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5th: Jones Thinks Sight-Bite's Over
Sight-fishing has been a significant part of Jones' attack, but he doesn't expect that to hold up through the coming weather.
"I think more of them pulled up today," he said. "I came back through late and caught a 3-pounder, and the female I spent the last 2 hours working on and the male that was with her were both new.
"But with that front coming through hard, it wouldn't surprise me if all of them are gone tomorrow."
He can't see the fish in his primary area, but he thinks it replenished some today.
"I still caught one or two in there, so it wasn't a total loss. Tomorrow I'll run some new water again.
"I was a little disappointed in one of my backup areas – the rain muddied it up and there was current running through it, and it cooled from 60 degrees to 54. Tomorrow everything's going to be cold, though, so it won't matter. I'll just go out and make another run at it." Read More
20 Questions with Alton Jones
It's been a great year for Alton Jones. The Classic title comes with money, fame and obligations, but AJ has been more than up to the task. But how well does he handle our 20 questions? Read More
Flooded Out
2008 Bassmaster Classic champion Alton Jones was fishing the back of Piney Bay and had a hard time generating bites when the conditions turned off the fish.
"It got really muddy, like chocolate milk," Jones said. "Last night they dropped the water out. The pad stems I was fishing dried up and while I intersected five keepers today, I only boated three of them." Read MoreHere today, gone tomorrow
3rd: Jones Switched Gears
Jones had wanted to spend the first half of the day sight-fishing, but the fog delay threw a monkey-wrench into that plan.
"I went out and just fished, and on the way in I stopped at my sight-fish, fully expecting them to have been exploited," he said. "Two were still there – a (3 1/4-pounder) and a 4-05, and I caught both of them. That took me from 15 pounds to more than 17,"
The runner-up at Amistad 2 weeks ago has ended each of the 5 competition days of the current season in 3rd place or higher. He and Chapman frequently work together and he said their patterns are similar.
"The key for me is knowing how the females are positioned. Some are on the beds and some aren't.
"I had a fair amount of company today, but I've saved some stuff and I'm guardedly optimistic that I'll have fresh water to fish tomorrow – they're out-of-the-way-type places. But then the whole deck is going to get shuffled with that big cold front coming in tomorrow night." Read More
