GROVE, Okla. — For three consecutive days at the Sooner Run presented by Longhorn Moist Snuff, Jeff Kriet lived dangerously.Each day during his run-and-gun rotation of deep structure on northeast Oklahoma's Grand Lake, he would happen upon the right fish in the right mood and bring in a sack worthy of his first-place perch at the end of Day Three."Yesterday I had around 13 pounds (late in the day) and got on a school and just smoked 'em," said Kriet, who couldn't shake two small fish out of his 24-11 bag. "I probably caught 22 pounds in thirty minutes."
The Oklahoman was pragmatic about his runner-up fate, saying he was pleased with his effort.
"I didn't fish bad, I just couldn't get it going today. I've got no regrets. The only thing I wanted to do was fish well today," Kriet siad. "I didn't want to go out there and lose it because I didn't fish well."
Marty Robinson was also in contention, but he wasn't quite as satisfied with his execution. Losing a four-pounder with an hour to go might not have made a difference, but it had the South Carolina rookie thinking nonetheless.
"I don't think they were biting real well anyway. Most of the fish I had were hooked in the lip and on the outside of the mouth," Robinson said. "The lack of wind early this morning probably hurt my crankbait bite. I caught two of them after noon when the wind kicked up ahead of this storm."The spots Robinson was fishing weren't replenishing well, sending him on recon missions every day after he's secured around 17 pounds. Today's exploratory patrol simply didn't give up enough to put him in contention.
"I basically just ran out of fish today," he said. "The five bites I had today were all from a new spot I found today."
Best bag of day
Edwin Evers weighed the final day's best bag, but the Oklahoma pro's mood was as dark as the rain-soaked sky when asked about the previous day's catch. It would have been tolerable had his fish not shown up, but the lack of execution on Day Three was what was really eating at Evers.
"I got the same bites. I just lost fish, that's it," Evers said. "I stumbled yesterday and you just can't stumble against these guys."