West Point Southeastern Stren
Tucker Leads By 6 Pounds

Photo: FLWOutdoors.com Terry Tucker caught his second straight limit at the West Point Southeastern Stren today and he'll go into the final day with a lead of more than 6 pounds.

Alabama anglers hold the Top 3 spots – Barry Isbell is a distant 2nd with 8-11 and Charles Pearson is 3rd with 8-03. Ohio's Patrick Hailstones is 4th with 6-10, followed by North Carolina's Artie Phillips with 6-09.

Here are the other anglers who survived the second cut and will fish tomorrow:

6. Jason Knapp: 5-11
7. Ott DeFoe: 5-10
8. Timothy Little: 5-05
9. Greg Barwick: 4-13
10. Kevin Stowers: 4-10

Day 2 co-leaders Tommy Williams and Mike Mortensen both fell by the wayside on a day that was cloudy to start, then featured a brief period of sun before turning cloudy again. Mortensen caught three 1-pounders and Williams managed just two of roughly the same size. Among the four anglers who zeroed were FLW Tour pros Jack Gadlage and Bobby Lane.

Tucker's lead appears gargantuan in a tough-bite tournament like this, but the other nine anglers have reason to hope because his pattern is admittedly dependent upon sun. There likely won't be any of that tomorrow – the Weather Channel forecast for the LaGrange, Ga. area calls for showers and a high temperature of only 48 degrees, with a north wind that will top out at 8 mph. There's a 60 percent chance of precipitation.

Tucker Needs Two

Tucker caught a limit for the second straight day, which is a major accomplishment here this week. If tomorrow's weather forecast proves true and the sky is gray all day, he said he'll have a tough time doing it again.

"I need the sun to do what I've been doing," he said. "But if I can just get two bites tomorrow, I think I'll be okay. If I could get 10 pounds, that would seal it up sure enough."

He got eight bites today and boated each one. The biggest weighed about 3 1/2 pounds. He had three decent ones in the livewell by 9 a.m., then moved off his primary spot and caught his other two weigh-in fish before noon.

"That makes 15 fish I've caught (out of his main area) so far," he said. "I think it's good for 20. The only bad thing is my co-anglers have taken two 4-pounders out of there, but I'll go in swinging at 'em and hope they're biting."

The 48-year-old has never been in this position before, but he isn't nervous. "I'm too old to get nervous about fishing. I'll sleep just fine tonight. I didn't sleep too good last night because the bed was too hard, but we're going to get a different room tonight."

Isbell's Bite is Early

Isbell finished 20th in the Southeastern non-boater points in 2005 and switched to the boater side this year. "This is the first time I've made the cut and I'm pretty excited," he said.

All of his bites today (and yesterday, for that matter) came within the first two hours. He got only four today and caught them all, but one was a short fish.

"I'm struggling late in the day," he said. "I need to put something together with my morning bite. I found some fish a couple of weeks ago that were biting all day, but they haven't been biting in the tournament. Maybe I'll try them again tomorrow."

He'll start the day with a lot of ground to make up on Tucker, but he hasn't conceded anything. "You just can't tell, he could go out tomorrow and not catch a fish. If I can get the right one or two bites, I can get caught up real quick."

But as he pointed out, nothing's a sure thing this week – not even his morning spot. "There could be five fish on there when I pull up, or there could be none," he said. "But I feel like it's a place that ought to cough up a couple."

Goose Egg for Gadlage

Gadlage knew he was in big trouble when he saw the clouds this morning. He was in bed with the flu for the 3 days prior to the tournament and didn't get to practice, and the only reason he caught a 17-11 bag yesterday was because he found some big fish that were catching some rays in a shallow area.

He caught them on a Heddon Super Spook. "Most people wouldn't think of throwing a Super Spook at this time of year, but it's one of my favorite things to do," he said. "Usually I never say anything about it, but quite a few people have seen me doing it.

"I could see what those fish were doing – they were moving up real shallow and sunning themselves. I was pretty lucky to find what I found and catch what I caught."

Only one fish made any sort of an aggressive move toward the Spook today, and that one never got it into its mouth. "They just shut off," he said. "I knew that would happen if it got cloudy and breezy."

Notable

> Day 3 stats – 20 anglers, one limit, four zeroes.

> Tucker is 58th in the FLW Tour points through two events. He has four BFL wins, including last year's Dixie division event at Logan Martin.

> Georgia's Brad Warfield ended today in a tie for 10th with Stowers at 4-10, but Stowers advanced because he caught three fish. Warfield got all of his weight on a single bite.

Day 3 Standings

1. Terry Tucker -- Gadsden, Al -- 5, 14-15

2. Barry Isbell -- Trussville, Al -- 3, 8-11

3. Charles Pearson -- Auburn, Al -- 4, 8-03

4. Patrick Hailstones -- Cincinnati, Oh -- 3, 6-10

5. Artie Phillips -- Monroe, NC -- 3, 6-09

6. Jason Knapp -- Uniontown, Pa -- 3, 5-11

7. Ott Defoe -- Dandridge, Tn -- 4, 5-10

8. Timothy Little -- Acworth, Ga -- 3, 5-05

9. Greg Barwick -- East Dublin, Ga -- 3, 4-13

10. Kevin Stowers -- Gainesville, Ga -- 3, 4-10

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not be fishing tomorrow.

11. Brad Warfield -- Sharpsburg, Ga -- 1, 4-10 -- $3,000
12. Mike Mortensen -- Westland, Mi -- 3, 3-10 -- $2,750
13. Jim Beavers -- Manchester, Ga -- 1, 3-08 -- $2,500
14. Craig Rozema -- Greenville, SC -- 2, 3-06 -- $2,250
15. Kip Carter -- Oxford, Ga -- 2, 3-03 -- $2,000
16. Tommy Williams -- Shepherdsville, Ky -- 2, 2-10 -- $1,800
17. Jack Gadlage -- Benton, Ky -- 0, 0-00 -- $1,800
18. Kim Carver -- Milledgeville, Ga -- 0, 0-00 -- $1,800
19. Bobby Lane -- Lakeland, Fl -- 0, 0-00 -- $1,800
20. Nick Gainey -- Charleston, SC -- 0, 0-00 -- $1,800