In addition to the cool air temperatures and cloud cover, an additional 10-feet of water thanks to upstream rain and a dam break in Mexico. This has created miles of new shoreline, and has made the lake fish like the first time for many in the field despite their relative experience at the south Texas impoundment.

Regardless of the post-practice poor mouthing regarding the lack of a big-fish bite, big limits have indeed manifest themselves this week. Michael “Ike” Iaconelli jumped out to take the early lead on the back of a 12-pound mule, but only managed a near-16-pound bag on Friday and saw his lead evaporate overnight. 

Gary Klein, who started Friday in second place, busted a near-30-pound stringer to jump out to a 7 pound 8 ounce lead Friday. Klein, like Boyd Duckett and Alton Jones behind him, wasn’t reliant on big kicker to pad his daily bags. Instead he’d managed solid keepers each of the first two days build his lead going into the weekend. 

Bear in mind, however, that this is Amistad we’re talking about, and, as Saturday’s weigh-in proved, anything is possible. As Saturday is the traditional “moving day” in the Elites, the remaining 50 anglers pulled out all the stops in an attempt to make the coveted Top 12 that will remain to fish Sunday. 

Gary Klein wasn’t able to fend off the disappearing cloud cover and surrendered the lead to Alton Jones, who proved to be the epitome of consistency. Jones brought another carbon copy 22 pound, 7 ounce sack to the scales on Day Three, boosting his combined weight to 68 pounds and 11 ounces, giving him a marginal 2 pound lead Klein.

Gary Klein brought in his lightest bag of the week weighing a scant 12 pounds and six ounces pushing this three-day total weight to 66 pounds and 13 ounces.

Jason Williamsom proved to be the day’s biggest mover thanks to the gigantic 33-pound, 15-ounce sack he hauled to the weigh-in stage. The whopping limit propelled Williamson from 38th into the third-place slot with a combined total weight of 61 pounds, 10 ounces.

Like Williamson, Oklahoma pro Kenyon Hill made all the right moves Saturday by boating 26 pounds and 14 ounces Saturday. With a combined total weight of 61 pounds and 5 ounces Kenyon leapt from 18th into fourth place to ensure his first Top 12 of 2009.

Day One leader Michael Iaconelli brought a respectable 16-pound, 10-ounce limit to the scales Saturday to claim fifth place honors with a combined three-day weight of 60 pounds and 2 ounces. 

After threatening for the lead all week, Boyd Duckett ended the day in sixth after weighing a 12-pounds 9-ounce limit, which gave him 59 pounds and 8 ounces combined through three days.

Jones is Mr. Consistent at Amistad
Alton Jones once extinguished any doubt there might be about his aptitude of figuring out the Amistad bass. In his fourth trip to the Rio Grande impoundment, his worst finish is 25th. This week, things seem to be falling into place for a legitimate shot at the win. 

“I had my weight by about 11:00 today,” he said. “It’s just a really neat thing because I can go in there and pound them one day, and come back the next day and pick up a few more – and they’re all quality.”

Alton explained that he’s fishing the group of fish he discovered in practice, although he pointed out that their location changed after Thursday morning’s cold front came through. “When I found (the area) in practice, they were up on the bank spawning I think,” he allowed. 

“The little cold snap pulled them off, and I had to find the school again the first day. I’m pretty sure that I know where they’ll go if (the weather) gets right.”

Primarily focused on his single deep-water haunt, Alton explained that he still has some productive water in reserve. “I still have a few stretches that I haven’t had to touch yet that should be really productive,” he said. “I’ve been able to spend a little time practicing each day, and I actually caught a couple of four-pounders today practicing.”

Focusing on a migratory route where fish have to pass through in order to go to the bank, Alton said he’s confident that his pattern will hold. “The pattern is really working,” he said. “I’ve been able to go all over the lake and duplicate it, but I will say that the area that I’ve been in is probably the best that I’ve found this week.”

Alton said that with the amount of water he has and the pattern he’s running, he’s confident that he’ll be in contention to win Sunday. “I’ll go out tomorrow and make my same little milk run just like I have everyday this week,” he said. 

“If it’s not happening I’ve got some definite adjustments in mind. These fish may pull up and start spawning.”

Klein’s Deep Water Didn’t Pan Out
After Friday’s performance, it seemed as though Gary Klein could be assured that he would dominate through the weekend. However, as he pointed out – it’s called fishing for a reason. “I can sum it real simple – I sucked,” he said. 

“This is a really humbling sport, and just when you think you have them figured out you don’t. If they’re not wanting to bite, there’s nothing you can do to make them.”

For the first two days, Klein has limited quickly and then went on to expand on his water. Saturday, the deep fish didn’t pan out so he had to go shallow for a limit. “I didn’t have a fish at 12:00,” he said. “I was a little tight, so I started running shallow and caught a limit in an hour and went back outside.” 

Gary explained that he noticed that his deepwater fish has suspended overnight. Although he said his two best keepers came out deep, for the most part his primary pattern was flat. “I knew that couldn’t win it on the bank, so I stopped back at one of my deep spots and realized that all my fish had suspended,” he said. 

“I tried all my tricks to get them to bite and actually had a five-pounder chase my jig all the way up out of 35-feet of water. That’s just how it went today. I tried all my tricks and nothing worked.”

Klein explained that while he’s thrown a jig all week, with the sun starting to shine the swimbait might be given the nod instead. “To win this thing tomorrow, I’m going to have to have a good bag,” he said. 

“We’re all so tight now that the guy who can catch 25 or 26 pounds will win. I really think about the only way to do that is with a swimbait in my hands.”

Williamson On Fire
Jason Williamson flew into the Top 12 as a result of a gigantic 34-pound stringer. The heaviest stringer of the tournament may have surprised some, but Jason knew that it was just a matter of time. 

“I knew that had a good area in practice, but it got real muddy from all the wind and rain,” he said. “With it being so milky for the first two days, I couldn’t get them to commit to the swimbait – and I couldn’t get them off the bottom either.”

Williamson pointed out that he’s been fishing with company this week, but that his spot is so specific he’s been the only one to figure it out. “I’ve had another boat in there with me all week,” he said. 

“I’m on something that’s so specific, and now that the water has cleared up, I really feel good about Sunday.”

Fishing a flawless tournament thus far, Williamson explained that if the wind will blow and the sun will shine Sunday could be a repeat for him and his swimbait. “These fish haven’t been hurt at all, except for what I did to them today,” he said. 

“I culled an 18- to 20-pound limit between two spots. They bit all day long, so all that I need is the weather to cooperate.”

Hill Bet on the Come
Throughout the 2008 season, Kenyon Hill proved time and again that persistence pays off. In Saturday’s third round, the veteran pro explained that patience was truly a virtue. “I kept one rod out all day long with a jig tied on it,” he said. 

“You just have to be patient with it. It’s not something that’s hot and heavy, but you just have to stay with it.”

Kenyon explained that his bite will have a tendency to “make you want to pull your hair out,” but that it’s the most consistent thing he’s found. “It’s really frustrating to only be getting seven or eight bites a day in a lake that’s just full of fish,” he said. “The good thing about it is that when you do get a bite, it’s a good one.”

The bite for Kenyon slowed dramatically as the day wore on, but he was able to connect with his 8-11 kicker in the afternoon that made the wait worthwhile. “(The bite) was good early for me,” he said. “I had to move around a little bit after that, but fortunately I caught my good one in the afternoon.”

With a full moon and warm water during practice Kenyon focused on spawners; however, the ensuing cold front forced him into Plan B – which he explained could play to his advantage now that the sun is out. “I found some fish during practice sort of betting on the come,” he said. 

“I don’t know what Sunday might bring, but I know what I’m going to be doing. I know where they’re at, and where they’re headed to, so I’ll just beat on them real hard and real slow and try to make something happen.”

Ike’s Going for Broke
Michael Iaconelli told The BASS ZONE on Thursday that his 12-pounder was the difference between the lead and a mediocre limit. He hasn’t connected with another giant all week, but he’s still in the mix heading to Sunday’s final round. 

Thankful for the boost that Thursday gave him, Ike explained that outside Thursday’s heroics, his days have been a grind. “I had a really tough day again,” he said. “I struggled pretty much all day and caught just a bunch of two-pounders. 

“I got my seven or eight bites that I’d been getting, but never had a big bite.”

Fortunately for Ike, the eighth bite of a long, and otherwise uneventful day, proved to be the most important. “Three minutes before I had to weigh-in, I pulled up on a random point within sight of the launching ramp and caught a six-and-three-quarter,” he said. 

“That fish allowed me to sneak in the back door, and you can’t imagine what that’ll do for your confidence.”

Safely in the Top 12, Ike said that he’s scrapping the original game plan and will, instead, go for broke. “It’s just not working anymore,” he said. “My primary area has been whipped pretty bad. Also, when the lake gets flat and the sun has a chance to warm the tops of the bushes, they start eating.

“I’m going to throw a swimbait all day. Even if I come in with a zero, I’ll be thrilled with it because my only goal coming in was to get a check and some points.” 

Duckett Survives 
Maybe it was the Day Three shoes that Boyd was wearing Saturday, or it could have been the slight change in weather. Either way, Duckett’s fish didn’t cooperate. “It was dead this morning, I don’t know what was going on,” he said. 

“At 2:00 I had one fish off the swimbait. I decided to go pick up my limit on a dropshot from some of my limit holes, but even then I almost missed out because I’d only left myself and hour.”

Boyd’s not quite ready to concede that the new shoes he wore on Saturday were behind the light limit. He explained that he felt pretty sure his swimbait bite would peter out under the changing conditions he was faced with. “I really felt like the weather would slow my swimbait bite down, and it did,” he said. 

“I got enough bites on the swimbait that it kept me going. They were all big fish, but they wouldn’t eat it. I changed colors trying to get them going.”

Fishing suspended fish in standing timber, Boyd pointed out that his fish haven’t left – they’ve just lost the desire to eat. “They’re still there,” he said. “You can see them all on the graph, but they have not desire to feet. Skeet (Reese) was in there with me and they wouldn’t eat for him either.”

In Sunday’s final round, Boyd is planning for more of the same, but reserves the right to make a change if what he’s doing doesn’t work. “What that change might be,” he explained, “remains to be seen. I’m going to start with a swimbait and give it a couple of hour, and if I can’t get them to hook up, I don’t know what I’m going to do. 

“Go find something else I guess, because I can’t fall any further than 12th.”