By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff
Saying you need 20 pounds per day to win is one thing, but actually producing those results hasn’t been an easy task at the Pickwick Lake Bassmaster Elite Series. Unless you’re Brandon Lester.
The veteran Elite Series pro bagged a 21-pound, 6-ounce limit on Day 3 of the tournament, giving him a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 63-03. Lester’s weight on Saturday matched the 21-06 he produced on Day 1 and followed his 20-7 from Day 2.
The 34-year-old pro from Fayetteville, Tenn., (about two hours from Pickwick Landing State Park) is the only angler among the 91 who started the tournament who has caught at least 20 pounds daily. It has him in the pole position on the 43,100-acre impoundment of the Tennessee River that flows between Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I’ve been here before. I know you can’t count on things before they happen, but the fish are there.”
Lester didn’t take a long time to find bass Saturday, with his second catch earning him the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Day.
“A 6-13 was my second fish. That was nice,” he said, smiling at the good fortune he hopes to stretch one more day.
Lester has built his lead on a primary location that slopes from 5 to 8 feet in depth. On Day 1, he used a Strike King 4.0 crankbait to catch most of his best bass, though a 6-09 he hooked came on a football jig. The past two days, he’s relied on a Berkley MaxScent Magnum Hit Worm (plum apple) with a 1/8-ounce Mustad tungsten nail weight in the head.
“It’s typical ledge stuff,” he said. “I’m in a small spot. It’s a clean spot and I’m dialed in. I found it the third morning of practice. There was a big tournament won there maybe 10 years ago. I was idling through there and I saw them on my side scope. When I saw them, I knew it was a special spot.”
A pair of Elite Series rookies are his closest competitors.
Cody Huff, a 25-year-old pro from Ava, Mo., who fished collegiately at Bethel University, remained in second place with 59-13. Jacob Foutz, a 23-year-old from Charleston, Tenn., who fished for Bryan College, is third with 58-05.
Both anglers qualified for the Bassmaster Classic when they were in college and worked their way into the Elites through the Bassmaster Opens. Now roommates on the Elite Series, they have vast experience on Pickwick, much like Lester, who has fished competitively here throughout his career.
Huff said earlier that he feels at home on Pickwick and the results show it. He caught a 19-05 limit on Saturday, leaning on a lure that helped him win a college national championship on Oklahoma’s Lake Tenkiller in 2018.
“It’s a Dixie Jet Talon spoon,” he said of his confidence bait. “I caught 22 pounds on it yesterday and 19 pounds today. It has a slow fall for being such a big bait because it’s so wide ... I’ve been throwing the shattered glass color, but I don’t think it makes a difference. You just surprise them with it.”
Foutz was in sixth place heading into Saturday’s action, and he wasted no time making his move up the leaderboard, finishing Day 3 with a 21-04 limit.
“I think in my first seven casts I caught almost 18 pounds,” Foutz said. “I culled up a few more times in the morning and then I pretty much sat there and guarded my hole so no one else could get on it. I’ve caught all my fish pretty much in one spot this week and it keeps reloading.”
Foutz said he knew right away Saturday his spot was going to produce again.
“I think they’re pulling up and feeding on shad,” he said. “They came up schooling this morning. I looked at my cameraman and said 'it’s about to go down.' They were blowing shad out of the water.”
Foutz said he’s caught “95 percent” of his bass this week on a Strike King 10XD crankbait and a Zoom Ol’ Monster worm.
“Most of them have been in about 18 feet of water, sliding down to about 23, 24 feet,” he said.
The Top 10 anglers made the Day-3 cut and will fish Sunday for the $100,000 prize that goes to the winner. Joining Lester, Huff and Foutz are, fourth, Maryland’s Bryan Schmitt, 56-14; fifth, Florida’s John Cox, 56-06; sixth, Texas pro Chris Zaldain, 56-02; seventh, Idaho’s Brandon Palaniuk, 54-09; eighth, Kentucky’s Matt Robertson, 53-08; ninth, Japan’s Kenta Kimura, 53-05; and 10th, Alabama’s Justin Atkins, 53-04.
Zaldain took the lead for the VMC Monster Bag of the tournament with a 22-08 limit Saturday. He said his entire bag was caught in approximately 35 feet of water with 6- and 7-inch prototype swimbaits from Bass Mafia, which he’ll reveal Sunday.
The final day will begin Sunday with a 7 a.m. CT with takeoff from Pickwick Landing State Park in Counce, Tenn. Weigh-in is scheduled for 3:10 p.m.
Day 3 Standings
1. Brandon Lester -- Fayetteville, TN -- 15, 63-03 -- 100
Day 1: 5, 21-06 -- Day 2: 5, 20-07 -- Day 3: 5, 21-06
2. Cody Huff -- Ava, MO -- 15, 59-13 -- 99
Day 1: 5, 18-05 -- Day 2: 5, 22-03 -- Day 3: 5, 19-05
3. Jacob Foutz -- Charleston, TN -- 15, 58-05 -- 98
Day 1: 5, 19-01 -- Day 2: 5, 18-00 -- Day 3: 5, 21-04
4. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 15, 56-14 -- 97
Day 1: 5, 20-05 -- Day 2: 5, 17-12 -- Day 3: 5, 18-13
5. John Cox -- DeBary, FL -- 15, 56-06 -- 96
Day 1: 5, 15-10 -- Day 2: 5, 22-03 -- Day 3: 5, 18-09
6. Chris Zaldain -- Fort Worth, TX -- 15, 56-02 -- 95
Day 1: 5, 17-08 -- Day 2: 5, 16-02 -- Day 3: 5, 22-08
7. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, ID -- 15, 54-09 -- 94
Day 1: 5, 21-13 -- Day 2: 5, 14-11 -- Day 3: 5, 18-01
8. Matt Robertson -- Kuttawa, KY -- 14, 53-08 -- 93
Day 1: 5, 22-06 -- Day 2: 4, 10-11 -- Day 3: 5, 20-07
9. Kenta Kimura -- Osaka, JAPAN -- 15, 53-05 -- 92
Day 1: 5, 17-05 -- Day 2: 5, 17-13 -- Day 3: 5, 18-03
10. Justin Atkins -- Florence, AL -- 15, 53-04 -- 91
Day 1: 5, 18-06 -- Day 2: 5, 14-00 -- Day 3: 5, 20-14
The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 4.
11. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, MN -- 15, 51-02 -- 90 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-07 -- Day 2: 5, 18-12 -- Day 3: 5, 14-15
12. Gregory DiPalma -- Millville, NJ -- 15, 51-02 -- 89 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-14 -- Day 2: 5, 18-02 -- Day 3: 5, 16-02
13. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 15, 50-07 -- 88 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 19-13 -- Day 2: 5, 14-01 -- Day 3: 5, 16-09
14. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, ON -- 15, 50-06 -- 87 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-04 -- Day 2: 5, 17-05 -- Day 3: 5, 16-13
15. KJ Queen -- Catawba, NC -- 15, 50-01 -- 86 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-10 -- Day 2: 5, 15-03 -- Day 3: 5, 19-04
16. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 15, 49-15 -- 85 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-12 -- Day 2: 5, 14-13 -- Day 3: 5, 21-06
17. Taku Ito -- Chiba, JAPAN -- 15, 49-14 -- 84 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-01 -- Day 2: 5, 16-09 -- Day 3: 5, 11-04
18. Caleb Sumrall -- New Iberia, LA -- 15, 49-05 -- 83 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-07 -- Day 2: 5, 14-15 -- Day 3: 5, 19-15
19. Chris Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 15, 49-03 -- 82 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-10 -- Day 2: 5, 16-03 -- Day 3: 5, 15-06
20. Darold Gleason -- Many, LA -- 15, 48-01 -- 81 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-03 -- Day 2: 5, 18-06 -- Day 3: 5, 15-08
21. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, FL -- 15, 47-09 -- 80 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-04 -- Day 2: 5, 14-03 -- Day 3: 5, 16-02
22. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, AZ -- 15, 47-05 -- 79 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-15 -- Day 2: 5, 17-01 -- Day 3: 5, 13-05
23. Buddy Gross -- Chattanooga, TN -- 15, 47-03 -- 78 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-08 -- Day 2: 5, 16-09 -- Day 3: 5, 15-02
24. Scott Canterbury -- Odenville, AL -- 15, 46-07 -- 77 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-12 -- Day 2: 5, 14-09 -- Day 3: 5, 18-02
25. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 15, 46-00 -- 76 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-02 -- Day 2: 5, 12-10 -- Day 3: 5, 11-04
26. Joseph Webster -- Hamilton, AL -- 14, 45-12 -- 75 -- $10,000
Day 1: 4, 13-07 -- Day 2: 5, 17-00 -- Day 3: 5, 15-05
27. Micah Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 15, 45-11 -- 74 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-01 -- Day 2: 5, 16-15 -- Day 3: 5, 14-11
28. Josh Douglas -- Isle, MN -- 15, 45-10 -- 73 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-09 -- Day 2: 5, 15-00 -- Day 3: 5, 13-01
29. Brandon Card -- Salisbury, NC -- 15, 45-05 -- 72 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-00 -- Day 2: 5, 16-01 -- Day 3: 5, 15-04
30. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 15, 44-15 -- 71 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-09 -- Day 2: 5, 15-00 -- Day 3: 5, 12-06
31. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 15, 44-12 -- 70 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-01 -- Day 2: 5, 15-06 -- Day 3: 5, 15-05
32. Shane LeHew -- Catawba, NC -- 15, 43-13 -- 69 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-03 -- Day 2: 5, 15-11 -- Day 3: 5, 11-15
33. Paul Mueller -- Naugatuck, CT -- 15, 43-12 -- 68 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 11-12 -- Day 2: 5, 17-04 -- Day 3: 5, 14-12
34. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, KY -- 15, 43-09 -- 67 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-02 -- Day 2: 5, 15-04 -- Day 3: 5, 14-03
35. Carl Jocumsen -- Queensland, AUS -- 15, 43-07 -- 66 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-13 -- Day 2: 5, 14-05 -- Day 3: 5, 13-05
36. Ray Hanselman Jr -- Del Rio, TX -- 15, 43-01 -- 65 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-14 -- Day 2: 5, 13-10 -- Day 3: 5, 13-09
37. Jacob Powroznik -- North Prince George, VA 15 -- 42-00 -- 64 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-00 -- Day 2: 5, 13-14 -- Day 3: 5, 11-02
38. Cliff Prince -- Palatka, FL -- 15, 41-14 -- 63 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-13 -- Day 2: 5, 12-15 -- Day 3: 5, 12-02
39. Lee Livesay -- Longview, TX -- 15, 41-07 -- 62 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-11 -- Day 2: 5, 15-05 -- Day 3: 5, 13-07
40. Tyler Rivet -- Raceland, LA -- 15, 40-06 -- 61 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 12-03 -- Day 2: 5, 17-07 -- Day 3: 5, 10-12
41. Jonathan Kelley -- Old Forge, PA -- 15, 39-12 -- 60 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-10 -- Day 2: 5, 16-05 -- Day 3: 5, 10-13
42. Drew Benton -- Blakely, GA -- 15, 39-05 -- 59 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-11 -- Day 2: 5, 12-04 -- Day 3: 5, 10-06
43. Bryan New -- Saluda, SC -- 13, 39-01 -- 58 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-07 -- Day 2: 4, 13-02 -- Day 3: 4, 11-08
44. Jason Williamson -- Wagener, SC -- 11, 37-04 -- 57 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-04 -- Day 2: 5, 17-00 -- Day 3: 1, 03-00
45. Clark Wendlandt -- Leander, TX -- 13, 36-00 -- 56 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-07 -- Day 2: 5, 14-08 -- Day 3: 3, 07-01
46. Koby Kreiger -- Alva, FL -- 13, 34-10 -- 55 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-02 -- Day 2: 5, 15-09 -- Day 3: 3, 06-15
47. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 13, 34-03 -- 54 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 12-12 -- Day 2: 5, 15-10 -- Day 3: 3, 05-13
