CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 5-pound lead will be difficult toovercome, but Britt Myers is sticking to his guns.Dave Wolak posted a 15-06 bag to lead the top six qualifiers into Sunday's final of the BassmasterAmerican presented by Advanced Auto Parts, but Myers is still holding out hope for friend Jason Quinn Bassmaster.com asked Myers, a CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series rookie, to assess the season's second major on hishome water of Lake Wylie. Quinn, the local favoriteand Myers' good friend, tied Takahiro Omori with 8-06 for the sixth and final spot."It was an exciting weigh-in," Myers said. "It's ironic, Jason tied with Takahiro yesterday, as well. Wepretty much followed Jason all day. He caught a bunch of keepers, he just never got a good solid fish."Wolak must have been catching them all, bringing hissecond 15-6 bag of the week to lead Gerald Swindle by almost five pounds.
"That's a strong lead," Myers said. "Somebody's going to have to catch a really big stringer and Wolak not catch anything, or he's going to win it. He's got something figured out."Myers again said he anticipated better bags."Iexpected higher numbers. It's fresh water, nobody's fished it. The lake, I believe, is turning over as we speak. It's the time of year where the entire lake just turns over. "There's a lot of fish suspended, so the topwater fishing hasn't been that great. The bait fish are scattered everywhere, the bass are not keying on one thing."Quinn's hope to make up his 7-pound deficit is slim, but Myers said it is possible. Wolak's two big bags sandwiched a 4-13 stringer Friday."Jason is going to have to catch about 15 pounds and hope Wolak slips," he said. "The deep water was actually pretty good today for Jaosn. I kind of expected that, he just never got a big bite. He just has to do the exact same thing and hope for a bigger bite."Jason has the potential — his fish are starting to bite deep — for a 20-pound stringer. I've seen it many times."
And Quinn would like nothing more than to not disappoint his friend.