B.A.S.S. Communications
Experience, get ready to meet raw ambition.
Keith Poche, a Bassmaster Elite Series sophomore seeking his first
Bassmaster win, plans to give Alabama Charge leader and veteran pro Davy
Hite something to sweat about in Saturday’s Pickwick Lake finale.
Hite, the two-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year and
1999 Bassmaster Classic champ from South Carolina, is just as determined
to claim his eighth Bassmaster win, which would be his first since a
2006 Elite victory in Georgia.
Adding another layer to the contest, the leaders plan to continue
sharing water below Wilson Dam. They have been fishing within sight of
each other and often within a cast of each other.
“It’ll be a shootout,” said Hite. Asked if he believed Poche might
feel intimidated by his experience in the sport, Hite answered, “I hope
so.”
“When I was in his shoes, before I won a tournament, if I was
fishing around somebody who’d won quite a few, yea, I’d be a little
intimidated,” Hite said. “I’m not going to do anything wrong, but you do
what you’ve got to do to win. I might yell a little
bit or something like that when I catch a big one.”
Leading with a three-day total of 63 pounds, 8 ounces, Hite brought
20 pounds and 9 ounces to the scales Friday. It was enough to keep his
Thursday lead and stave off not only Poche, who had a total of 62-12,
but also Bobby Lane, who repeated his Thursday
finish by securing third place with 59-7.
In fourth was Day One leader Denny Brauer with 57-2. Terry
Scroggins was fifth with 54-15 after a 20-15 day that boosted him from
17th place.
Only the top 12 qualified for the final round Saturday, when one
angler will claim the $100,000 first-place prize and a 2012 Bassmaster
Classic berth.
Friday’s catch almost didn’t happen for Poche, a Louisiana native
who lives now in Troy, Ala. The day, which Poche later said was a lesson
in the power of believing in yourself, began at the dam with lost fish
and missed bites.
“It started out real sloppy, real slow,” he said. “I could not get a bass in the boat.”
He finally managed two small largemouth by 10:30 a.m., then another one of about 2 pounds. But then the action stalled for him.
“I fished and fished and fished and couldn’t get another bite. It
got to be about 2:30, and I was disgusted. I’m thinking that I had an
hour and a half left and I had not caught a decent fish off this spot. I
pretty much gave up on it, I left.”
He ran about 10 minutes south of the dam, produced nothing and rethought his decision.
“I said, ‘Hey, I caught 20 pounds a day off that spot up there (at
the dam). I’ve got 45 minutes, and I’m going to see what happens. I went
back up a little after 3 o’clock and my first fish was a 3-pounder.”
And a 6-1. He ended up culling one time, ending up with 20-15.
“I don’t know if it was a timing deal, or I missed them before, I’m just thankful that they finally came at 3:15,” he said.
Poche had to check in at 4 p.m., and so did Hite, who also
struggled all day, but produced his 20-plus-pound sack by bundling a
downlake pattern with repeated hits at the dam waters.
“It was like yesterday, it was a grind,” Hite said. “I had no fish
at like 9:30, 10 o’clock. I left and caught three, then went back up to
the dam and ended up catching a couple nice largemouth.”
His bag consisted of two largemouth and three smallmouth. Poche’s was five largemouth.
“There’s been a flurry there all three days, and hopefully there will be another one tomorrow,” Hite said.
Lane has stayed away from the dam. He had a boat breakdown, and
fellow Elite pro Cliff Crochet, who dropped out of the cut yesterday,
loaned his boat to Lane.
“It wasn’t an easy day, by no means,” Lane said. He figured he
needed to stay close to the ramp and was able to upgrade at the last
minute for a 19-2 sack, enough to keep himself in third place, right
where he started the day.
Friday’s largest bass was an 8-8 by Matt Reed, who also had the
heaviest weight of the day, 22-12. He rode his stellar day into the
top-12 cut. But his big fish did not beat Jared Lintner’s 8-10 from Day
One, which still stands as the Berkley Big Bass
of Tournament.
For more information on the Bassmaster Elite Series Alabama Charge, go to
Bassmaster.com.
DAY 3 STANDINGS- ALABAMA CHARGE
2011 Alabama Charge - Florence, AL 04/06-04/09 Pickwick Lake, Florence Ala.
(PRO Division) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
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1. Davy Hite Ninety Six, S.C. 15 63-08
Day 1: 5 23-08 Day 2: 5 19-07 Day 3: 5 20-09
2. Keith Poche Troy, Ala. 15 62-12
Day 1: 5 20-03 Day 2: 5 21-10 Day 3: 5 20-15
3. Bobby Lane Lakeland, Fla. 15 59-07
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 20-09 Day 3: 5 19-02
4. Denny Brauer Camdenton, Mo. 15 57-02
Day 1: 5 23-10 Day 2: 5 14-02 Day 3: 5 19-06
5. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, Fla. 15 54-15
Day 1: 5 15-06 Day 2: 5 18-10 Day 3: 5 20-15
6. Nate Wellman Newaygo, Mich. 15 54-06
Day 1: 5 20-01 Day 2: 5 15-06 Day 3: 5 18-15
7. Greg Hackney Gonzales, La. 15 53-12
Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 16-11 Day 3: 5 18-04
8. Kelly Jordon Palestine, Texas 15 53-08
Day 1: 5 17-13 Day 2: 5 15-11 Day 3: 5 20-00
9. Alton Jones Waco, Texas 15 53-00
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 5 14-02 Day 3: 5 22-03
10. Matt Reed Madisonville, Texas 13 52-15
Day 1: 5 19-08 Day 2: 3 10-11 Day 3: 5 22-12
11. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, N.J. 15 52-03
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 5 19-11 Day 3: 5 19-11
12. Shaw Grigsby Gainesville, Fla. 15 52-03
Day 1: 5 18-11 Day 2: 5 15-12 Day 3: 5 17-12
13. Jeff Kriet Ardmore, Okla. 15 52-00 251 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-02 Day 2: 5 20-03 Day 3: 5 16-11
14. Charlie Hartley Grove City, Ohio 15 51-11 248 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-06 Day 2: 5 19-09 Day 3: 5 15-12
15. Dave Wolak Wake Forest, N.C. 15 51-09 245 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-10 Day 2: 5 16-14 Day 3: 5 16-01
16. Jason Quinn Lake Wylie, S.C. 15 51-06 243 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 16-01 Day 3: 5 18-11
17. Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, Calif. 15 50-10 241 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 23-02 Day 2: 5 16-06 Day 3: 5 11-02
18. Jeff Connella Bentley, La. 15 50-04 239 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-15 Day 2: 5 15-01 Day 3: 5 16-04
19. Billy McCaghren Mayflower, Ark. 15 49-09 237 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 5 15-12
20. Ott DeFoe Knoxville, Tenn. 15 49-07 235 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-15 Day 2: 5 18-15 Day 3: 5 13-09
21. Matt Herren Trussville, Ala. 15 48-14 233 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-10 Day 2: 5 12-05 Day 3: 5 15-15
22. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 15 47-12 231 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 17-08 Day 3: 5 16-12
23. Randy Howell Springville, Ala. 15 47-08 229 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-11 Day 2: 5 17-12 Day 3: 5 15-01
24. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, Ariz 15 47-03 227 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 20-01 Day 3: 5 13-07
25. Gerald Swindle Warrior, Ala. 15 47-03 225 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-08 Day 2: 5 15-02 Day 3: 5 13-09
26. Chad Griffin Cresson, Texas 15 47-00 223 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-04 Day 2: 5 16-09 Day 3: 5 10-03
27. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, Ark. 15 46-12 221 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-14 Day 2: 5 14-15 Day 3: 5 16-15
28. Craig Schuff Watauga, Texas 14 46-06 219 $10,000.00
Day 1: 4 10-13 Day 2: 5 19-02 Day 3: 5 16-07
29. Andy Montgomery Blacksburg, S.C. 15 46-04 217 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-10 Day 2: 5 15-13 Day 3: 5 13-13
30. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, Idaho 15 46-04 215 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 17-14 Day 3: 5 12-05
31. Bill Lowen Brookville, Ind. 15 46-03 213 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-05 Day 2: 5 18-13 Day 3: 5 14-01
32. Rick Morris Virginia Beach, Va. 15 46-02 211 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 15-11 Day 3: 5 15-11
33. Jami Fralick Martin, S.D. 15 45-15 209 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 16-09 Day 3: 5 13-11
34. Fred Roumbanis Bixby, Okla. 15 45-10 207 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-02 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 5 14-14
35. Kenyon Hill Norman, Okla. 15 45-09 205 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 18-15 Day 3: 5 12-06
36. Chris Lane Guntersville, Ala. 15 45-08 203 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-09 Day 2: 5 18-09 Day 3: 5 14-06
37. Skeet Reese Auburn, Calif. 15 45-07 201 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 15-09 Day 3: 5 13-00
38. John Crews Salem, Va. 15 45-05 199 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 5 12-02
39. Paul Elias Laurel, Miss. 13 45-03 197 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-11 Day 2: 5 18-15 Day 3: 3 5-09
40. Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount, N.C. 15 44-12 195 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 12-11 Day 3: 5 14-15
41. Russ Lane Prattville, Ala. 15 44-06 193 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-03 Day 2: 5 16-01 Day 3: 5 15-02
42. Cliff Pace Petal, Miss. 15 43-12 191 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 5 13-06
43. Jason Williamson Aiken, S.C. 15 43-08 189 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 15-08 Day 3: 5 14-03
44. Timmy Horton Muscle Shoals, Ala. 15 43-04 187 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 9-04 Day 2: 5 21-07 Day 3: 5 12-09
45. Kevin Short Mayflower, Ark. 15 41-14 185 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 9-11
46. Mark Menendez Paducah, Ky. 15 41-14 183 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 16-13 Day 3: 5 10-05
47. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, Mo. 15 41-09 181 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-02 Day 2: 5 14-06 Day 3: 5 12-01
48. Matt Greenblatt Port St Lucie, Fla. 15 41-00 179 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-09 Day 2: 5 14-11 Day 3: 5 10-12
49. Aaron Martens Leeds, Ala. 13 40-14 177 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-13 Day 2: 5 18-01 Day 3: 3 6-00
50. Pat Golden High Point, N.C. 15 38-05 175 $5,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 5 7-15
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 95 490 1451-08
2 94 486 1442-05
3 48 246 751-08
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237 1222 3645-05
