LIVE BLOG: MDJ Tops 100 Pounds, Elimination Line Drama on Day 3

LAKE FORK, Texas – There’s a lot at stake today on Lake Fork for Qualifying Day 3 of the General Tire Stage Three Presented by TrueTimber. The 40 anglers in Group A are fishing to get themselves into the Top 20 and above the Elimination Line. The 20 pros with the most total weight at the end of the day will be moving on to the Knockout Round on Tuesday.

It’s also worth noting that the angler that finishes in first place on SCORETRACKER® at the end of the day earns an automatic bid to the Championship Round. That bid has proven itself very valuable in the past as we saw Jacob Wheeler win Stage One thanks to that bid.

Wheeler’s good friend Mark Daniels, Jr. begins the day in first place with 24 bass for 84 pounds, 15 ounces, more than 12 pounds ahead of second-place Jeff Sprague.

6:00 p.m. CT — Lines are out for Group A’s final Qualifying Round. Mark Daniels, Jr. is today’s winner with 31 bass for 111-15 and will advance straight to Wednesday’s Championship Round. The top 19 anglers from Group A are moving on to Tuesday’s Knockout Round.

5:06 p.m. CT — Mark Daniels, Jr. is having a little bit of trouble with his trolling motor. He has requested a new boat from MLF and it is on its way. He is currently idling from spot to spot and using his Power-Poles to hold his spot. He just reeled in a scorable bass, saying “No trolling motor, no problem. We ain’t quitting.”

4:52 p.m. CT — Fletcher Shryock is in the unenviable position of 20th place. He is 6-11 ahead of 21st-place Brett Hite, so he has a little bit of cushion. However, we’ve seen what is lurking in Lake Fork, so all it will take is one swing of the rod to jump into the Top 20 for Hite.

4:26 p.m. CT — Mark Daniels, Jr. looks to be on cruise control now, more than 12 pounds ahead of Jason Christie and Jeff Sprague. Sprague mentioned that he is going to spend his remaining time observing different water and somewhat practicing since he believes Daniels has first place wrapped up.

3:50 p.m. CT — Brett Hite has knocked Terry Scroggins out of the Top 20. Hite has 57-9, 1-6 ahead of Scroggins and 1-11 ahead of Takahiro Omori for the final spot in the Top 20.

3:02 p.m. CT — Keith Poche has the new Berkley Big Bass of the day with a 9-9. Poche moves up to ninth place and nearly 21 pounds above the Elimination Line. It might be safe to assume that Poche has a spot in the Knockout Round locked up after that one.

2:32 p.m. CT — It hasn’t been an easy day for Fletcher Shryock. After catching more than 57 pounds on Day 1, Shryock has not registered a scorable bass today. He was in eighth place to start the day but has since fallen to 19th.

2:06 p.m. CT — Mark Daniels, Jr. just hopped over the 100-pound mark with a 5-pounder. Jason Christie has now moved ahead of Jeff Sprague for second place and 9-8 behind Daniels.

Terry Scroggins holds the final spot in the Top 20 with 56 pounds, 3 ounces. Brett Hite, Cody Meyer, James Elam, Takahiro Omori, and Timmy Horton are all within 10 pounds of catching Terry.

1:27 p.m. CT — Luke Clausen and Greg Hackney have rocketed up SCORETRACKER® today thanks to impressive number. Hackney has brought in over 30 pounds of bass today, the most in the field of 40. Clausen is right behind Hackney with 29-7 today, enough to move him from 25th place to ninth.

12:17 p.m. CT — Less than 15 minutes remain in Period 1 and it is tight near the Elimination Line. Shin Fukae holds the No. 20 spot with 50-7. Cody Meyer, Timmy Horton and James Elam are just one scorable bass away from jumping ahead of Fukae. Terry Scroggins is only 2-5 back of 20th place.

11:52 a.m. CT — We just witnessed a cool moment between Jeff Sprague and Cody Meyer. Both anglers are fishing for their lives on Lake Fork, but Sprague rolled up to an area Meyer was already fishing. Sprague knew there was a fish on a bed in the area, and he asked Meyer if he would let him fish it. Meyer obliged, as he was already fishing the opposite side of the pocket. A nice display of sportsmanship between two guys competing for a spot in the Top 20.

11:45 a.m. CT — Fletcher Shryock is the only angler in the Top 20 that has yet to catch a scorable bass. Shin Fukae has fallen from 16th place to 20th after catching only one bass for 2-15 today. The biggest mover so far has been Josh Bertrand, who has jumped from 23rd place to 16th place.

11:30 a.m. CT — Jeff Sprague has gotten to within 10 pounds of Mark Daniels, Jr. Sprague has cut the deficit to 8-11 just an hour and a half into Period 1. We have a long way to go in this one in the battle for the automatic bid to the Championship Round.

11:05 a.m. CT — We have a new Berkley Big Bass of the Day, this one from Bobby Lane. Lane just brought in an 8-2, jumping ahead of Cody Meyer’s 7-4. Lane is now in seventh place on SCORETRACKER® with 63-8.

10:38 a.m. CT — Jeff Sprague caught a 6-4 to start his day, inching closer to Mark Daniels, Jr. However, MDJ quickly responded with a 5-12 to push his lead back to double digits.

10:18 a.m. CT — Josh Bertrand just caught a 4-1 to move above the Elimination Line and into 18th place with 42-14. He said that he believes it’s going to take at least 30 pounds of fish for him to make the Knockout Round.

10:11 a.m. CT — MDJ just mentioned what was going through his mind this morning. The place he wanted to start had quite a few boats in the area, so he decided to move on to a different area. He said that he expects today to be more about moving around and trying to figure new stuff out than staying in the same spot all day like on Day 1.

10:06 a.m. CT — We just saw Andy Morgan pull in his first bass of the day. It looks like he has a Texas-rigged beaver-style bait that he is flipping along the bank. Second-place angler Jeff Sprague seems to be sight fishing a bed while leader Mark Daniels, Jr. looks like he is starting in the same place where he spent his entire Day 1.