Amistad Midday Update – Day 3
Tougher conditions on day three challenge the field
Lake Amistad was in a stingy mood for the final day of Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division action, as evidenced by a lot of long-faced anglers with lots of vacancy in their livewells. A slightly warmer day began with flat, calm conditions, but a light breeze was gaining some consistency by early afternoon. It’s possible that the growing ripples may break up the surface enough to stimulate a few fish into chasing reaction baits.
Yesterday’s leader, Ray Hanselman, set a high bar with 25 pounds, 15 ounces. Carrying a lead of 9-7 into today’s competition, Hanselman struggled most of the morning. For perspective, he had about 20 pounds of Friday’s weight by 8:30. Today found him with a limit of small keepers for maybe 8 to 9 pounds at 10:30.
Today’s tough scenario will certainly benefit Hanselman’s cause, provided no one finds their way into a late-day rally. In truth, it’s going to take a pretty epic comeback to surpass Hanselman’s early heroics, but this is Lake Amistad, and plenty of weight swims here.
Hanselman alternated between a crankbait and jerkbait most of the morning, but eventually pulled out a drop-shot to coax a couple of his keepers. Yesterday, he upgraded a couple of times in the afternoon, so if today affords similar opportunities, he’ll be unstoppable.
We saw more spinning rods today than yesterday, so take that as an indication of dire times on Amistad. Several anglers were throwing Carolina rigs, but the umbrella rig got plenty of airtime today as well.
Quality and quantity were in short supply today, but a few anglers found good fish. Third-place pro Tim Flowers showed us a 3-pounder, as did Jeff Reynolds. Jeff Kriet had a nice one in the box, though Jeff Sprague’s 5-plus was the largest we saw by midday.
It will be interesting to see if the afternoon wind increase offers day-making opportunities for anyone. Kriet, who placed fifth yesterday, was throwing a topwater walking bait on shallow points when the occasion seemed right. He had seen big fish moving up and one particular quality bass bust the surface. Such scenarios could quickly fill or fatten a limit, and that’s just what the field will be seeking in the tournament’s closing hours.
The final weigh-in begins at 3:30 p.m. CT at the Diablo East boat launch. Watch live on the FLW home page.