Chris Lane of Guntersville, Ala., picked up his second BASS tournament victory and second at the Big O with 41 pounds, 2 ounces over three days. He also won the Southern Open here four years ago. Not so ironically, Scroggins finished second. Bobby did not fish that one.
But Chris’ day didn’t start so well. He and brother Bobby were staying at the same place and had parked side by side. When Bobby left for launch, a few minutes before Chris, he accidentally hit the driver-side door of Chris’ truck with his boat trailer.
“My boat wasn’t going anywhere,†Bobby said, “so I stepped on the gas. Then I heard a terrible cracking sound.â€
It was the sound of a truck door being nearly ripped from the frame. It had to seem a very bad omen to Chris. Fortunately, he didn’t let it get him down. Once on the water, things settled in, and he found a strong bite on a Gambler Cane Toad.
“I was making long casts with the Toad and my Double Trouble Toad hook,†Chris said. “A steady, medium retrieve seemed to get the most bites.â€
In cool weather such as dominated this part of Florida for the past couple of weeks, topwater strikes on baits like the Cane Toad can result in lots of missed fish. Even a topwater guru like Chris Lane will miss some bass, and the final round was no exception.
“I missed an 8 pounder, a 6 pounder and two 5-pound fish,†Chris said, “but I didn’t let it get me down. You have to have mental toughness to be a tournament angler and to fish baits like these. Luckily, the right hook made a big difference, and I was able to land most of my strikes.â€
Another key, according to Chris, is to have patterned enough bass that missing one or two doesn’t cost you the tournament. The winner was also quick to credit his Power Poles, which helped him to stay in the best areas without risking spooking the fish with an electric motor. His Legend boat, Mercury outboard and Atlas jackplate got him in and out of heavy vegetation without incident, where he found his bass.
Chris cast the Cane Toad on an All Star rod and Abu Garcia Revo baitcasting reel spooled with 50-pound-test Stren SuperBraid.
Bobby, also a Bassmaster Elite Series pro and Chris’ brother, caught his bass by flipping a black and blue Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw or swimming a 3-inch Berkley Ripple Shad swimbait. He fished them on SpiderWire braid and SpiderWire Ultracast lines, respectively, spooled onto Abu Garcia Revos. Bobby finished with 38-1, three pounds and an ounce behind his brother.
Terry Scroggins used two patterns for his third-place finish (37-9). He flipped a Yum Big Show Craw in black and blue or cooter brown on 65-pound test High Seas braid and a 7 1/2-foot Duckett Fishing Micro Magic flipping stick. He also caught bass on the outside edge of eelgrass and hydrilla by Carolina rigging a junebug Yum Houdini Worm behind a 3/4-ounce Excalibur sinker rigged on 20-pound High Seas fluorocarbon line and a 7-foot Duckett Fishing Micro Magic rod.
Randall Tharp, who led the tournament going into the final round, fell to fourth with 32-8 after mechanical problems cost him part of his fishing day. Tharp won the two previous Bassmaster Opens he fished.
Elite Series pro Russ Lane had the big bass of Day 3 with a 6-0 lunker.
DAY 3 BASSMASTER SOUTHERN OPEN STANDINGS- LAKE OKEECHOBEE- PRO
2010 Bassmaster Southern Open Tour 1 – Okeechobee, FL 01/14-01/16 Lake Okeechobee, Okeechobee Fla.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Chris Lane Guntersville, Ala. 15 41-02 305 $51,171.00
Day 1: 5 8-12 Day 2: 5 17-12 Day 3: 5 14-10
2. Bobby Lane Lakeland, Fla. 15 38-01 295 $22,743.00
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 13-12 Day 3: 5 12-01
3. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, Fla. 15 37-09 290 $19,331.00
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 11-04 Day 3: 5 14-01
4. Randall Tharp Gardendale, Ala. 11 32-08 290 $14,214.00
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 18-14 Day 3: 1 1-11
5. Larry Cahan East Palatka, Fla. 10 30-03 280 $11,371.00
Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 5 20-02 Day 3: 5 10-01
6. J T Kenney Palm Bay, Fla. 9 28-06 281 $10,234.00
Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 1 5-04 Day 3: 3 7-05
7. Kyle Fox Lakeland, Fla. 10 28-02 272 $9,097.00
Day 1: 3 15-06 Day 2: 5 8-01 Day 3: 2 4-11
8. Russ Lane Prattville, Ala. 10 26-01 268 $7,960.00
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 2 2-10 Day 3: 3 9-01
9. Adam Brown Attalla, Ala. 15 25-00 264 $6,823.00
Day 1: 5 9-15 Day 2: 5 6-09 Day 3: 5 8-08
10. Greg Vinson Wetumpka, Ala. 13 25-00 260 $5,686.00
Day 1: 3 7-10 Day 2: 5 11-02 Day 3: 5 6-04
11. Mark Shepard Clewiston, Fla. 14 24-08 257 $4,549.00
Day 1: 4 6-00 Day 2: 5 7-04 Day 3: 5 11-04
12. Jason Knapp Uniontown, Pa. 14 24-07 254 $3,980.00
Day 1: 5 9-05 Day 2: 5 6-05 Day 3: 4 8-13
13. Ott Defoe Knoxville, Tenn. 15 23-03 251 $3,411.00
Day 1: 5 6-04 Day 2: 5 6-15 Day 3: 5 10-00
14. Derek Remitz Grant, Ala. 11 21-06 248 $2,843.00
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 4 7-05 Day 3: 2 3-10
15. Andy Montgomery Blacksburg, S.C. 9 20-07 245 $2,559.00
Day 1: 4 11-11 Day 2: 3 4-12 Day 3: 2 4-00
16. Davy Hite Ninety Six, S.C. 11 20-02 243 $2,274.00
Day 1: 2 7-08 Day 2: 5 6-12 Day 3: 4 5-14
17. David Kilgore Jasper, Ala. 7 20-00 241 $2,217.00
Day 1: 4 13-12 Day 2: 0 0-00 Day 3: 3 6-04
18. Rich Patterson Windermere, Fla. 12 19-03 239 $2,161.00
Day 1: 2 2-12 Day 2: 5 9-08 Day 3: 5 6-15
19. Brad Staley Pleasant Garden, N.C. 8 19-00 237 $2,104.00
Day 1: 3 5-14 Day 2: 2 8-10 Day 3: 3 4-08
20. Shinichi Fukae Palestine, Texas 11 18-14 235 $2,047.00
Day 1: 5 6-04 Day 2: 4 9-00 Day 3: 2 3-10
21. Aaron Martens Leeds, Ala. 8 18-08 233 $1,990.00
Day 1: 2 3-06 Day 2: 3 9-01 Day 3: 3 6-01
22. Luke Gritter Kalamazoo, Mich. 6 18-04 231 $1,933.00
Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 5 13-08 Day 3: 1 4-12
23. Jimmie Murphy Ocala, Fla. 8 17-08 229 $1,876.00
Day 1: 3 5-08 Day 2: 5 12-00 Day 3: 0 0-00
24. Trevor Fitzgerald Ocklawaha, Fla. 10 16-15 227 $1,819.00
Day 1: 2 6-00 Day 2: 5 7-03 Day 3: 3 3-12
25. Chad Morgenthaler Coulterville, Ill. 5 16-05 225 $1,763.00
Day 1: 2 11-13 Day 2: 1 2-05 Day 3: 2 2-03
26. Ben Todd Pierson, Fla. 9 16-03 223 $1,706.00
Day 1: 1 4-11 Day 2: 5 7-08 Day 3: 3 4-00
27. Terry Segraves Kissimmee, Fla. 8 15-15 221 $1,649.00
Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 5 12-05 Day 3: 3 3-10
28. Alan Rae Columbia, S.C. 7 15-15 219 $1,592.00
Day 1: 1 0-15 Day 2: 5 13-03 Day 3: 1 1-13
29. Andy Chappell Warrior, Ala. 7 15-01 217 $1,535.00
Day 1: 4 6-02 Day 2: 3 8-15 Day 3: 0 0-00
30. Steve Fairtrace Okeechobee, Fla. 9 14-07 215 $1,478.00
Day 1: 3 4-09 Day 2: 5 8-05 Day 3: 1 1-09
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 17 311 610-05
2 34 363 674-08
3 9 91 180-15
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60 765 1465-12
