Cecil takes over pole position going into Toledo Bend finals

Harold Allen still right on leader’s bumper in Stren Texas event

HEMPHILL, Texas – Catch rates did fall off at Toledo Bend on day three of the Stren Series Texas Division event, but for the most part, those leading the pack still caught enough to defend their positions in the top five.

Russell Cecil of Willis, Texas, took over the lead from day-two leader Stephen Johnston thanks to a 22-pound, 6 ounce catch that was anchored by an 8-pound, 6-ounce Toledo Bend monster, which took the Pro Division Snickers Big Bass award of the day.

Cecil now leads with a three-day total of 56 pounds, 9 ounces.

Due to the number of boats on the lake, Cecil was forced to go to some different water he has been saving for the finals.

“I basically moved deeper today to fish some more obscure stuff in deeper water, and it worked out,” Cecil said. “I had one spot I’ve been saving all week, but I had no idea it had that kind of fish on it. In fact, when I was really struggling yesterday, I didn’t even go to it simply because I didn’t think it was that great. But when the boats really moved in on the stuff I have been fishing all week, I backed out to that one spot in about 20 feet of water, and they were there.”

Cecil has been fishing several soft plastics, including pitching a Lake Fork creature and a Big Bites creature to deep grass and Carolina rigging a Lake Fork Baby Ring Fry and a Big Bites little creature.

Harold Allen closing in

Just 8 ounces off the lead, Harold Allen of Shelbyville, Texas, continued to bring hefty bass to the scale today with a limit weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces. He now has a three-day total of 56 pounds, 1 ounce.

Allen is fishing deep drops with a worm in 15 to 25 feet of water, and he is keen about the timing of his water.

“The key for me tomorrow is timing my water correctly,” he explained. “They bite on my best places at certain times, and the important part is not screwing up my timing and getting off pace. All the boats out there make that difficult by forcing me to get out of sequence.

“The main impact the other boats have on me is I get in too much of a hurry, and I simply can’t do that when fishing deep – I’ve got to fish slow. Getting in a hurry causes me to fish over fish and get to the next place ahead of schedule. I’ve got to stay focused on maintaining my slow pace tomorrow and not get rattled by thinking another boat is going to beat me somewhere.”

Burgay third

Stan Burgay of Timpson, Texas, continues to move up through the field.

He was sixth after day one, fourth yesterday and moved into third today on the strength of a 19-pound limit for a three-day total of 53 pounds, 8 ounces.

While many of the leaders are dropping heavy jigs and soft plastics through the grass and to bottom cover, Burgay is relying on a crankbait.

He is rotating through five different models of crankbaits in different colors including a DD-22 and a Bomber 9A.

“I’m fishing the edges of ridges in 8 to 14 feet of water,” Burgay said. “I’m fishing strictly hard structure with no grass.”

Mark Allen fourth

Mark Allen of Kemp, Texas, also moved up to his best spot of the week – fourth – thanks to a 17-pound, 10-ounce catch today. His three-day total now settles in at 51 pounds, 9 ounces.

“It got a little slower on me today; I only got six keeper bites,” said Allen, who is pitching a Wave Worm Tiki craw to deep grass in 15 to 16 feet of water.

“I do have one isolated spot all to myself, which is a luxury among all these boats. Hopefully I can scratch out another limit from there tomorrow and see what happens.”

Johnston slides to fifth

Red-hot Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas, slipped off his blistering pace just a tad today with 11 pounds, 4 ounces, to move back to fifth with a three-day total of 50 pounds, 7 ounces – but he’s not complaining.

“Well, I finally ran my `saved’ water today, and it worked out OK – it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t a disaster either,” Johnston said. “There is just not the quality fish on those places like the ones that live out deep.”

Johnston revealed that he spent time sinking brush in the backs of creeks before this event, and he had hoped his brush-building project would pay off handsomely when the McDonald’s Big Bass Splash took over the lake during the last two days.

“I caught some fish off the brush – three of the ones I weighed in came off my brush – but no big ones,” he added. “Also, I may have gone to those brush fish a little too early today; they weren’t real grouped up on those piles this morning. I’m probably going fish out deep a little longer tomorrow and then try those piles later in the day.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros in the Stren Series event on Toledo Bend:

6th: Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas, three-day total of 48-13

7th: Glen Freeman of Converse, La., three-day total of 41-15

8th: Shane Gibson of Kilgore, Texas, three-day total of 39-9

9th: Yarri Schreibvogel of Sam Rayburn, Texas, three-day total of 38-13

10th: Jeff Buchanan of Zavalla, Texas, three-day total of 37-4

Martin dominating co-anglers

Blake Martin of Hemphill, Texas, is dominating the Co-angler Division of the Stren Texas event with a three-day total of 40 pounds, 12 ounces, giving him nearly a 12-pound lead going into the finals.

OK, so maybe the fact that Blake Martin is the son of Tommy Martin and has fished Toledo Bend with his dad all his life gives him just a smidgen of an advantage over the rest of the co-anglers – but that’s all, just a smidgen.

The younger Martin kept a Zoom Trick worm in his hands all day to collect a day-three limit weighing 14 pounds, 4 ounces.

“I feel pretty good about tomorrow,” he said. “As long as I’m around scattered grass, I feel comfortable with that Trick Worm; it’s a huge confidence bait for me.”

Rest of the best

Michael Savage of Clever, Mo., moved into second place today with four bass weighing 13 pounds, 5 ounces. He reported catching all his bass on an 8-inch V&M worm in a red-bug color.

Wesley Schubert of Conroe, Texas, is in third place with a three-day total of 26 pounds, 13 ounces.

Jacob Brown of Clyde, Texas, is in fourth place with a three-day total of 26 pounds, 13 ounces.

Brian Branum of Longview, Texas, is in fifth place with a three-day total of 24 pounds, 6 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers in the Stren Series event on Toledo Bend:

6th: Tim Achee of Hemphill, Texas, three-day total of 22-10

7th: Rich Dalbey of Greenville, Texas, three-day total of 22-9

8th: Bo Middleton of Elgin, Okla., three-day total of 22-0

9th: Bill Guillory of Jasper, Texas, three-day total of 21-13

10th: Bill Rogers of Jasper, Texas, three-day total of 19-2

Big bass

Ted Hegner of Mason, Ohio, caught the big bass in the Co-angler Division weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces.

Day three of the Stren Series on Toledo Bend begins at 6 a.m. Friday morning at Frontier Park and Marina located at 360 Frontier Drive in Hemphill, Texas.