BASS Communications / Seigo Saito

Jones said he's considering abandoning the area that he and Jordon have worked for 3 days.

"I assume that Kelly and I have caught most of the good, catchable fish out of there," he said. "I haven't decided whether I'll go back and see if more swim there, or what I'll do.

I'll sleep on it tonight and decide if tomorrow's going to be a practice day or if I'll go back and pound it one more time. It's really a tough call."

He caught one of his four keepers on the way to the lock and then had sporadic action throughout the day.

"I lost one I'd like to have a do-over on. It was about a 3 1/2-pounder and it got me hung up and pulled off. But those are the perils of the game."

If nothing else, he'll have gained points on the two anglers ahead of him in the AOY race (VanDam and Skeet Reese).

"I'd like to move up a couple of places tomorrow because those points could be very valuable come year's end." Read More

BASS Communications / Seigo Saito

FORT MADISON, Iowa — Perhaps it was too soon to declare the battle for the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year a two-horse race.

Alton Jones, in a distant third in the AOY standings heading into this week's Elite event, reminded fishing fans of his versatility by grabbing the lead with a two-day total of 24 pounds, 1 ounce, at the Genuity River Rumble on the Mississippi River.

In what has turned into a grind-it-out event, Jones, of Waco, Texas, has been the model of consistency, weighing 12-1 Friday after posting 12-0 on Thursday. With tough conditions on the mighty Mississippi, many anglers have been forced into wholesale adjustments, causing dramatic changes in the leaderboard from the first to the second day.

"I'm running a long way so I'm pretty much committed to this area at this point and don't have many alternatives," said Jones, who is closing in on $2 million in BASS career earnings. "I think it has the potential to replenish but it's hard to say what is going to happen. If it doesn't carry over into tomorrow, I'll be prepared with an excuse." Read More

BASS Communications / Seigo Saito

Alton Jones's day-2 bag at the Mississippi River Bassmaster Elite Series was just a single ounce heavier than the one he brought in the previous day. It was worth 10 spots in the standings, though, as his 12-01 haul gave him a 24-01 total and the lead at the midway point of what's easily the toughest even the circuit has fished this year.

He's sharing a backwater area in Pool 18 (one lock up from the launch) with fellow Texan Kelly Jordon, and it was the hot spot today. The Pool 19 pond that the three leaders from day 1 divvied up – in conjunction with about two dozen other competitors – cooled off dramatically, and two members of that trio tumbled out of the Top 12. Read More

Alton Jones, who remained at No. 3 in the AOY race and gained some points on leader VanDam (he's now 58 back), knew he was in trouble early this morning when the ledge he'd been relying on produced just one bite, and he lost it. He ended up weighing just 12-11.

"It was a pretty long day," he said. "I'd been getting a substantial portion of my weight in the first couple hours, and I guess the shad spawn didn't happen there today.

"It's never good when you drop from 6th to 12th, but I've got to remember that there were 87 guys who'd have loved to have been where I was." Complete Story