22.Oct.2011 GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – Pro Paul Elias of Laurel, Miss., endured a 1-hour, 45-minute fog delay Saturday morning and caught a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 5 ounces to continue his domination of the field at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury and advance to the top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 79-8, he now holds a 14-pound, 9-ounce lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition.
“This is one awesome lake,” Elias said. “I’ve had some great Octobers on this lake.”
Elias said he relied on the Alabama Rig again on the third day of competition to land another massive Guntersville limit of bass.
“This rig I’m throwing is crazy,” Elias said. “A lot more guys were throwing it today than were the first two days. It’s obvious by the weights. A bait comes along every now and then and it just makes a lot of sense, and this is just one of those kinds of baits.”
The Alabama rig consists of a hard-bait body that trails four or five wires that have a swivel attached to the end of each wire. Fishermen then tie a variety of baits – swimbaits, grubs or a variety of other artificial baits – to the swivels. The baits fan out and are retrieved and mimic a school of baitfish. Elias said he has been fishing the rig in deep water for suspended fish and has eight spots he wanted to target during the tournament. He’s hit five of those spots during the first three days of competition.
“I’ve tried other stuff, but it just wasn’t working,” Elias said. “I think I can catch another good bag tomorrow. I’ll feel comfortable with 15 or 16 pounds. But I feel like if I catch another limit the way I’ve been fishing I’ll catch another 20-plus-pound bag.”
Pro Robert Behrle of Hoover, Ala., advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 64-15.
Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day of competition are:
3rd: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 15 bass, 59-4
4th: Duracell/Gillette pro Jacob Powroznik, Prince George, Va., 15 bass, 51-10
5th: Chevy pro Jay Yelas, Corvallis, Ore., 15 bass, 51-1
6th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 50-15
7th: Russell Lane, Prattville, Ala., 15 bass, 49-15
8th: Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 15 bass, 49-8
9th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 47-5
10th: Chevy pro Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 14 bass, 44-7
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Christopher Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 43-3, $12,121
12th: National Guard pro Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 14 bass, 42-12, $12,121
13th: Kelley Jaye, Dadeville, Ala., 14 bass, 41-12, $12,121
14th: Marshall Deakins, Dunlap, Tenn., 12 bass, 41-9, $12,121
15th: Trevor Fitzgerald, Belleview, Fla., 15 bass, 41-4, $12,121
16th: Christopher Brasher, Spring, Texas, 12 bass, 39-6, $11,634
17th: National Guard pro Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 12 bass, 36-4, $11,634
18th: Wesley Helton, Calhoun, Tenn., 12 bass, 36-4, $11,634
19th: Blake Nick, Adger, Ala., 10 bass, 32-1, $11,634
20th: Snickers Peanut Butter Squared pro Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., 11 bass, 31-13, $11,634
Overall there were 77 bass weighing 265 pounds, 12 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 12 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. The top five anglers in the point standings from the four FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify. Complete Story
Paul, Wanted to drop you a line and again thank you for the great time Lance and I had. The time spent with you on the electronics was amazing,but the real deal was when we put that knowledge and applied it out on the water on Friday.We guessed our best 5 would of been in the 42 lb range, with both of us catching our personal best fish of our lifes.We had 2 over 10 and 1 around 9 from your lake. We are getting ready to start into the Everstart series this year and your class will definitely help us out.
Just a quick email to let you know how much I enjoyed my trip to Pachuta. As an avid angler I found In-Depth Fishing to be a master's level course in the sport of bass fishing. I learned a great deal and it was fun to apply the lessons while catching lunker bass (see photos). Lake Eddins is an extraordinary fishery!