Dardanelle Day 3 Midday Update

A combination of adverse factors created a challenging scenario for the top-10 pros and co-anglers competing on day three of the Costa FLW Series Central Division tournament on Lake Dardanelle.

For starters, a relatively mild cold front left the usual high pressure, blue skies and chilly air in its wake. The morning found the water level a few inches lower and muddier from yesterday’s windy conditions.

In an effort to manage voluminous inflow from recent heavy rains, the Corps had been pulling the water down in recent days. This has hindered spawning movement, as the fish can’t get set up in a stable depth without fear of finding their nests high and dry.

Most anglers were fishing a mix of spawn, prespawn and postspawn patterns, but the field seemed to be struggling to reconnect with any consistency.

Todd Castledine, who led the first two days was eager to return to the areas in which he caught his fish because he figured out a key presentation point. Working a mix of reaction and pitching baits, he caught one keeper around 10 a.m., but he struggled for the rest of the morning.

Leading co-angler Michael Watson threw a flick shake rig (soft stick bait with a weighted wacky hook) and had three keepers by noon.

We’ll be interested to see what second-place pro Zack King brings to the scales. He was running up the Arkansas River to a treacherously shallow area with lots of obstructions. Considering that the river fish are farther along in the spawn than those in the lake, this could be the gold mine.

King trails Castledine by 4 pounds, 5 ounces, but if he can reach his targeted spawning areas, he could make a big move today.

With winds kicking up to 15 mph, those who made long runs will face a tooth-rattling ride back to the check-in point at Lake Dardanelle State Park.