PALATKA, Fla. — If only it were lonelier at the top. Leading by 7 pounds, 9 ounces on Friday, Alton Jones hung on Saturday at the Citrus Slam with a 60-10 total, but his lead shrunk to 2 pounds, 9 ounces, and he has 11 anglers to watch out for Sunday.
“I did the same thing today as on the other days,” Jones said. “I blind-fished early, then went sight-fishing the rest of the day.”
Jones, the 2008 Bassmaster Classic champ, hunted hard for the larger spawning bass, the holy grail of every Bassmaster Elite Series angler this week on the St. Johns River.
“I did come up on one of about 7 pounds, and I fished for her for about an hour. She always looked like she was going to bite on the next cast — and then she swam off and never came back. I was kind of puzzled by that, but sometimes the fish will fool you,” Jones said.
Edwin Evers replaced J. Todd Tucker as the pro closest to overtaking Jones, who has led for three days. Evers inched up from fourth place to second on the strength of his 19-4 bag of bass, for a three-day total of 58-1.
Todd Faircloth, one of only three to break the 20-pound mark, claimed third place, jumping up from eighth with 20-2 on Saturday for 54-1 over three days. St. Johns area native Terry Scroggins dropped from third to fourth after bringing in 13-15, for 53-15 overall.
Tucker fell to fifth place, pulled down by a lackluster 12-0 on the third day.
The Elite field was cut from 50 to 12 for the final round Sunday. The anglers are fishing for a first-prize package that includes $100,000 and an instant qualification for the 2012 Bassmaster Classic under a new rule that awards berths to event winners, bypassing the points system.
Runner-up Evers said he didn’t veer from his sight-fishing pattern.
“I’m covering a tremendous amount of water,” Evers said. “I’m standing on the trolling motor and looking, looking, trying to find the big ones.”
His biggest bass was a 6-5, a hefty contribution to his 19-4 of Saturday.
“I’ve seen bigger ones,” he added. “I’m pretty excited to go back tomorrow.”
The wind is supposed to kick up Sunday, a potential wrecker of a true sight bite, the pattern to which almost the entire field turned.
“We may get a couple of hours tomorrow before the wind gets up,” Jones said.
Faircloth, in third, said he had some areas to go to that would not be heavily hurt by high winds.
“The areas are protected, and I think I can get back in there and catch them,” he said.
Local favorite Scroggins said his day was tough, and he was finesse fishing to make them bite. The rub to that tactic, he explained was that the lily pads were rough on his lighter gear and 8-pound line.
“When you hook a 4- or 5-pounder, it’s all you can do to get him out, but that’s the only way I can make them bite,” he said.
DAY 3 STANDINGS 2011 Citrus Slam - Palatka, FL 03/17-03/20 St. Johns River, Palatka Fla. (PRO Division) Standings Day 3 Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Alton Jones Waco, Texas 15 60-10 Day 1: 5 26-09 Day 2: 5 22-13 Day 3: 5 11-04 2. Edwin Evers Talala, Okla. 15 58-01 Day 1: 5 16-08 Day 2: 5 22-05 Day 3: 5 19-04 3. Todd Faircloth Jasper, Texas 15 54-01 Day 1: 5 23-10 Day 2: 5 10-05 Day 3: 5 20-02 4. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, Fla. 15 53-15 Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 22-13 Day 3: 5 13-15 5. J Todd Tucker Moultrie, Ga. 15 53-13 Day 1: 5 20-08 Day 2: 5 21-05 Day 3: 5 12-00 6. Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount, N.C. 15 49-03 Day 1: 5 18-07 Day 2: 5 9-05 Day 3: 5 21-07 7. Steve Kennedy Auburn, Ala. 15 48-05 Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 8-13 Day 3: 5 26-00 8. Kelly Jordon Palestine, Texas 15 47-09 Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 16-01 Day 3: 5 15-14 9. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 15 47-02 Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 17-13 Day 3: 5 12-02 10. Keith Combs Huntington, Texas 15 46-13 Day 1: 5 19-08 Day 2: 5 14-09 Day 3: 5 12-12 11. Billy McCaghren Mayflower, Ark. 15 44-04 Day 1: 5 20-11 Day 2: 5 15-11 Day 3: 5 7-14 12. Casey Ashley Donalds, S.C. 15 44-02 Day 1: 5 20-09 Day 2: 5 12-03 Day 3: 5 11-06 13. Greg Hackney Gonzales, La. 15 43-12 251 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 13-07 Day 2: 5 11-10 Day 3: 5 18-11 14. Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, Calif. 15 43-00 248 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-09 Day 2: 5 11-09 Day 3: 5 10-14 15. Pat Golden High Point, N.C. 15 43-00 245 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 12-00 Day 3: 5 18-02 16. Kevin Wirth Crestwood, Ky. 15 42-15 243 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 12-07 Day 2: 5 10-02 Day 3: 5 20-06 17. Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, Kan. 15 42-00 241 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 25-04 Day 2: 5 6-14 Day 3: 5 9-14 18. Bobby Lane Lakeland, Fla. 15 41-07 239 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 10-09 Day 3: 5 12-10 19. Peter Thliveros St Augustine, Fla. 15 39-12 237 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 14-15 Day 2: 5 7-06 Day 3: 5 17-07 20. John Crews Salem, Va. 15 39-10 235 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 21-03 Day 2: 5 10-03 Day 3: 5 8-04 21. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, La. 15 39-04 233 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 16-02 Day 3: 5 9-07 22. Gerald Swindle Warrior, Ala. 15 38-04 231 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 8-07 Day 3: 5 13-14 23. Gary Klein Weatherford, Texas 15 38-02 229 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 10-01 Day 3: 5 11-03 24. Aaron Martens Leeds, Ala. 15 37-15 227 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 11-02 Day 2: 5 9-09 Day 3: 5 17-04 25. Jason Williamson Aiken, S.C. 11 37-03 225 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 22-05 Day 2: 1 1-02 Day 3: 5 13-12 26. Paul Elias Laurel, Miss. 15 37-00 223 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 7-13 Day 3: 5 10-15 27. Fred Roumbanis Bixby, Okla. 13 36-09 221 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 16-03 Day 3: 3 4-12 28. Ott Defoe Knoxville, Tenn. 15 36-04 219 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 11-02 Day 2: 5 14-15 Day 3: 5 10-03 29. David Walker Sevierville, Tenn. 15 36-04 217 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 15-09 Day 3: 5 8-13 30. Jeff Kriet Ardmore, Okla. 15 36-02 215 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 11-14 Day 3: 5 11-06 31. Takahiro Omori Emory, Texas 15 35-15 213 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 8-06 Day 3: 5 15-09 32. Russell Parrish Riesel, Texas 15 35-11 211 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 12-07 Day 2: 5 15-00 Day 3: 5 8-04 33. Mark Menendez Paducah, Ky. 15 35-04 209 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 5 9-03 Day 3: 5 13-14 34. Timmy Horton Muscle Shoals, Ala. 15 34-13 207 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 22-04 Day 2: 5 6-11 Day 3: 5 5-14 35. Bill Lowen Brookville, Ind. 15 34-07 205 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 13-05 Day 2: 5 10-03 Day 3: 5 10-15 36. Greg Vinson Wetumpka, Ala. 15 34-03 203 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 14-06 Day 3: 5 5-09 37. Clark Reehm Lufkin, Texas 13 33-10 201 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 20-10 Day 2: 3 5-08 Day 3: 5 7-08 38. Ryan Said Wixom, Mich. 13 33-08 199 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-07 Day 2: 3 3-12 Day 3: 5 11-05 39. Mark Davis Mount Ida, Ark. 15 33-05 197 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 10-14 Day 2: 5 11-07 Day 3: 5 11-00 40. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, Ariz 15 33-02 195 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 10-00 Day 3: 5 6-11 41. Dave Wolak Wake Forest, N.C. 13 32-07 193 $10,000.00 Day 1: 3 9-12 Day 2: 5 12-07 Day 3: 5 10-04 42. Keith Poche Troy, Ala. 11 31-10 191 $10,000.00 Day 1: 1 5-12 Day 2: 5 15-04 Day 3: 5 10-10 43. Matt Herren Trussville, Ala. 15 31-03 189 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 13-07 Day 2: 5 10-13 Day 3: 5 6-15 44. Chris Lane Guntersville, Ala. 15 31-02 187 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 9-06 Day 2: 5 12-07 Day 3: 5 9-05 45. Cliff Pace Petal, Miss. 14 31-00 185 $10,000.00 Day 1: 4 8-15 Day 2: 5 12-00 Day 3: 5 10-01 46. Craig Schuff Watauga, Texas 15 30-07 183 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 9-00 Day 3: 5 5-15 47. John Murray Phoenix, Ariz. 13 30-07 181 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 9-08 Day 2: 5 14-08 Day 3: 3 6-07 48. Ish Monroe Hughson, Calif. 15 29-13 179 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 6-13 Day 2: 5 13-12 Day 3: 5 9-04 49. Zell Rowland Austin, Texas 13 28-10 177 $10,000.00 Day 1: 5 10-01 Day 2: 5 11-02 Day 3: 3 7-07 50. James Niggemeyer Van, Texas 11 26-05 175 $5,000.00 Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 13-01 Day 3: 1 1-04 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 82 451 1118-13 2 80 450 960-09 3 46 240 585-14 ---------------------------------- 208 1141 2665-04