Day 3: On the water struggles

Thomas Allen follows the Elites on Day 3 as they work to remain in contention on Championship Sunday on Wheeler Lake. With the leaders of the tournament covered, it was his team’s job to find as many of the remaining Top 50 and keep up to date on how their day is going.

We found Bobby Lane in the spot where he had caught most of his fish. We showed up shortly after he had his first keeper. This other fisherman was also on the hunt.

We stayed with Lane for a while, but he didn’t catch a fish while we were near him. He said that there were quite a few additional boats in the area, and that is added pressure he didn’t want to deal with.

He fished a while longer before deciding to make a longer run up the Elk River. We decided to look for more anglers, and wouldn’t you know it–Lane started catching them after we went a different direction.

Fortunately, this guy decided to go a different direction as well.

Next up was Josh Bertrand, who had two small fish at this point. He was fishing a small gap between a point and an island that was showing a lot of fish on his graph. He worked several different baits before pushing to the backside of the island.

We hung out with Bertrand for a while, but he didn’t catch anything while we were there. But as soon we left he caught a few.

Next we found Hank Cherry who said he was about to catch some fish. So, we stuck around.

Cherry didn’t disappoint and hooked up. He needs to cull one fish out to become more comfortable. This one might help.

This one isn’t a giant, but it’ll cull up for him. He was fishing a submerged treetop that has produced quality fish for him all week, this one will help.

Back to the livewell to do some culling. Every ounce counts.

As soon as the small fish is released, Cherry moves back to the front of his boat and begins casting again. He said that he caught a few big fish from this spot, but he wasn’t sure if it would produce again.

On the very next cast, he hooks up again, and it looks to be the same size as the last. It may or may not help.

He flips it in the boat, and as expected it’s nearly the same size as the last one, and likely won’t help.

Cherry is happy to be catching fish, and we’re happy to be photographing fish. It’s a win/win.

Behind Cherry, a group of kids is about to enjoy an afternoon of fishing from a local fishing dock.

Cherry’s seen enough of this spot. He yanks up the trolling motor and heads to greener pastures.

On the first cast at his next spot, Cherry catches a small white bass: A big-bass snack.

Another cast and he hooks up again. He seems to be on the fish, unfortunately they aren’t big. He needs a big fish to better his limit. He won’t stick it out very long if he can’t find a bigger fish here.

This bass is an angry one, but it doesn’t appear to be the size Cherry needs.

Cherry flips it into the boat and readies the bump board.

Cherry knows without pulling the cull beam out that this fish won’t help his total.

As soon as we pull up on Justin Lucas, he hooks into a fish–one that he badly needs. He fights it back to the boat hoping it’ll measure.

The bass goes airborne, and throws the hooks in Lucas’ face.

At this point in his day, that was one he really needed and he’s clearly frustrated. We hung around for a while, but Lucas wouldn’t find another fish while we were covering him. And, of course after we took off he found a pretty good fish.

Just up the shoreline was Jared Lintner. He was also struggling with only a small fish. In fact, as we were pulling up he caught a small fish that barely measured. But, at this point, that helps

As he flips the small fish into the boat, Lintner’s marshal looks concerned.

A near miss, other than a brief shower.

Lintner said that this was a fine representation of his day. His posture indicates that he is pretty frustrated.

Behind us, somebody is having a lot of fun. I don’t care who you are, watching labs jump off of docks never gets old.

This pup is happy, no question about it.

I’ll give him a 10!

Lintner skips a jig under a dock, a fish almost immediately picks it up. He sets the hook and…..

… nothing again.

Frustration is written all over his face, he said that he just can win. Bass fishing can be humbling sometimes.

On the way back, we run across Takahiro Omori’s flotilla of spectator boats. They’re giving him enough room, which is a good thing.