News
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
Too much firepower
DEL RIO, Texas — Entering the final day, tournament leader Alton Jones knew that if Jason Williamson caught another giant sack, he wouldn't have the fish left to compete.
Jones had been the most consistent pro all week, catching bags between 22 and 24 pounds, and he felt he could go out and catch that again, but he just wasn't around the bigger fish that could protect him against a Williamson onslaught.
"I don't think I could have done anything differently," Jones said. "He's the only one to back up a giant bag this week. That doesn't mean I'm pleased with second place. I wanted to win one in Texas." Read More
Consistent Texan Jones looks for home-state victory
Classic Day Two
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"It might have been a 10-pounder – it was way over 8 pounds. I found it this afternoon on a bed and I caught the male, which was a 2-pounder, then threw my tube back over there. She was in a big mess of logs and my tube got hung up and I broke it off. I picked up my other rod with a tube and broke it off too.
"I threw out a 6-inch Yum Dinger, and the big one was still sitting there, but I decided I needed to re-rig a tube. I laid the rod down on the deck, bent down for almost a minute, then heard a noise – it was my rod taking off across the deck."
The rod was about to go over but he grabbed it at the last minute. The fish still had the bait and he set the hook. She was hooked well on 50-pound braid, he said, but she got the line caught in a small laydown, flopped around for 20 seconds, and was gone by the time he could reach her.
"My heart just sank. I had 5 minutes left before I had to go in. It was game over." Read More
Classic Day One
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"I'm disappointed because I thought I could catch more," he said. "I'll need a big sack tomorrow to get in the hunt, but at least I kept myself alive."
He arrived at his starting spot and discovered that the water temperature had dropped 10 degrees (from 60 to 50) since Wednesday.
"I caught two in the first 2 hours, and then it was slow for a long time. I caught the rest in the last couple hours after it started warming up a bit. The
He stayed in Pool 5 and went through two limits of keepers. He shared his primary area with several anglers, none of whom caught more than 14 pounds.
He had some dramatic changes in mind for day 2 that included locking down to Pool 4.
"I've already got my gameplan – I've got a place I found in practice that I don't think anybody messed with. It'll be difficult to catch five, but they're good fish. If I can catch five of them I'll have a good weight.
"What I'm doing tomorrow wouldn't have worked today. I'm taking a gamble because I need a hero sack to jump into the thick of it. This place has that kind of potential, but it's also got the potential for a goose egg." Read More
