Arkansas Pro Produces Only Limit On Day 3.......Has Huge Lead Going Into Final Day

Story by Brent Conway

Hot Springs, AR – Imagine knowing that you were going to work for the next two days, and at the end of it you had a one-and-10 shot at earning yourself $1 million. Now, try imagining that your work involved fishing, and that even without the million-dollar payday being involved, you’d likely still be “working” Saturday and Sunday because it’s just what you do. You are, after all, a bass fisherman.

Well, that dream is a reality as the 10 finalists set out from Brady Mountain Resort Saturday morning to go head-to-head over the next two days to see who will take home the seven-figure prize. To do it though, they’re must outwit the wily Quachita bass that are deep into their summertime doldrums – forcing each of the ten anglers to apply a myriad of techniques to coax them out of hiding and into their Ranger’s live-well.

Coming into the tournament this week, there were a few standouts that made everyone’s lists to be fishing Sunday. Among them was odds-on favorite Mark Davis. The Mt. Ida pro lives on Quachita, and has all of his life and has spent countless thousands of hours fishing and guiding folks on Arkansas’ largest lake.

Unfortunately, Davis – along with fellow Diamond Region local George Cochran – failed to make Friday’s cut, which left Bryant, AR pro and local stick Scott Suggs as the Natural state’s last remaining hope to keep the trophy in-state. 

Suggs finished Friday in second place behind Knoxville, TN pro Jack Wade. With weights being zeroed, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will take home the prize, but you have to place short odds on Suggs given the time he’s spent on Quachita over the years.

By 2:00 Saturday afternoon, the temperature was sitting at a blistering 95 degrees with the humidity close to 90%. The heat and the lack of wind, coupled with heavy spectator traffic pushed the 10 pros to the proverbial edge before the weigh-in began. Quachita has been fishing stingy, but with Wade’s big bag of over 16 pounds Friday, many felt like the weekend could be strong – despite the boats and sun.

However, the long faces that crossed the stage Saturday told the story, but not surprisingly, the only one smiling was Scott Suggs. Suggs took control of the tournament in a big way Saturday with the only limit over 10 pounds. 

Suggs has a four-pound lead going into the final day thanks to Saturdays limit weighing 11 pounds even. Greg Pugh, of Cullman, AL brought two fishing weighing 6 pounds and 15 ounces to the scales ending the day in second place, and staring up at a mountain in front of him for Sunday.

Third place honors Saturday went to David Dudley, who carried four fish weighing just 6 pound 7 ounces to the stage to meet Charlie Evans. Darrel Robertson was in fourth place with three fish weighing 5 pounds 14 ounces.

Rounding out the top five was Mike Surman with two fish weighing 4 pounds and 14 ounces. The mayor of Tallapoosa, GA, Pete Bridges celebrated his 68th birthday by winning $50,000 on the co-angler side of the tournament with a final weight of 6-13.

Here’s how the rest of the pro side shapes up for Sunday:

6. John Devere 3 3-14
7. Clark Wendlandt 1 3-4
8. Bryan Thrift 2 2-12
9. Anthony Gagliardi 1 1-4
10. Jack Wade 0 0-00

Sunday will be for all the marbles, there’s no holding back. If you think it might help you sneak in the back door, you’re going to try it. There isn’t any measurable changes expected in the weather, and, if anything, the spectator and pleasure traffic will only get thicker. Perfect conditions when you’re fishing for $1,000,000.00.

Suggs In Charge
There were two names on the pundit’s list as likely winners this week – Mark Davis and Scott Suggs. Between the two angers, there’s nearly a lifetime of knowledge of the lake. Scott has been a presence at the top of the leader board since day one, and coming down the stretch he’s in control by over four pounds.

Scott said early in the week that he knows every tree and rock along the miles of shoreline, which came in handy Saturday as the bite shifted in a big way. “It was very, very tough today,” Suggs said. “I’m fishing suspended fish, and they move around constantly. 

“This morning I got out there and noticed that they hadn’t let any water out, but I caught two on my first three casts and thought that it was going to be a strong day. From there things just almost crawled to a stop.”

Suggs explained that after the early-morning flurry, he only had five more bites the rest of the day, but only three of them went into his Ranger’s live well. “I messed up on two bites, but everything else that bite me today made it to the weigh-in stage,” he said. 

“The bad thing about the day was that I kept thinking that I was going to need a big bite. As it turned out I didn’t need it, but I really think that tomorrow will be different again.”

For tomorrow, Suggs is content to stay around the deep timber that he’s been on all week knowing that it’s his tournament to lose at this point. “You know, about the only thing I can do right now is just keep plugging away at them,” he said. “I’ve been telling myself all week long that I wouldn’t get nervous, but leading the way out tomorrow I know it’ll get me. 

“I have to stay focused tomorrow. If I lose my head, I’ll wind up letting this thing slip away.”

Pugh Backs Off
Greg Pugh has been hanging around the top of the leader board all week long, but his weights have been going in the wrong direction all week. “Suggs told me this morning to take it easy on them, so I backed off a little bit,” Greg joked from the weigh-in stage. “I had a lot of fish schooling around me today, I just couldn’t get them to bite.”

Pugh shared the sentiments of everyone in the top 10 Saturday regarding the incredibly tough bite. “The day was really frustrating to tell you the truth,” he said. “I threw everything I could at the schooling fish, but never could hook up. I’m around some big fish, I’ve just couldn’t get them to bite today.”

Greg shared that he has no back-up plan in store for Sunday. He’ll just run his water and hope that he’s blessed with enough weight to overcome the four-pound deficit that’s hanging over his head right now. “”I’m going to run my deal again tomorrow and see what happens,” he said. “I’m doing a lot of praying, and with the Lord’s help I’ll go out tomorrow and smoke a big bag.”

Dudley Needs Current
David Dudley managed to sneak into the top 10 cut by only a handful of ounces, but by the end of the say Saturday he’s certain that those ounces may well represent pounds because of the stingy conditions the field as faced with. As everyone’s been saying since last week, the bite at Quachita is tough, but according to Dudley it was even tougher Saturday 

“It was a lot tougher today,” he exclaimed. “What’s hurting us right now is that they’ve let the water come up a little bit and aren’t pulling any out. The fish are just not in a biting mood at all without any current flowing through the lake.” 

“Unless they pull some water overnight, it’s going to be pretty tough on me,” he added “If they’ll pull some water, it’ll put my fish back where I need them.”

Coupled with the intense August head and dead-calm conditions, the spectator traffic intensified the lack of biting fish. “There are a lot of people out there running around and ‘spectating,’ which is the only way that you’re going to learn,” Dudley said. “It just makes it tough to move around.”

Never one to give up hope – knowing that anything is possible where fishing is concerned – Dudley is going to fall back on his practice and hope that the right five bites show up Sunday. “I’m never going to say that I’m out of it, but it’s not looking real good right now,” he said. “I had a pretty good practice, and know that if they’ll pull some water it could get interesting.”

Robertson Couldn’t Hook Up
Darrel Robertson has an FLW Cup in his trophy room at home already; however, he has some space next to it that another one would fit nicely in. “I would like to add more, but I’m going to have to do a little bit better tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t know what the deal was, but I couldn’t get a hook in them.”

Robertson, ever confident, explained that he’s fishing around quality fish, but with the lack of current and high skies, their bite has changed. “I’m around some quality fish, but they bit funny today,” he said. “They would take off with my worm and I would be sure they had it, but when I would go to set the hook they’d be gone.”

Robertson has no plans for any changes to his game plan Sunday, but suggested that a little luck could go a long way towards getting another Cup in his trophy case. “I’m going to do the same thing again tomorrow, and hope that I can stick five,” he said. “I need all the help that I can get right now, so I don’t know.”

Surman Had One Good Bite
Mike Surman charged into the Top 10 Friday on the heels of a near-15-pound limit. Saturday though, things were different and the quality keeper bites he had Friday failed to show up in mass as he crossed the stage three fish shy of a limit. “I only had one good bite today,” he said. “Everything that bit made it to the weigh-in, so you can see that it was brutal today. 

“This is a really good lake, but the sun and lack of wind just killed the bite. Either way, I had a great time today. Anytime you’re fishing for $1 million you can’t be too upset.”

While the bite Saturday never heated up, Surman doesn’t discount the fact that Quachita is full of quality bass. “The good thing is, this lake has some quality fish in it,” he said. “If I can go out tomorrow and catch another bag like I had (Friday) it might turn around for me.”

Wendlandt Out of Fish
Texas pro Clark Wendlandt has fished amid some of the most wicked conditions imaginable. Saturday at Lake Quachita will be high on his list of “worst ever” for sure. “It was hot and tough,” the veteran pro proclaimed. “This was one of the toughest days that I can remember ever having.”

Wendlant struggled all day for the one keeper bite that he had. “I may have run out of fish – I’m not really sure what happened,” he said. “I’m going to have to re-process the day to really figure out what went wrong. I don’t know if it was the sun, the waves, or the lack of current. Either way, they were just shut down.”

Wendlandt doesn’t know what adjustment needs to be made for the final day, but knows that in order to chase down Suggs, he’s going to need a miracle. “I’m just going to have to go out and do the best I can tomorrow,” he said. “I’m really going to have to catch a big bag, which is possible here, but something’s going to have to happen overnight for it to be possible I think.”

DAY THREE STANDINGS