Nation: Day 3 on the water

Ian MacDonald, representing Illinois, has been flipping main-river wood all day.

“I’m flipping a blue-and-black jig with a watermelon rage craw on the end,” MacDonald said. “And, boy they ate it yesterday.”

“I’ll have to come back and try this spot when the sun is high,” MacDonald said.

Namibian angler Max Pieper is found fishing a spot he calls “Max’s logjam.”

Yesterday Pieper caught two little ones and broke off a big one around the same spot and made a note to mark his area.

Saturday, Pieper has three and “one is bigger.”

When asked about the Ouachita River compared to his home waters in Namibia, Pieper said, “It’s so green here. We definitely don’t have all the trees and laydowns to fish.”

“I think these fish hang out right here because there’s a bend in the river here,” Pieper speculated. “The current pushes them up against the bank.”

Brian Trieschman of Maryland is found fishing around some significant structure.

“I’ve got three fish working these rocks,” Trieschman said.

Arkansas angler Josh Wray caught his two best fish at 9:45 this morning.

“Yesterday I fished the whole five-mile stretch down here,” Wray said.

“They hit pretty much all day yesterday,” Wray said. “It’s much slower today, but the river’s come back up like 3 inches.”

Wray moves down the bank to fish around a boat docked on the bank.

Randy Huffman, representing West Virginia, has been running all day.

“I think I’ve picked up my trolling motor about 30 or 40 times today,” Huffman said.

“I’ve got four fish,” Huffman said. “But, three just barely measure.”

Mark Wiese Jr., representing Missouri, said it’s been a slow grind all day.

Another competitor makes a run past Wiese.

“I caught mine early about five miles up the river on some spinnerbaits and a beaver bait,” Wiese said.

“You’ve got to cover a lot of water to get a bite,” Wiese said.