Greg Hackney had his third Top 10 finish in a row today, his fourth Top 20 tour finish in a row and his fourth Top 20 in a Bassmaster Tour event this year. But it wasn't enough.
He had to finish 8th or better to beat out Gerald Swindle for Bassmaster Angler of the Year (AOY), but ended up 9th. In other words, Swindle earned his first AOY title today. (For more on that, see the Tour Insider story on the BassFan.com homepage or click here.)
The AOY points drama took a little away from what was a tremendous day of fishing. Second-year Arizona tour pro Mark Kile boated a huge 32-03 sack anchored by the big fish of the day (and the biggest of the tournament), a 9-10. Courtesy of that mega-limit, he leads Kelly Jordon by 6-15. Jordon was no slouch either, bringing 28-09 to the scales, anchored by an 8-13.
With those weights today, it looks like they're the two who have the best chance at boating the winning sack tomorrow, particularly since Mike McClelland (in 3rd, 3-02 behind Jordon) hasn't sight-fished all week. McClelland's 17-14 also was the smallest limit weighed-in today by anyone who made the Top 6 cut:
> Cody Bird is in 4th with 57-06 and had 20-14 today.
> Texas' Matt Reed had 22-01 today for 56-15 and is in 5th.
> Florida's Terry Scroggins is in 6th with 56-11. In other words, exactly 5 pounds separate Scroggins and Jordon, and it's another 7 to get to Kile.
Everyone acknowledges that Kile has a big lead, but no one is throwing in the towel. Not with more and more of Santee's big females moving up. As Shaw Grigsby (who finished 3 ounces out of the cut) said: "It's a sight-fishing deal – almost an exact replica of last year. We just missed it by 2 days. A cold front came in, and we missed it by 2 days. You'll just see a slugfest tomorrow."
> The weather's supposed to change tomorrow, which could affect the sight-fishing bite (see Weather Forecast below).
Kile Not Counting Any Chickens
Last year at the Clear Lake Bassmaster, Kile was leading going into day 3 but ended up losing to Alton Jones by about 3 1/2 pounds. That time Kile only had a 3-pound lead going into the last day, but that memory is still fresh in his mind – and the bite wasn't as good as it is now on Santee.
He's confident about tomorrow, but said: "I was in the same position at Clear Lake last year, so it's not over until it's over."
He had 10 keepers today, including the 9-10 and an 8, and caught them all sight-fishing. But this was his first day doing it. "The area I (made the Top 12 cut) in was a little bay that luckily no one ever went in," he said. "But I guess I caught them all. Today I fished the whole place and only had one 12-incher. So I went to another area, and it was loaded. It was crazy how fast (the fish) were coming in."
He had most of his weight by 11:00 and then went practicing. In another spot he caught a 5 1/2 and a 3, and then left.
He also used an approach everyone will be using tomorrow: "I didn't catch that many – just the ones I wanted. So many are fish coming up, the deal is to not fish for them unless they're 4 or better."
The only thing he's concerned about tomorrow is local fishing pressure in his main area.
Kelly Jordon is looking for 30-40 pounds tomorrow.
Jordon Looking for 12-Pounders
Jordon has been sight-fishing all 3 days. He saved a few fish on day 1, ran there on day 2 and Ish Monroe was sacking them, so Jordon was forced to find some new water. "It worked out pretty well because I found a couple of new areas," Jordon said, ones which got him into the Top 12 cut in 11th (tie).
Today he fished new water that was heavily pressured in the tournament, but which were full of new big bass today. "I could have caught a 5 and culled up to 30, but I didn't want to burn a 5," he said. Either way, he noted that "it looks like I'll have to catch 45 pounds to catch Mark. He has a monster lead."
Does Jordon think he has a shot? "If I can find two 12-pounders, then the game is on," he said, noting that Kile told him he has a double-digit fish stashed somewhere.
> Jordon spent nearly 4 hours on that 8-13 today. Several spectators watched him, and yelled congratulations when he finally got it to bite. "A couple of boys wanted to see it, so I pulled it out of the livewell and showed it to them," Jordon said. "Everyone is so nice down here."
McClelland Has To Sight-Fish Tomorrow
"Things dramatically changed today," McClelland said. "The bed-fishermen just smoked them. I caught another 18 pounds, but fell to 3rd. I'm 10 pounds behind the leader now." He jumped off two 4-pounders that would have helped him by about 4 pounds, but other than that had a good day.
Tomorrow he'll fish his pre-spawn pattern "a little bit," and then he's heading to the bank. "I'll have to get up shallow and look for them. Some 9-pounders were caught today, and 30-pound bags, so I have to get up there." He noted that he's not good at sight-fishing, but can catch them once he finds them.
"I don't know if I can catch Mark if he catches another 25-pound bag," he said. "But in the area I'm catching my big fish in, I don't think anybody is looking shallow. So maybe some of the big ones got up shallow. There might be 30-35 pounds sitting there waiting on me."
Bird Might Switch Lakes
Bird has been sight-fishing every day, but on the upper lake. Today, because of that, he said he knew he was in trouble. "It was real flat, no wind and real bright sun," he noted. "I knew I'd be in trouble because I'm fishing in Marion and they're in Moultrie, and that's where the big ones are.
"If it would've stayed cold, I think I could kick their butts over here, but it got warm and (the lower lake) fish started moving up."
He left a couple of 4-pounders for tomorrow. "I might run there catch those, and see if any new ones moved in. If not, I might run to Moultrie and take my chances running pockets."
> He learned a lesson today. "Today I fished for 3-pounders just to get a limit, and it takes the same amount of time to catch a 7-pounder as a 3-pounder. When I caught a 7-06 and a 5 today, I knew then that I should've just been catching big ones."
Reed Winging It
On day 1 Reed started his day flipping cypress trees in the upper lake. At 11:00, he started sight-fishing and hasn't looked back. "I had a good practice (flipping), but the first day I had to abandon it," he said. "I couldn't get bit."
He's been sight-fishing the upper lake and today only had 6 keepers. He weighed-in a 2 1/2-pounder that he spent the last 2 hours of the day trying to replace with a 10-pounder. The big female bit once, but he couldn't get her.
Tomorrow he's "probably going to the lower lake," and noted that fishing new water doesn't faze him. "I've been practicing every day," he said. "I don't know where my next fish is coming from because I didn't look for bedding fish in practice. I'm just going into areas where they ought to be spawning."
Wherever he goes, he's "pretty much only going to fish for big ones. If it's a 2-3 pounder, I'm not slowing down. I can't fall but one place, so I might as well."
Grigsby Left Cut Weight On Bed
Grigsby missed the cut by 3 ounces. "I left about a 4-pounder sitting there, and shouldn't have done it," he said. He had 23-06 today and assumed he would "probably make" the cut. "I still thought I made it until the last guy weighed in. But the bottom line was that it was an awesome tournament."
He sight-fished every day with a white Strike King Flip-N-Tube in the new Bleeding Bait series (white with a red flare). He fished it with a Quantum PT Tour Edition 706 rod, 20- and 25-pound original Stren (green), 3/8-ounce Penetrator tungsten weight, and the new needle-point 4/0 Eagle Claw HP hook which he helped design.
"You just had to spend time working each fish – slowly, very slowly," he said. To get him in that frame of mind each morning, he started by fishing a Strike King Zero (Senko-type bait). "It forces you to fish slow," he noted. "You fish it weightless, and that's why it kills in the springtime. It slows you down."
Rojas Happy With 8th
Dean Rojas had 15-14 on day 1, 18-01 yesterday and 22-04 today. Even though he improved every day, he ended up in 8th with 56-03 – and wasn't at all bummed about not making the Top 6 cut.
"I'm not disappointed," he said. "I made the Classic and the E50s – I did everything I wanted to do prior to today. Everything from today on was just gravy. This morning I felt really relaxed. I felt no pressure. I just had a really fun day." He also mentioned that it was good to be heading to the Beaver Lake FLW, which starts Wednesday, as he's leading the FLW points.
Today he decided to start in his secondary area, and wound up staying the whole day. "I thought 22 pounds would be strong enough to keep me up there," he said. "But in the last 45 minutes I ran over to my primary area, and they were everywhere. If I made the cut, I'd go there."
Early in the morning he was throwing a Tiki Stick (watermelon candy) around pads, and for sight-fishing switched to a Tiki Grass Craw (white). He fished the baits with 7' medium-heavy and 7' heavy Quantum rods, Quantum reels, 15- and 20-pound Izorline, 3/16- and 1/8-ounce tungsten weights, and Gamakatsu 3/0 and 4/0 hooks.
Hackney Flipped Treed Points
This week Hackney caught half his fish on a 1/4-ounce Rattleback jig (brown) with a green pumpkin Wave Crawdude trailer, and half on a 4-inch Senko-like Tiki Stick (watermelon). He fished the upper lake, about 15-20 miles above the boat ramp, and said that all his fish were "coming off cypress tree points in 2 to 3 1/2 feet of water. Tons of fish were bedding in 1 1/2 feet and (then) just pulled out to the deepest trees."
This afternoon his bite got tough enough that he "moved up shallow and caught some males" on the beds. "They'd been out there a long time, and were long and skinny," he said. But he improved his weight a little with them.
> Jig Gear: 7' 6" G. Loomis flipping stick, 60-pound Spiderwire Stealth.
> Tiki Gear: 7' medium-action G. Loomis spinning rod, 12-pound Vanish fluorocarbon, 2/0 Owner hook.
He noted that "fishing real slow seemed to be the whole key," along with the lighter jig. "A lot of guys around me were throwing heavier jigs, but weren't getting the bites I was. The cold front put me on the light jig, and I stayed with it as it warmed up because they kept biting it."
Notable
> Everyone in the Top 12 had a limit all 3 days except for Reed, who had four yesterday, and Brain Snowden, who had four on day 1 and finished 12th today.
> Will the forecast weather change things tomorrow or are the fish so hot that it won't matter?
Weather Forecast
The Weather Channel forecasts mild weather tonight with showers late, and then some rain and storms tomorrow early and then returning in the afternoon.
Sun, Mar 28 – Scattered T-Storms – 77°/47°
> Wind: From the N at 10 mph
Day 3 Standings
1. Mark Kile -- Tonto Basin, Ariz. -- 15, 68-10
Day 1: 5, 16-03 -- Day 2: 5, 20-04 -- Day 3: 5, 32-03
2. Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, Texas -- 15, 61-11
Day 1: 5, 17-12 -- Day 2: 5, 15-06 -- Day 3: 5, 28-09
3. Mike McClelland -- Vella Vista, Ark. -- 15, 58-09
Day 1: 5, 22-04 -- Day 2: 5, 18-07 -- Day 3: 5, 17-14
4. Cody Bird -- Granbury, Texas -- 15, 57-06
Day 1: 5, 19-11 -- Day 2: 5, 16-13 -- Day 3: 5, 20-14
5. Matt Reed -- Madisonville, Texas -- 14, 56-15
Day 1: 5, 18-02 -- Day 2: 4, 16-12 -- Day 3: 5, 22-01
6. Terry Scroggins -- Palatka, Fla. -- 15, 56-11
Day 1: 5, 16-13 -- Day 2: 5, 20-02 -- Day 3: 5, 19-12
The following anglers didn't make the Top 6 cut and won't be fishing tomorrow:
7. Shaw E Grigsby, Jr -- Gainesville, Fla. -- 15, 56-08 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 17-04 -- Day 2: 5, 15-14 -- Day 3: 5, 23-06
8. Dean Rojas -- Grand Saline, Texas -- 15, 56-03 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-14 -- Day 2: 5, 18-01 -- Day 3: 5, 22-04
9. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, La. -- 15, 53-00 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-10 -- Day 2: 5, 21-04 -- Day 3: 5, 13-02
10. Aaron Martens -- Castaic, Calif. -- 15, 50-14 -- $8,000
Day 1: 5, 16-15 -- Day 2: 5, 16-05 -- Day 3: 5, 17-10
11. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, Calif. -- 15, 49-10 -- $6,000
Day 1: 5, 21-05 -- Day 2: 5, 15-01 -- Day 3: 5, 13-04
12. Brian Snowden -- Springfield, Mo. -- 14, 48-06 -- $5,500
Day 1: 4, 18-04 -- Day 2: 5, 15-07 -- Day 3: 5, 14-11
Big Bass
Day 3 -- Mark Kile -- Tonto Basin, Ariz. -- 9-10 -- $1,000
Day 2 -- Denny Brauer -- Camdenton, Mo. -- 9-07 -- $1,000
Day 1 -- Gerald Swindle -- Hayden, Ala. -- 8-03 -- $500
Day 1 -- Paul Elias -- Pachuta, Miss. -- 8-03 -- $500
