Posted -  April 26th, 2008 7:42pm CST

Top Six Separated By Less Than Three Pounds

Story by Dru Smith - Photos by Dan O'Sullivan & Matt Pangrac

Huntersville, N.C. – Day three and the Man from Magnolia still leads the Wal-Mart FLW Open on Lake Norman. Sean Hoernke bested the ten man field with five fish that weighed 13 pounds, 5 ounces. With just one day remaining, Sean will take a 10 ounce lead into Sunday’s final round with the top prize being $200,000.00.

Sean is followed closely by Jim Moynagh who boated a limit totaling 12-11. Scott Canterbury rebounded from a tough day two and posted 11 pounds, 6 ounces to take the third spot. 

Art Ferguson and Greg Pugh are in a tie for fourth after each brought 10-13 to the scales on Saturday. If this had been the final day, Ferguson would hold the fourth position alone based on his standings on day two, according to FLW rules.

Day three marked the first time since 2005 that three anglers qualified for two consecutive top tens. Scott Canterbury, Greg Pugh and Glenn Browne all made the final cut for the second tournament in a row.

Hudson Wins by an Ounce
Long time co-angler, David Hudson snuck by North Carolina’s Mark Swink by just one ounce to take home the $30,000.00 first place money on the amateur side. With the additional $10,000.00 Ranger Bonus money, David pushed his earnings from the back of the boat to over $150,000.00.

Hoernke Eyes the Win
“My goal has been to put three pounders in the boat each day. I’m sight fishing new water everyday. If the fish aren’t three pounds or close, I’m passing them up.” That has been the outlook for Sean the entire tournament. He thought the shad spawn he found in practice might help him and it did on day one, but that bite disappeared after Thursday and he has relied on sight fishing since.

With a slim lead, Sean is mindful of the potential for a change in weather. “Cloud clover would definitely be an issue,” he said. “I’ve been sight fishing long enough to know when to call it quits, so we will have to wait and see.”

Sean mentioned he might revert back to what worked during practice if the predicted storms do materialize. “I’ve got a couple of things that worked when it was cloudy so I might switch to those if I can’t catch them off beds. My plan is to start with the standard issue shaky head and go from there.”

Sun Key for Moynagh’s Bite
Jim Moynagh reaffirmed his confidence in the weightless worm late in the day on Friday. He stuck with the All Terrain Tackle worm rigged wacky style to catch the majority of his 12 keepers on day three. “I struggled until almost the end of the day yesterday until I finally caught my best two fish,” he said. “That just told me that I couldn’t get away from throwing it. It’s going to pay off.”

Jim did throw his Polish Salmo Skinner early in the day as well as a swim bait, but he didn’t go long without the wacky worm in his hands. “I caught one my third cast with the Salmo and two keepers came off the swim bait. All the rest were on the worm.”

Jim struggled to get quality bites in practice with consistent cloud cover and he attributes his success thus far in the tournament to the clear skies. “If the clouds come out, I’ll throw my hands up. I am a big fan of sunshine in this tournament.”

Can Do Attitude for Scott
Scott Canterbury led after his 18-05 on day one. Catching what he needed to make the cut on Friday, Scott reasserted himself with 11-06 on Saturday. In third place headed into the final day, Canterbury feels his chances are good. 

“This lake has got potential for a big weight, you saw that on Thursday. If I can catch 14 pounds tomorrow I’ll have a shot to win. I saw two big ones cruising around today. If they bite tomorrow it is game on.”

Having relied heavily on bed fish he found in practice, Scott has run out of found fish and plans to just go fishing. “I’m trying to stay around as much bait as possible whether it is shad or brim. The water is warming up and I think the fish are moving out.”

Scott is using a Berkley Hollow Belly to catch and/or locate most of his fish. “I’ll have a fish follow up the bait and I will turn around and throw something else at it. It’s not bed fishing but it is sort of sight fishing.”

Art in Fourth In Spite of Performance
Art Ferguson, III caught a small limit early before putting down the Carolina rig to head off and look for better fish. He moved off the points into the back of a small cut hoping to find spawning fish. He found two fish on a bed, the biggest being a four pound bass that helped boost his weight up to 10-13 for the day. 

“Typically, when you see fish rolling around together, they won’t bite. I threw that Senko in there and the female just pounded it.” 

Art is happy to be in fourth, but his performance has got him concerned. “I’ve never fished this bad to be this well off in a tournament. I’m fishing horrible,” he said. “I am probably five feet off target on 2 out 3 casts.” He also revealed that not re-spooling cost him a decent fish on Saturday. “I must have back lashed and burnt the line at some point, because I set the hook on a fish and the line broke right at the reel. It felt like a pretty good fish.”

Pugh Holding Back
Greg Pugh also brought in 10-13 and will begin the final day more than two pounds back of the leader. “I kind of held back a little today. I wanted to catch 10 or 11 pounds and see where that would put me. I did lose a five pound fish and broke another off one.”

Greg is swimming a Bomber Long A early in the morning then switching to sight fishing. While targeting the bed fish, Greg uses a PJ Jig and a shaky head. “My better fish have been coming off the beds until today. I lost the five and a few cast latter I caught a 3 pounder on the Long A”

Greg plans to continue his game plan on the final day. “I have a lot of fish marked that I haven’t been to yet. I’ll start there and see how the day goes.”

Surman Less Than Three
Mike Surman struggled on Saturday, but managed to bring 10-6 to scales for a spot in sixth. “I’ve relied on the shad spawn so far and they just weren’t there today. It is still anybody’s game.” Mike has not sight fished all week and hopes the weather change will help his pattern. “It could make the bite better for what I’m doing.”

After the shad spawn bite falls off, Mike goes to more of a finesse approach, but with a twist. I’m throwing the Gambler Giggy head on a bait cast. I don’t feel comfortable with a spinning rod and I think the bait caster gives me a better chance of getting the fish out from under the docks.” 

Mike has no plans to change tactics on the final day. “Actually, I planned to sight fish in this tournament, but then I drew boat 167 on the first day and there was an angler on most of my spots. I just went fishing and it has worked so far. I will continue to fish new water and check on some areas I have already fished,

DAY 3 STANDINGS