minutes to go in the day. It moved him ahead of Todd Faircloth into the 20th position and earned him another day of fishing on his home waters.
“Without that fish I don’t get in,” Lane said. “I lost a 3 1/2 five minutes before that and I went from being a crushed pro fisherman and having the shakes to needing to get back into the game. I got myself straightened out and made another flip back in there. That fish hit me in the funniest way and swam right at me. For some reason it came right in the boat. It was meant to be.”
Swindle’s day-saving catch came three minutes earlier as he landed a 2-06 to jump into 19th with 33-12, three ounces ahead of Lane. It capped off a three-fish flurry in the last 30 minutes that accounted for 6-09 of the 13-07 he caught today.
Connell started the day in 30th place with 6-01, more than 12 pounds out of 20th. After catching just one fish in the first period, he found his groove in the second and third, carding 20 fish to amass 28-11 (he finished with 30-13) and climb up to 17th. He had eight fish for 13-04 during the third period alone.
Anthony Gagliardi overtook Robinson for the top spot in the group with a 29-10 day that gave him a two-day total of 71-08. Robinson had a slower day as he steered mostly clear of his best area from Wednesday, and his 13-07 had him in 2nd with 69-07 overall.
Terry Scroggins posted the big weight of the day with 41-07 – 27-06 of which came in the first period, surpassing what he caught on Wednesday. He moved up to 3rd and finished the first phase of competition with 30 fish and 63-11.
“It feels good,” Scroggins said. “These 80 guys we have are all hammers and they’re hard to beat, so to finish 3rd in our group, I feel good about it.”
It was a disappointing Bass Pro Tour debut for several top anglers, including Wesley Strader, who dropped from 12th to 25th after going the second and third periods without a catch. Skeet Reese and Kevin VanDam also struggled. Reese wound up 32nd with 16-11 while VanDam recorded just one fish today and finished 35th.
The action resumes tomorrow with the top 20 finishers from groups A and B spanning back out across the Kissimmee Chain for a one-day shootout to see who moves on to the Championship Round on Sunday at Lake Garcia. All 40 anglers will start with zero weight in the Knockout Round and the top 10 finishers move on to Sunday.
Terry Scroggins had a dynamite first period today to stoke his confidence entering the Knockout Round.
The last thing Lane wanted to do was have to sit out the Knockout Round in his backyard. The 2-02 he caught at 7:40 this morning turned out to be his biggest of the day and through two periods, he had four fish and was hovering around 20th. He tallied five in the third to extend his tournament.
“That’s all I cared about – a chance to play on,” Lane said. “It’s wonderful. I went from last place to now I’m tied for first.”
He spent most of today in Toho, but plans to go to Kissimmee tomorrow.
“I know the lake better than any other lake so if I find them, it’ll be great,” he said. “If not, I survived the first event. It’s warming up and if we can get that water warmed up and a couple big girls move up, it could be good. I’m not expecting to go down there and absolutely kill them. I beat up what I had to fish up here.”
Connell can’t recall another day of tournament fishing where he felt as much stress as he did today.
“It was pretty stressful how far down I was and the moves I needed to make,” he said. “I liked it, though. It was fun.”
The fun came later, after a slow first period. He ran into a flurry to start the second period, but bailed on the area to find new water. His search came up empty and before long, he’d gone 2 1/2 hours between fish.
“I had about an hour and 10 minutes left so I went back to a place from earlier hoping some had moved up in there,” he said.
He got a bite right away, then caught another fish on the next cast. Four more fish – all sub-2-pounders – pushed him up the leaderboard before he landed a 3-04 at 3:05 to give himself some breathing room inside the top 20.
“It was typical Florida,” he said. “Later in the day, it got warmer. I got real lucky to find that pocket. I’m not saying it was all skill. I just found the right place.”
He thinks it’ll be worth another look tomorrow.
“I think things are about to get good,” he added. “It’s 73 (degrees) now and that’s the highest it’s been all week. The water is so shallow down here that all it takes is one or two warm nights and those fish will get going.”
While it wasn’t necessarily among his goals this week, finishing atop the group was a thrill for Gagaliardi.
“That was a hell of a group. It was stacked,” he said. “There were anglers who’ve won a bunch of titles and money. It was a tough group. I wasn’t trying to win it, but it just worked out. I knew there were fish biting that wouldn’t affect what I plan to do tomorrow.”
With the different conditions – less wind – today compared to Wednesday, he started in the same area that was so productive for him. He was curious to see if they were still there and if they’d bite. He caught 10 pounds there and opted to move on.
“I caught a good one right away and that showed me they were still there and I could catch them under different conditions,” he added.
From there, he expanded around the area and caught fish through the day on a variety of baits, which has him feeling good about his situation entering Saturday.
“I’m fishing how I love to fish. It’s my favorite way to catch them,” he said. “If they’re there and they’re biting, I can sit there and catch them all day. We’ll burn through them if they’re biting.”
Scroggins feasted on a sweet spot during the first period today, then found another productive area that his him brimming with confidence entering the Knockout Round.
He caught 14 fish for 27-06 in the first period – both were single-period highs for the day – and tacked on nine more pounds in the second to secure his spot in the top 5.
“I found me a little sweet spot early and then left them, figuring I could save some for tomorrow, then I found another spot,” he said. “I haven’t been back to where I caught them Wednesday so I’m feeling pretty good.”
He said beyond the first period, he was gearing up for tomorrow.
”I just tried to manage areas and watch the ScoreTracker to make sure I had enough to not be knocked out,” he said.
He feels like he’s around the areas that could produce a top-10 finish tomorrow and earn him a spot in the Championship Round.
“I feel really good about it,” he said. “I feel like I could catch 25 to 30 fish in the morning. I never hit my flipping stuff today either.”
Notable
> Day 4 stats: Period 1 – 121 fish, 213-11; Period 2 – 92 fish, 170-05; Period 3 – 110 fish, 205-02; Total – 323 fish, 592-15 (1.84-pound average)
> There still has not been a 7-pounder caught. There have been 10 6-pounders and 11 5-pounders caught so far.
> Brandon Palaniuk made the cut by catching just 11 fish over the first two days, but seven of them weighed 3 pounds or more. His 3.2 pounds per fish average was the best of the 80 competitors.
Weather Forecast
> Sat., Feb. 2 – Scattered Thunderstorms - 76°/62°
- Wind: From the ENE at 5 to 10 mph
> Sun., Feb. 3 – Mix of Sun and Clouds - 76°/61°
- Wind: From the NW at 10 to 15 mph
Day 4 Results – Group B Elimination Round
1. Anthony Gagliardi -- 20, 41-14 -- 20, 29-10 -- 40, 71-08
2. Marty Robinson -- 34, 56-00 -- 9, 13-07 -- 43, 69-07
3. Terry Scroggins -- 9, 22-04 -- 21, 41-07 -- 30, 63-11
4. Jacob Powroznik -- 20, 33-08 -- 8, 23-03 -- 28, 56-11
5. John Murray -- 9, 21-05 -- 17, 31-08-- 26, 52-13
6. Fletcher Shryock -- 20, 30-00 -- 13, 20-04 -- 13, 50-04
7. Jason Christie -- 12, 29-00 -- 10, 20-10 -- 22, 49-10
8. Greg Hackney -- 14, 31-06 -- 12, 16-08 -- 26, 47-14
9. Alton Jones Jr -- 9, 24-10 -- 11, 20-00 -- 20, 44-10
10. Jonathon VanDam -- 13, 26-02 -- 7, 17-10 -- 20, 43-12
11. Brent Ehrler -- 11, 18-14 -- 15, 23-00 -- 26, 41-14
12. Mike Iaconelli -- 14, 22-11 -- 11, 18-12 -- 25, 41-07
13. Aaron Martens -- 13, 27-15 -- 5, 12-10 -- 18, 40-09
14. Jeff Sprague -- 8, 16-03 -- 13, 21-14 -- 21, 38-01
15. Alton Jones -- 17, 30-01 -- 5, 6-13 -- 22, 37-14
16. Adrian Avena -- 14, 30-01 -- 3, 7-10 -- 17, 37-11
17. Dustin Connell -- 5, 6-01 -- 16, 30-13 -- 21, 36-14
18. Brandon Palaniuk -- 5, 15-05 -- 6, 20-00 -- 11, 35-05
19. Gerald Swindle -- 11, 20-05 -- 8, 13-07 -- 19, 33-13
20. Bobby Lane -- 13, 20-06 -- 9, 13-03 -- 22, 33-09
The following anglers did not advance to the Knockout Round.
21. Todd Faircloth -- 14, 20-14 -- 8, 11-03 -- 22, 32-01
22. Bradley Roy -- 9, 18-13 -- 4, 7-00 -- 13, 25-13
23. Mark Rose -- 8, 15-01 -- 6, 10-07 -- 14, 25-08
24. Cliff Crochet -- 2, 4-10 -- 8, 20-02 -- 10, 24-12
25. Wesley Strader -- 13, 23-05 -- 1, 1-00 -- 14, 24-05
26. Josh Bertrand -- 2, 2-04 -- 11, 21-08 -- 12, 23-12
27. Cliff Pace -- 4, 4-11 -- 10, 18-02 -- 14, 22-13
28. Jesse Wiggins -- 10, 15-01 -- 4, 5-13 -- 14, 20-14
29. Luke Clausen -- 7, 11-09 -- 6, 9-01 -- 13, 20-10
30. Shaw Grigsby -- 8, 13-07 -- 5, 6-0 -- 13, 19-13
31. Paul Elias -- 3, 5-12 -- 6, 14-01 -- 9, 19-13
32. Skeet Reese -- 4, 5-01 -- 8, 11-15 -- 12, 17-00
33. Scott Suggs -- 3, 4-08 -- 6, 12-03 -- 9, 16-11
34. Jeff Kriet -- 1, 2-07 -- 7, 13-14 -- 8, 16-05
35. Kevin VanDam -- 6, 12-00 -- 1, 1-02 -- 7, 13-02
36. Brent Chapman -- 4, 7-04 -- 3, 5-07 -- 7, 12-11
37. Dean Rojas -- 4, 6-12 -- 3, 5-14 -- 7, 12-10
38. Justin Atkins -- 2, 2-14 -- 4, 8-01 -- 6, 10-15
39. Boyd Duckett -- 1, 2-02 -- 5, 8-00 -- 6, 10-02
40. Britt Myers -- 2, 2-11 -- 2, 2-05 -- 4, 5-00
