ROGERS - Five anglers, led by Mike Hawkes of Sabinal, Texas, are in a logjam at the top of the leaderboard after the third round of the FLW Wal-Mart Open at Beaver Lake.
Starting the day with zero weight, Hawkes caught fivebass Saturday that weighed 9 pounds, 5 ounces. That gave him a 6-ounce lead over Sam Newby of Pocola, Okla., who caught five bass that weighed 8-15. In third placewas Kyle Mabrey of McCalla, Ala., who caught five bass that weighed 8-13. In fourth place was Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C., (5 bass, 8-9), followed by George Cochran of Hot Springs with five bass that weighed 8 pounds.
Cochran missed the 10-angler cut by just 4 ounces after Friday's second round, but made the field when Joel Richardson was disqualified for fishing Friday in a restricted area.
Hawkes, who lives near Lake Amistad in Texas, one of the nation's great big bass lakes, said the high, muddy water at Beaver Lake this week suits his style perfectly. However, big fish eluded him Saturday, denying him a comfortable cushion going into today'schampionship round.
"I love it," Hawkes said. "Muddy water, big line, big lures. Every day I've had one 3 or 4 pounds, but I didn't get it today. I'm not on top by very much. Unless somebody gets on some big fish, and that's notlikely on this lake this time of year, it's anybody's ballgame."
Newby fished Saturday with Stetson Blaylock of Benton, who won the co-angler championship with 10 pounds, 9 ounces. Fishing from the front of the boat, Newby said his trouble wasn't finding big fish, but landing them.
"I'm glad to see him [Blaylock] win, but I wanted a couple of his fish," Newby said. "I could have been there real easy. I lost one real big one, but that's all right. I probably caught some this week that I shouldn't have. I can tell you that I like the big, brown Beaver [Lake] better than the big, blue Beaver."
Enjoying his first top-10 appearance, Arey fought back tears on the weigh-in stage as he talked about dreaming of being onstage with Cochran, hislifelong hero, who sat just a few feet away. In the audience were Arey's mother, father and wife, Emily, who flew in Thursday night for the event. Emily Arey said that her family had come to their home in North Carolinafor a NASCAR race, but she left them to come to this event.
"For a North Carolinian to leave a NASCAR race to come to a bass fishing tournament in Arkansas, now that's really something," said Charlie Evans, the master of ceremonies.
Like the others, Arey said he caught a lot of fish Saturday, but no big ones.
"The big bite is the key here, and I've been fortunate to catch one everyday," Arey said. "Numbers aren't the problem, but quality was today. I've got some flippin' fish, but they seem to be dwindling quick. I've got some places I can go, but I'm going to have to go looking for a big one."
Cochran didn't find out he'd be fishing Saturday until 11:15 p.m., when Evans called and woke him up. He was in Rogers, but his boat was at Coppermine Lodge, miles away. He'd already put away his tackle and was prepared to go home. He said he got up at 4 a.m., and his wife, Debbie, helped him get rigged up. He's less than a pound and a half out of the lead.
"It was hard to go back to sleep because I was thinking of all the things I had to do," Cochran said. "It didn't take me long to get excited about fishing a big tournament like this. Making the top 10, you don't do it all the time, The adrenaline, that's why I still keep competing at 58 years old, that adrenaline rush. I want to win. I still wantto win."
Right behind him was Greg Bohannan of Rogers, clearly the crowd favorite, with five bass that weighed 7-6. He said his pattern is waning, so he'll have to change his game plan today.
"I'm catching a lot of keepers, but my pattern is starting to disappear," Bohannan said. "I've got to change up a few things tomorrow and try to hit a home run."
Sports, Pages 34, 47 on 05/18/2008