"I feel really good," he said. "I fished well all week and my execution was good – I only had one pull off that would have helped me.

"I was hoping that having 12-03 would move me up, but I stayed in the exact same position. Some of the other guys caught them good, too."

He was forced to abandon the area where he caught his 15-11 bag on day 3.

"I started there and caught some small keepers, but it was pretty obvious it had been maximized, so I had to punt. I went about 30 miles farther and found a similar place, and ended up with a nice sack of fish."

He caught about a dozen keepers – the most of any day – and his bag was topped by a 4-pounder.

"They were biting good early until about 10:00, then there was a lull until about 12:00. But the afternoon was good after that little front moved through." Read More