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4th: Jones was Hog-Tied
Bassfan.com Day 4: 5, 17-10 (20, 71-08) Jones was surprised that he was unable to gain any ground in the standings despite catching more than 17 1/2 pounds.
"That's just a testament to how strong this river is fishing right now," he said. "I had a couple of chances to upgrade – I had a 4-pounder that I swung in that bounced off my graph and got away and another big one that I never saw that pulled off.
"Overall, I'm really pleased, though. It was a great week."
He had no company at all today as he fished below the Jones Bluff Dam.
"There was nobody else there – not even a local. It was really a peaceful day down there. It was almost surreal, like I wasn't even in a big tournament."
Alabama River 2nd: Jones Bouncing Around
"I can say that I'm fishing primarily with 50-pound braid and when I get a good one, I'm swinging it into the boat. The water's still so flooded up that I think there's a lot of fish I can't access, so I'm actually hoping it'll come down."
He's catching all spots and his biggest today was a 4 1/2-pounder.
"I missed a couple bites that I never got hooked up with and my biggest one, when I swung it in, it came off and bounced off the windshield and landed on the floor of the boat. I had another one close to 4 pounds stay on even though my rod was caught up in some vines.
"I'm hoping I can get at least 18 pounds tomorrow," he continued, "but I'll just have to keep catching one here and one there."
Chapman rides rapids for lead
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alton Jones and Brent Chapman stood side-by-side. They were the first two Bassmaster Elite Series pros in line to weigh in Friday, the second day of the Alabama River Charge presented by Star brite.
Jones sized up Chapman’s weigh-in bag. “I'll go first,” Jones told Chapman. “I want to lead for at least one minute.”
Jones had it right. His 20 pounds, 4 ounces earned him a fleeting look at the hot seat. Chapman’s 23-5 handily beat him. Chapman’s two-day total was 41-1 to Jones’ 36-10 — a 4-7 difference.
Jones had nothing to feel bad about. Together the two squashed the hopes of the other 98 Elite pros who followed them to the scales. No one knocked them out of first and second. Read More
More than "just" practice
4th: Jones Still in the Hunt
BassFan.com Day 3: 5, 17-04 (15, 53-14) Jones will be about a pound farther back when day 4 starts than he was when he launched this morning, but still thinks he has a decent shot at his second victory in 2 years.
"It's still kind of anybody's game, really," he said. "Edwin had been catching 17 to 18 pounds a day and today he shows up with more than 22, and the areas I'm fishing are capable of producing a stringer like that. I haven't caught one yet, but it might be somebody else's turn tomorrow and I'd love for that person to be me."