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Alton Jones said a fish he lost today would have been enough to put him in the Top 6.

"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

Defending champion Alton Jones wasn't satisfied with his 13-05 bag. He'll change things up tomorrow in an attempt to make a major move.

"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

Alton Jones has carried the title of reigning Bassmaster Classic champion around with him for 8 months now. He said there haven't been very many bad days during that span.

He's been to the White House for a visit with President Bush. He's made appearances on just about all of the morning ESPN TV and Radio programs. He's piloted a Porsche at 150 mph in a performance driving school. His picture has been placed on a wall at Baylor University along with other distinguished former students of that institution, such as Hall-of-Fame linebacker and new San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary and Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane.

The Waco, Texas resident also found time to do a little fishing on the 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series, and that went well, too. He logged five Top-12 finishes, made nine of 11 Top-50 cuts and ended up 5th in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race.

BassFan caught up with him earlier this week and asked him a few questions about the aftermath of his life-changing victory at South Carolina's Lake Hartwell last February. Read More

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Jones couldn't find much fault in his performance here.

"I feel really good," he said. "I fished well all week and my execution was good – I only had one pull off that would have helped me.

"I was hoping that having 12-03 would move me up, but I stayed in the exact same position. Some of the other guys caught them good, too."

He was forced to abandon the area where he caught his 15-11 bag on day 3.

"I started there and caught some small keepers, but it was pretty obvious it had been maximized, so I had to punt. I went about 30 miles farther and found a similar place, and ended up with a nice sack of fish."

He caught about a dozen keepers – the most of any day – and his bag was topped by a 4-pounder.

"They were biting good early until about 10:00, then there was a lull until about 12:00. But the afternoon was good after that little front moved through." Read More

ESPN Outdoors
The 2008 Bassmaster Classic champion is making a run at the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title, too. He's one of eight Elite Series pros that have made the top 50 cut in all five tournaments this season. "I've got a couple of things going here," Jones said. "On schooling fish, there are brief windows of opportunity. Six or seven times a day, there will be a four- to five-minute flurry. I've used YUM's new Money Minnow swimbait, and if I can get that bait into them while they're on top or as they go down, half the time I can get a bite. And that's when the bigger fish are coming. That's when I've got my 3- or 4-pounders. Between flurries, I'll throw the dropshot. I caught a 4-pounder with a little YUM Houdini worm. I haven't found one color in particular, but watermelon red and green pumpkin — I'm kind of playing with colors." Read More | Standings | Photos | Notes | Archive
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Load Your Live Well

Did that most recent cold front throw you a curve ball? Did the bite you were on suddenly disappear? There is always a solution to every problem, here’s one that has saved my day on many occasions. After severe cold fronts big bass almost always seek out the darkest shadows they can find. 

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