Lake Chickamauga Day 3 Coverage
Complete coverage of stop No. 6 of the 2019 FLW Tour
QUICK LINKS
FLW Live Leaderboard – CLICK HERE
Day 3 OTW Gallery – click here
2:00 – That’s a wrap
Buddy Gross’ afternoon spots are heating up for him. The last fish he caught culled for a little over a pound. He’s fishing a shell bar with his big white crankbait. All the fish he's catching are postspawn. Buddy has one fish in the livewell that he should easily cull before the day is over.
Realistically, David Dudley and John Cox have the best shot at catching up to Matt Greenblatt today. Dudley is back to the bank with his wacky rig, and Cox is still grinding away with his swim jig. The other pros are all looking to solidify their spots in the top 10. If you check out the FLW Live Leaderboard (which we just closed down), you will notice that the weights are stacked between spots 10 and 16. It ‘outta be fun to see who gets the 10 spot and goes fishing on Sunday.
The last two days we’ve had some surprise bags show up at the Dayton Boat Dock. If you’re in town, be sure to swing by and check out the FLW Expo beforehand. For those from afar, tune in to flwfishing.com at 3:30 p.m. ET to watch the first-ever Dee Zee FLW/KBF Kayak Open presented by YakAttack weigh-in and then stick around to see the FLW Tour pros cross the stage.
1:20 p.m. – The bite is picking up
The fish catches are coming in pretty good now. The leader, Matt Greenblatt, made two culls in the last 15 minutes. Both fish came off a wacky-rigged Senko. Greenblatt’s fish seem to be reloading into his primary area. It will be difficult for anyone else to catch up to him today.
Chris Whitson boated a Chickamauga giant fishing near the bank. Judging these big fish can be tough, but Whitson’s marshal thinks it’s at least 8 pounds. James Niggemeyer has been giving his flipping stick a pretty good workout since the rain stopped. His limit is worth about 16 or so pounds.
John Cox is on the verge of getting a big bite. He’s getting bumped by a lot of fish on his white swim jig. Cox isn’t weighing his fish before he throws them in the livewell, so the estimations could be a little low. If he does hook up with a big girl, things will be interesting atop the leaderboard.
12:45 p.m. – Chap attack
Glenn Chappelear hasn’t caught many fish today, but he’s getting the right bites. His sixth fish of the day is about a 5-pounder. That fish came off a ledge with a minnow-type bait. A few more of them and he may be going fishing on Sunday.
12:30 p.m. – Getting back at it
Not much is going on right now for the top 30. The heavy rain and lightning has all but moved on, and it seems like everyone is trying to get dialed in on their fish. Today, weigh-in starts at 4 p.m. ET, so they will get that extra hour to figure the fish out.
|
PLACE |
NAME |
DAY 1 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
DAY 2 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
DAY 3 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
DAY 1 – 3 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
BEHIND |
|
1 |
MATT GREENBLATT |
23 – 5 (5) |
19 – 13 (5) |
20 – 12 (5) |
63 – 14 (15) |
|
|
2 |
DAVID DUDLEY |
22 – 2 (5) |
20 – 1 (5) |
18 – 10 (5) |
60 – 13 (15) |
3 – 1 |
|
3 |
JOHN COX |
24 – 11 (5) |
17 – 15 (5) |
14 – 8 (5) |
57 – 2 (15) |
6 – 12 |
|
4 |
BUDDY GROSS |
17 – 12 (5) |
20 – 10 (5) |
17 – 0 (4) |
55 – 6 (14) |
8 – 8 |
|
5 |
RAMIE COLSON JR |
23 – 2 (5) |
15 – 8 (5) |
14 – 8 (5) |
53 – 2 (15) |
10 – 12 |
|
6 |
AUSTIN FELIX |
21 – 0 (5) |
17 – 15 (5) |
14 – 0 (5) |
52 – 15 (15) |
10 – 15 |
|
7 |
DAVID G WILLIAMS |
17 – 3 (5) |
17 – 8 (5) |
18 – 4 (5) |
52 – 15 (15) |
10 – 15 |
|
8 |
JAMES NIGGEMEYER |
19 – 11 (5) |
15 – 14 (5) |
14 – 12 (5) |
50 – 5 (15) |
13 – 9 |
|
9 |
JARED MCMILLAN |
20 – 9 (5) |
18 – 8 (5) |
11 – 0 (5) |
50 – 1 (15) |
13 – 13 |
|
10 |
ALEX DAVIS |
18 – 1 (5) |
16 – 12 (5) |
15 – 4 (5) |
50 – 1 (15) |
13 – 13 |
11:55 a.m. – Top 10 update
Cox gave up on the sight-fishing game and is now burning the bank with a white swim jig. The area he’s fishing in has a lot of sawgrass and laydowns. It’s a super juicy looking stretch of bank.
Jared McMillan made a few culls in the last hour but is now taking cover from the storm. Matt Greenblatt, along with his two chase boats, are also taking cover in a boat house.
Everyone in the top 10 still has room to upgrade their limits. The storm is for sure going to change the water conditions on Chickamauga. We will find out soon if it's for better or worse.
11:30 a.m. – Cox gets his fifth
Right before the rain hit John Cox’s area he caught what he said was a 4-pounder. However, it sure looked to be a little beefier than 4 pounds. The fish absolutely choked a jig tipped with a Berkley MaxScent Chunk. He thinks he might have figured something out.
Ramie Colson Jr. rolled onto a flurry of fish. In a matter of minutes the Kentucky pro made a few culls and is now in the top five, unofficially.
Austin Felix couldn't handle the rain and is now taking cover under a dock. Smart decision from the Minnesota pro as the weather is pretty nasty.
11:15 a.m. – Taking cover
A handful of anglers are taking cover from the absolute downpour happening right now. Buddy Gross, Bradford Beavers and most of our on-the-water photographers are all docked up. Matt Greenblatt is about to head out and take shelter too. One of the guys sticking it out is Austin Felix. He’s actually fishing right about 50 yards from one of our photographers. It’s raining so hard that our photographer can hardly see him.
Billy McCaghren, Jason Reyes, James Niggemeyer and Tim Frederick have all connected with keepers recently. Other than that, the fish catches have slowed down a lot. Once the rain passes through we should see the action pick up some.
10:45 a.m. – Williams gets a hawg
David Williams' marshal reported that the South Carolina pro just stuck a 9-pounder near a dock. Assuming it’s a true 9-pounder, Williams' fish would be the biggest fish of the day.
Austin Felix was working some offshore ledges and connected with a 5 and a 3 in back-to-back casts. He’s using a white colored crankbait. Felix is really ripping the bait hard when pulling it back to the boat.
The rain is starting to pick up on the western and lower parts of Chick. Obviously, electronics and water do not go well together so the on-the-water updates from the marshals and our photography crew may come in a little slower than usual. Keep an eye on FLW Live for the latest action.
10:15 a.m. – Weather is rolling in
Cox found a 4-pounder on a bed, but can’t get it to go. He will need to start catching that caliber of fish if he wants to stay on par with Greenblatt.
Alex Davis hasn’t culled up much, but is still catching fish. He’s using a ton of classic ledge baits to keep his fish fired up. He said, “This is the best they’ve bit since the first day of practice.”
The weather is also starting to rumble up a little bit. According to most weather stations, the Dayton, Tenn., area is about to get hit by pretty consistent thunderstorms. We will see if that holds true. The weather of east Tennessee is known to be pretty unpredictable.
9:55 a.m. – Greenblatt gets a game changer
Matt Greenblatt just caught a 7-pound, 3-ounce beauty, which gave him a 5-plus-pound cull. That fish also put him back in the lead with a 3-pound cushion. He caught the fish after bombing a long cast out with his spinning rod. Matt thinks he landed his bait right in the big girl's bed. After catching the fish he said, “They say when it’s your day, it’s your day. When it’s your time, it’s your time.”
9:30 a.m. – Spring pattern?
We just got a report that Andrew Upshaw is fishing a spring just like Alex Davis, and the fish seem to be stacked up like crazy. The only difference is Andrew’s spot isn’t that far from the bank. The size of the fish isn’t anything too impressive, but he still has a lot of time to sift through them. We don’t often hear too much about springs, but the fish are definitely being attracted to them today.
9:20 a.m. – Dunkin, Davis
|
PLACE |
NAME |
DAY 1 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
DAY 2 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
DAY 3 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
DAY 1 – 3 LBS-OZ (#FISH) |
BEHIND |
|
1 |
DAVID DUDLEY |
22 – 2 (5) |
20 – 1 (5) |
18 – 6 (5) |
60 – 9 (15) |
|
|
2 |
MATT GREENBLATT |
23 – 5 (5) |
19 – 13 (5) |
11 – 8 (4) |
54 – 10 (14) |
5 – 15 |
|
3 |
BUDDY GROSS |
17 – 12 (5) |
20 – 10 (5) |
14 – 12 (3) |
53 – 2 (13) |
7 – 7 |
|
4 |
JOHN COX |
24 – 11 (5) |
17 – 15 (5) |
8 – 8 (3) |
51 – 2 (13) |
9 – 7 |
|
5 |
ALEX DAVIS |
18 – 1 (5) |
16 – 12 (5) |
15 – 4 (5) |
50 – 1 (15) |
10 – 8 |
|
6 |
AUSTIN FELIX |
21 – 0 (5) |
17 – 15 (5) |
9 – 8 (4) |
48 – 7 (14) |
12 – 2 |
|
7 |
LUKE DUNKIN |
15 – 3 (5) |
17 – 0 (5) |
15 – 12 (5) |
47 – 15 (15) |
12 – 10 |
|
8 |
BILLY MCCAGHREN |
23 – 0 (5) |
15 – 14 (5) |
7 – 8 (4) |
46 – 6 (14) |
14 – 3 |
|
9 |
DAVID G WILLIAMS |
17 – 3 (5) |
17 – 8 (5) |
11 – 4 (5) |
45 – 15 (15) |
14 – 10 |
|
10 |
DICKY NEWBERRY |
20 – 1 (5) |
15 – 0 (5) |
10 – 8 (5) |
45 – 9 (15) |
15 – 0 |
Luke Dunkin already has 15 pounds or so in his livewell. Luke is out on a ledge throwing throwing shad-imitation baits and a jig. He will most likely need more to make the top-10 cut, but either way he’s had a nice tournament.
Alabama pro Alex Davis found a sweet spot offshore this morning. Currently, he’s got 15 pounds in the box and is still catching fish. Davis’ marshal reported that the spot may have a spring that’s helping school the fish up.
8:40 a.m. – Baits
David Dudley’s first three keepers came on the tail end of a shad spawn. He caught them on a swim jig with a twin-tail trailer. Now, he is going to do some damage with the good ol’ wacky rig and just put No. 4 in the box.
Buddy Gross’ big fish came on a giant crankbait. He is one of the first guys we’ve seen throw the big plug this week.
John Cox also got on the board with a 4 1/2-pounder. It's no surprise the fish came from a shallow bed. Cox was most likely using a stick bait of some sort.
8:05 a.m. – Fishing is hot
Buddy Gross is off to a fast start on Chick and now is unofficially leading the tournament. He’s already boated a 6, 3 1/2 and a 4 1/2. You couldn’t ask for a much better start than that. It looks like Buddy is fishing offshore.
Dicky Newberry also got things going early by putting a quick limit of small fish in the boat. The day-two leader Matt Greenblatt has put three fish in the boat. He’s fishing his shallow backwater area. David Dudley just sacked up his third fish – an 8-pound beauty.
Fishing is definitely off to a sweet start this morning on Chick. Be sure to watch FLW Live ASAP because at any point you could see a monster get caught in real time.
7 a.m. – Greenblatt, Cox, Dudley lead the charge
Though Matt Greenblatt sits atop the leaderboard at Lake Chickamauga, only ounces separate him from John Cox and David Dudley. And on Chickamauga, you play with pounds, not ounces.
The bass are still finishing up the spawn. How many are still out there and how cooperative they'll be remains to be seen. Scattered thunderstorms will make sight-fishing an even bigger challenge, though many spawners have been caught by blind-casting in key spawning areas.
The big story today will be how the spawn bite holds up against the postspawn bite as bass finish their annual reproductive rites and pour onto transition areas and eventually to the ledges. One thing is for certain: It's far from over. There's a ton of action left here in east Tennessee.
CONDITIONS
Temperature at takeoff: 64 degrees
Forecast high: 75 degrees
Sky: partly cloudy
Precipitation: scattered thunderstorms; 60 percent chance of rain
Wind: SSW at 5 mph
TOURNAMENT DETAILS
Presented by Evinrude
Hosted by Fish Dayton/Rhea Economic & Tourism Council
Takeoff: 7 a.m. ET at Dayton Boat Dock, 175 Lakeshore Street, Dayton, TN
Weigh-in: 3 p.m. ET at Dayton Boat Dock days one and two; 4 p.m. ET at Dayton Boat Dock days three and four
FLW Expo: 2-6 p.m. ET at Dayton Boat Dock
FLW Live: 3 p.m. ET through the end of weigh-in