Martin cracks 20-pound mark, owns 4-pound lead over McCall

Nacogdoches, Texas, pro shocks hometown crowd with 21-pound, 4-ounce limit

JASPER, Texas – Yet another day of blistering sunshine made for a trying day three of the final Stren Series Central Division event. But just as the temperature heats up, so does the intense competition between Lendell Martin Jr. and perennial Texas big-stick Chris McCall. McCall lead all competitors with 17 pounds, 2 ounces, with only two anglers left to weigh in. One of those two was Martin, who stunned the Jasper congregation with five that weighed 21 pounds, 4 ounces.

All 10 of the qualifying pros brought a limit to the scale, proving the Sam Rayburn bass could be caught in spite of the sweltering heat.

“When I started this week I was just hoping I would qualify for the championship,” said Martin, who easily secured a berth in the $1 million Stren Series Championship. “I’m just slowing down. I changed it up a little bit today and went to pitching a jig. The right bites came.”

The jig Martin is referring to is a 1/2-ounce Spot Remover jighead with a crawfish trailer. While many pros are fishing a topwater frog, the Nacogdoches, Texas, pro has found success on something else.

In fact, one of his 4-pound keepers actually spit up a plastic frog after he brought it in the boat. Martin said he also changed water today; he fished a spot on the south end of the lake where there’s plenty of shad.

“I’m fishing the steeper banks near deep water,” said Martin, whose limit was anchored by a 7-pound bass. “I think the bigger fish are comfortable there near the deeper water.”

Martin went on to say, “I knew I could get 14 or 15 pounds fishing shallow, but I didn’t think that was enough to win. So I switched up today and went deep and it paid off. My area has got a lot of fish, but I didn’t think I could get that much. We’ve got another tournament going tomorrow, so I don’t know exactly what is going to happen. I feel pretty confident that I can still catch them in a crowd. I’m going to fish to win.”

McCall sacks 17-2, slips to second

Local Jasper, Texas, pro Chris McCall was the star of the day-three weigh-in today bringing in five hefty bass that weighed 17 pounds, 2 ounces. That was, of course, until Martin brought up his staggering limit.

“I’m not trying to be greedy, but I feel like I kind of dropped the ball,” McCall said.

At 9 a.m. McCall had already boated two kicker fish, one that went about 5 pounds and another that weighed about 6 pounds.

“After that, I definitely thought I’d get another big one.”

While he wasn’t able to land another monster, he was able to sufficiently fill out his limit with quality fish. Just as he did on days one and two, McCall continues to throw the Gambler Cane Toad on 50-pound Berkley Stealth line. He also mixed in a 1-ounce Gambler Santone jig with an Ugly Otter trailer that he worked deep in the grass.

“I really don’t know what to say, the lord has really blessed me. I actually missed one and it came back later and bit it again. I just hope I learn something from this streak.”

After three days on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir, this tournament is shaping up to be a two-man shootout between Texas pros McCall and Martin.

Guidry takes third

Jeremy Guidry put together another solid day, catching 14 pounds even. The Opelousas, La., pro has been consistent all week, catching a solid limit each day.

“I got one nice one and the rest were just average keepers,” he said. “It was tough; at noon we didn’t have a keeper. I’ve been getting bit later everyday.”

Using mostly topwater frogs and Chug Bugs, Guidry scrambled and went to his emergency hole that he had been trying to save for Saturday.

“That’s where I got that big one.”

Lasyone fourth

Dry Prong, La., pro Kevin Lasyone brought five Sam Rayburn bass to the scale Friday. The limit, his third in as many days, weighed 13 pounds, 14 ounces, and put him in fourth with one day remaining.

Moore on a pod

Pro David Moore of Cambridge City, Ind., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 7 ounces, which was good enough for fifth place.

“It’s been awesome,” Moore said, “I actually lost more fish than I caught today. Believe it or not, I’ve caught them all in one area.”

Moore looks like one competitor who is definitely on enough fish to make a move up the leaderboard tomorrow.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros, who will be fishing tomorrow on the fourth and final day of Stren Series competition on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir:

6th: Bradley Stringer of Huntington, Texas, five bass, 13-5

7th: Alan Bond of Vidor, Texas, five bass, 13-4

8th: Michael Lowery of Etoile, Texas, five bass, 12-15

9th: Jason Reyes of Humble, Texas, five bass, 12-7

10th: David Curtis of Trinity, Texas, five bass, 10-5

Local Jasper co-angler finds the Cure

After slogging through a hot, sunny morning, co-angler John Cure hooked into something big around noon; something real big.

After bringing the fish out of more than 30 feet of water, Cure landed his coveted kicker, a 9-pound, 6-ounce beast that easily took over as the big bass for the tournament.

“I couldn’t even fish after I caught that thing,” gasped Cure. “I fell apart.”

Fishing with pro Russell Cecil, Cure got it together enough to land three more bass. His four-fish total weighed 15 pounds, 6 ounces.

“I fished with a great pro today. We were fishing a hump in deep water. He had a target and he made sure I had a target. He did everything he could do to help me catch fish.”

The Jasper, Texas, resident threw a watermelon-candy Trick worm on a Carolina rig to land his limit.

“I live here and love to fish deep, but I never fished that deep,” Cure said. “It was just a wonderful day and a fish like that would make anyone’s day.”

Tomorrow Cure starts with nearly a 3-pound lead.

“There are some good fisherman behind me. I need 10 pounds tomorrow to sock it. I like summertime fishing; if I get a target, I should be able to get a few.”

In second place in the Co-angler Division is Travis Darley of Del Rio, Texas. Darley caught a five-fish limit Friday weighing 12 pounds, 11 ounces, fishing sand flats with a watermelon Senko.

“The fish bit real good first thing this morning and then it slowed down until after lunch,” said Darley. “This is the highest I’ve ever placed, I’m pumped up.”

Fishing with Martin Jr., Bill Guillory of Jasper, Texas, caught eight keeper-sized bass on a watermelon-candy Zoom wacky worm. The five he kept weighed 11 pounds, 6 ounces, which put him third among the co-anglers.

Tim Webb of Olpe, Kansas, is in fourth with 9 pounds, 12 ounces, and R. D. Lewis of Hemphill, Texas, is in fifth with 9 pounds even.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers, who will be fishing tomorrow on the fourth and final day of Stren Series competition on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir:

6th: Randall Vaughan of Blanco, Texas, five bass, 7-14

7th: Eddie Stagg of Jasper, Texas, four bass, 7-7

8th: James Nichols of Ozark, Ark., three bass, 7-3

9th: Michael Herron of Paris, Texas, four bass, 6-8

10th: Mike Wisenbaker of Jourdanton, Texas, three bass, 6-5

The final day of Stren Series Central Division competition begins at 6:30 a.m. Central time Saturday from the Umphrey Family Pavilion.