RUSSELLVILLE -- Mark Davis of Mount Ida, a three-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year, holds the lead going into today's 12-man championship round of the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at Lake Dardanelle.
Bassmaster Elite Series
Sunday's results, At Lake Dardanelle, Third of four rounds
12-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
NAME;HOMETOWN;FISH/WT;TOTAL WT
Mark Davis, Mount Ida, 5/14-15;48-8
Jamie Hartman;Newport, N.Y;5/16-6;47-15
Steve Kennedy;Auburn, Ala.;5/16-6;47-3
Michael Iaconelli;Pitts Grove, N.J.;5/18-14;45-13
Dean Rojas;Lake Havasu City, Ariz.;5/15-0;45-13
David Mullins;Mt. Carmel, Tenn.;5/15-13;44-14
Kevin VanDam;Kalamazoo, Mich.;5/12-0;43-11
Brandon Palaniuk;Rathbun, Idaho;5/14-3;43-2
Mark Menendez;Paducah, Ky;5/15-5;42-12
Cliff Pace; Petal, Miss.;5/13-12;42-8
Cliff Prince; Palatka, Fla.;5/12-15;42-8
Matt Lee; Guntersville, Ala.;5/12-5;42-6
But it's not a secure lead.
Davis (48-8) caught five bass weighing 14 pounds, 15 ounces Sunday to lead by 9 ounces over Jamie Hartman of Newport, N.Y. (47-15).
The angler with the highest four-day total will win the $100,000 first prize.
Hartman moved into second place with a 16-6 haul, followed by Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala. (5/16-6; 47-3), Mike Iaconelli of Pitts Grove, N.J. (5/18-14; 45-3) and Dean Rojas of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. (5/15-0; 45-13).
The weigh-in will be at 3:15 p.m., at Lake Dardanelle State Park.
The top 12 includes four Bassmaster Classic champions, including Davis, the 1995 champion.
Davis slipped from Saturday's blockbuster day of 19-4, the heaviest limit of the tournament.
His combined total averages just over 16-0, which he's said since Friday will win the tournament.
"If you can average 16 pounds, I think you can win," Davis said. "I had 14 and change the first day, 14-15 today [Sunday] and 19 and change, so do the math. Sixteen a day is really hard to do here, so 16 a day should do it."
Davis said he has boxed himself into an isolated spot about 40 miles upriver. It has produced all of his biggest fish, but it takes so long to reach it that his margin of error is very small.
"I don't have another area up there that I can fish," Davis said. "If you go there, you're sort of committed for a while. Today I stayed there for quite awhile, and I finally did catch a decent one, but it's not like you can fish it a while, run somewhere else and come back. You can't come back. You get your one shot, and it either happens or it doesn't."
Big fish are there, he added, but he said he can't wait all day for them to feed.
"I can go there and catch 8, 10, or 15 some days, but all that really matters is catching two or three good ones," Davis said. "I only caught one decent one there today."
Davis said his pattern depends on strong current, which was absent Sunday.
Hartman has finished in the top three in six Elite Series tournaments this year, but like Davis, he's relying on one spot.
Unlike Davis, Hartman said his spot is dependable.
"I've got one area I'm beating on, and they keep on coming back, so I'm going to ride it through," Hartman said. "If I get five quality bites, I'll scare them a little bit."
Hartman said Lake Dardanelle is unlike anyplace he's ever seen, so he has no expectations. He said he's found the sweet spots in his area, and he said he'll grind it out one fish at a time.
"I've got nothing else," Hartman said. "Every single cast counts. Patience, patience, patience is the name of my game. I'm just grinding it out with no expectations and trying get my five fish."
Kennedy, also, said he is locked into a single area that has one sweet spot that keeps producing fish.
"I feel like I can stay in there all day long without hurting myself," Kennedy said. "I expect two or three fish are going to be sitting right where I expect them to be."
Then, it gets tougher.
"I get a couple of easy ones, and then I have to work my tail off," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said he needs current to energize his spot, just like Davis.
He's caught his biggest fish in the thin zone where muddy water and clear water mix. Current pulls the clear water over a couple of points where fish are in ambush positions.
"Fish are sitting on those key corners," Kennedy said. "I don't know where they're coming from, but when they're there, they bite. Every time I go by that one key spot it's a bite. Everything else around it is nothing."
Iaconelli is following the strongest, sharpest upward trend. He gained 2-5 in the second round, and he gained 4-4 in the third round. His 18-14 in the third round was the third-heaviest limit of the tournament. Only Mark Menendez has gained weight all three days, but he only gained 3 ounces in the third round.
In 12th place is Matt Lee, who won the Bassmaster College Championship on Beaverfork Lake in 2011 in a fish-off against his brother, Jordan Lee. Jordan won the Bassmaster Classic in March, but he missed the final cut at Lake Dardanelle, finishing 34th at 36-0.
Sports on 06/05/2017