Young Patrick Walters came into Day 3 at Lake Fork with an 11-pound, 3-ounce lead over second-place Ed Loughran. Boom! It jumped to 23-4 less than 30 minutes after the 6:40 a.m. takeoff. The 26-year-old, Summerville, S.C., angler caught a 9-pound, 1-ounce bass at 7:01 and added a 3-pounder six minutes later.
Walters just keeps adding accomplishments to an outstanding season. He’s on the verge of being triple-qualified for the Bassmaster Classic: 1) He’s going to finish in the top five in Bassmaster Angler of the Year points; 2) he won a Basspro.com Bassmaster Open at Lake Hartwell; and 3) an automatic Classic berth goes to the winner of this tournament.