HEMPHILL, Texas – Even before day three of the Stren Series Texas event began with competitors blasting off this morning on Toledo Bend, there were already 72 bass boats fishing within sight of the Highway 6 Bridge.
Another huge tournament, the McDonald’s Big Bass Splash, had already begun, and a flotilla of boats were probing the deep flats, breaks and ledges at the mouth of Carrice Creek as the Stren Series competitors were released to join in the fray.
Due to the large number of participants in the Big Bass Splash – an estimation of at least a thousand boats – fishing will change on Toledo Bend today.
Like the boats gathered in front of Carrice Creek, any decent deep-water ledge or flat is bound to have a wad of boats on top of it, mining the depths for big bass all day.
“I already know most of my deep spots will have boats on them,” said Tommy Martin, who is currently in third place. “And at that point, it really becomes a matter of fishing the fishermen – carefully watching other boats to see if they might be missing something. If I see two or three boats saturating an area really well, I won’t even mess with it. But if a see two or three boats that, in my opinion, are not fishing the cover right, then I’ll kind of get in there and wait my turn.”
Tournament leader Stephen Johnston has incorporated the large number of boats into his strategy from the beginning by dedicating six days of practice to finding solid keepers in “nothing looking” 
water far away from the well-known community areas.
“We’re going to see how well my plan works out over the next couple of days,” Johnston noted. “There has not been a boat on my backup fish over the last several days, but I have not checked them either. For all I know, they might be gone. But if things get ultratough today and tomorrow, I’d sure like to slide in there and catch about 15 pounds to hold myself in contention for another win.”
Should Johnston win, it will be his second Stren Series win in 2007, and it will further his lead in the Texas Division points race.
Friday’s day-two weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. at Frontier Park & Marina located at 360 Frontier Drive in Hemphill, Texas. For those unable to catch the weigh-in action in person, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, an online application that brings fans real-time weigh-in results, streaming video and audio.
Friday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:11 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 73 degrees
Expected high temperature: 93 degrees
Water temperature: 86 degrees
Forecasted winds: light and variable
Day’s outlook: hot, 30-percent chance of storms