Kennedy and Murray on the water

<p>Steve Kennedy works a drop shot with a wacky rigged Kinami Flash soft stickworm along ditches cutting through a shallow flat on the St. Lawrence River Sunday morning, shortly after launch.</p>

Steve Kennedy works a drop shot with a wacky rigged Kinami Flash soft stickworm along ditches cutting through a shallow flat on the St. Lawrence River Sunday morning, shortly after launch.

This spot along the St. Lawrence not far from the Ogdensburg bridge produced most of Kennedyâs Berkley Heavyweight Catch of 23-14 on Saturday.

<p>Kennedy was especially talkative early on Sundayâs final round of the Evan Williams Bourbon Showdown on the St. Lawrence River. From a distance, he was a bit hard to spot at first because, unlike almost everyone else in the Bassmaster Elite Series, he has not installed shallow-water anchor systems on his boat.</p>

Kennedy was especially talkative early on Sundayâs final round of the Evan Williams Bourbon Showdown on the St. Lawrence River. From a distance, he was a bit hard to spot at first because, unlike almost everyone else in the Bassmaster Elite Series, he has not installed shallow-water anchor systems on his boat.

His attention quickly returned to the business at hand when a big smallmouth latched onto his swimbait.

After battling the bass on light line for a good 10 minutes, Kennedy finally brought his prize to the boat . . .

. . . but the fish wasnât quite ready to give up.

âIt takes forever to get these fish in,â Kennedy remarked.

Fish and fishermen were both exhausted by this time. Kennedy deftly scooped up the smallmouth with a belly lift . . .

. . . carefully cradling the big smallmouth while trapping it against his boatâs hull.

Keeping a death grip on the fishâs lip, Kennedy removes his swimbait from his first smallmouth of the day . . .

. . . and pauses to admire his prize. âThis one will weigh about 3-12,â he estimated . . .

. . . and handheld scales confirm his guess â to the ounce.

John Murray, the only angler more than 30 years old in the Top 6, works a grassbed along a rock wall dividing channels of the St. Lawrence River.

With the ESPN2 camera rolling, Murray rears back to set the hook.

Murrayâs hook set connects, and the big smallmouth catapults into the air . . .

. . . leaping a good 2 feet out of the water . . .

. . . frantically trying to shed the hook . . .

. . . before returning to the water.

Murray skillfully applies just the right amount of pressure as his big bass takes to the air yet again.

His bass still isnât ready to give up.

Murray holds on, trying to wear the bass down and prevent it from jumping again.

<p>The battle seems almost won at this point, but the smallmouth â which we observers agreed weighed at least 4 pounds â had yet another card to play. It burrowed into grass or wrapped around a rock and broke the line.</p>

The battle seems almost won at this point, but the smallmouth â which we observers agreed weighed at least 4 pounds â had yet another card to play. It burrowed into grass or wrapped around a rock and broke the line.

Obviously dejected, Murray digs into his storage locker to another lure and rig like the one his bass took with it.