Clark Wendlandt caught his first keeper, a 1-2, at 8:28 this morning. It’s not one he hopes to have in his livewell at weigh-in time, of course. But it’s a keeper, and it came a lot quicker than his first keeper at Lake Guntersville last week.
Wendlandt, who kept his spot atop the Angler of the Year standings, dodged a bullet in doing so. As the noon hour approached on Guntersville, Wendlandt didn’t have a keeper and was bailing on everything he expected to do after practice.
The 54-year-old, Cedar Park, Texas, resident finished 42nd on Day 1, and was in danger of missing his second top 40 cut of the year. (He was 46th at Lake Champlain.) But Wendlandt moved up the standings the next two days, making the cut in 35th-place on Day 2 and moving up to 21st on Day 3.
Rather than losing his AOY points lead, Wendlandt increased it. As this tournament begins, Taku Ito is in second place, 25 points behind Wendlandt, followed by Seth Feider, 37 points back; Scott Canterbury, 40 points behind; and Brock Mosley and Cory Johnston, tied for fifth place, 51 points back.
