Stormy start to final round
Stren Series Central Division anglers brace for severe weather
DENISON, Texas – In a four-day tournament where weights are cleared after the opening round, day three can best be described as judgment day. When the top anglers in the field sack big weights on day one, they often use day two as an extra practice day.
Whatever was accomplished the first two days means little as everyone’s weights zero out and the top-20 anglers in each division engage in a two-day shootout.
On other words, the real fun is about to begin.
The happiest two anglers at the start of day three were pro Billy Cline and his co-angler partner Paul Brunson. Both anglers squeaked into the top 20, but that doesn’t matter much now.
“That’s just as good as the guy who caught 30 pounds,” said Cline, who plans to fish for reaction bites early in the day. “I think you’ll see better weights today than you have all week.”
Tournament veteran Chris McCall could be the one to watch over the next two days. McCall has made the top-20 cutoff in each of the first three Stren Series Central Division qualifying events. Adding to McCall’s dangerous factor is that he got the monkey off his back with a Stren Series victory on Sam Rayburn last month.
“This schedule was the reason I didn’t fish the FLW Series,” explained McCall.
Even scarier is the fact that McCall considers this is home water. Although he now lives on Sam Rayburn, he grew up fishing Lake Texoma.
“I feel good about my chances. This is my favorite time of year to be here. On Texoma, it always comes down to the big bite.”
If anything can stop McCall it might be Mother Nature. The weather in the Denison area calls for thunderstorms, some possibly of the severe variety, throughout the day. The temperature at takeoff was a balmy 65 degrees, but the high is only expected to reach 67 degrees.
Spotted on the deck of McCall’s Ranger were a variety of spinnerbaits. In a tournament where finesse fishing has been the primary pattern, it appears the A&W pro plans to take advantage of cloudy weather and fish fast.
The day-three weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. Central time at the Wal-Mart store located at 401 Highway 75 North in Denison. Bass fishing fans who are unable to attend the weigh-in in person can watch via FLW Live. Following today’s competition, both the pro and co-angler fields will be cut to the top 10 anglers for Saturday’s final round.
Friday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:40 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 65 degrees
Expected high temperature: 67 degrees
Water temperature: 63-68 degrees
Wind: SE at 14 mph
Maximum humidity: 83 percent
Day’s outlook: rain/thunder