Lake Travis Day 4 Coverage
KICKER ALERT!
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Top five patterns from day three
2:35 With that, we’re headed to weigh-in
As you may have guessed, this thing is going to be tight. There’s still time for someone to catch a last-minute kicker or two, but as things stand it’s either Bryan Thrift or Mark Rose for the win. The local crowd would love them some Clark Wendlandt, but he needs to step it up to make it happen.
The pros check in at 3:30 p.m. CT and weigh-in starts at 4 p.m. CT. It’s gonna be lit.
Tournament Details
Weigh-in: Thursday and Friday at 3 p.m. CT at Jones Brothers Park and 4 p.m. CT Saturday and Sunday at Jones Brothers Park.
FLW Expo: 12 to 4 p.m. CT Saturday and Sunday at Jones Brothers Park
2:20 Time to run
While Rob Newell is scrapping his pre-write, Dylan Hays is picking up and running. He stopped on his starting spot for about a ¼-pound cull and now he’s headed to weigh-in. Mark Rose has ventured up the Colorado River now, which is a little odd – he probably doesn’t know quite what he has and is looking to make a last-ditch move.
Gagliardi just moved back into the cove where he caught his two kickers, so the last hour might be really interesting…
2:10 Thrift just caught a kicker
Bryan Thrift might be about to Mark Rose ol’ Mark Rose. Flipping in a marina, Thrift just culled up with a 5+ to bring his limit up to about 13 pounds. He’s now basically tied with Rose.
1:34 Gagliardi culls
This fish is reflected in the top five estimate below already, but it’s worth mentioning anyhow. A bit ago, Anthony Gagliardi landed another decent keeper to cull his smallest. It’s not the quality he needs to grab a share of the lead, but it was enough to bump him back up over Dylan Hays.
1:32 The top five weights
With about 2 hours left to fish, here is how the top five unofficially stands. Keep in mind that these weights are estimates.
1. Mark Rose – 14.5 – 59.3
2. Bryan Thrift – 9.5 – 55
3. Clark Wendlandt – 11.5 – 53.25
4. Anthony Gagliardi – 18 – 53.2
5. Dylan Hays – 11.75 – 53.2
1:25 Wendlandt makes a big cull
Returning to a place he missed one earlier, Clark Wendlandt culled out a 1-pounder with a 3-pounder to jump him up in the standings a little. He’s still behind Mark Rose and Bryan Thrift, but he’s now ahead of Dylan Hays and Anthony Gagliardi again, at least unofficially.
1:10 Rose culls
Still flipping docks, Mark Rose just culled a 12-inch guacamole bass with a 14-inch largemouth. That moves the mark just a little bit ahead for Thrift and will make his comeback attempt just a little bit harder.
1:00 Thrift update
Bryan thrift hasn’t done anything in a while other than burn a lot of gas. He’s been running dock to dock and occasionally fishing some bushes and has covered a lot of ground. Now, he’s back down in the lower end of the lake after making it all the way up past the Pedernales. He’s throwing a buzzbait with a toad around the bushes and sticking with a skipping jig on the docks.
12:48 No go on the bed fish
Rose’s bed fish must not be that big. He made a few more flips to it and has moved on to the next dock.
12:45 Rally time
Clark Wendlandt just put on a new old hat. It’s rally cap time. With only a few hours left he better get started.
In the lead, Mark Rose has spotted one on a bed and missed it about seven times now. No word on the size, but he’s sticking around, so it must be projected to help.
12:40 Rose finally limits
Mark Rose seems to be turning slow final days into a pattern. It’s almost 1 o’clock and he only landed his fifth keeper flipping a dock. Like so many of the fish on Travis, it isn’t big, but it pads his lead. He’s now about 3 pounds ahead of Byran Thrift.
12:30 Welcome back!
Welcome back to the blog from FLW Live! We’re going to be with you until about 2 o’clock and it looks like we’re headed toward an exciting finish. Plenty of folks have put together small limits, but the key to the afternoon looks like it will be a kicker. With his hot start, Mark Rose has the lead, but he’s not nearly safe. Bryan Thrift is a couple of quality bite away from him and Dylan Hays and Anthony Gagliardi are not so far back that the impossible couldn’t happen.
As for our current action, Mark Rose just made a decent run up the lake past Bee Creek to a pocket and Troy Morrow just culled with a 2-pounder. Morrow now has about 10 pounds in the livewell.
12:10 Hays culls big
Flipping a willow tree (for a looong time), Dylan Hays has finally made a big upgrade. He boat-flipped a heavy 3-pounder a moment ago and is now unofficially in third place, ahead of Anthony Gagliardi, with just under 53 pounds.
12:05 Batts and Reehm cull
Still fishing his offshore stuff, Clayton Batts just culled a 1-pounder with a 4-pounder for a big move. Now he’s got a total of about 49 pounds and is in seventh place.
Fishing a bed, Clark Reehm finally wrangled a 3-pounder off it. He’s now up to about 12 pounds on the day and is unofficially in 6th place.
11:50 Rose is doing the dock thing
Mark Rose says he’s planning on fishing docks the rest of the day. Travis has a ton of docks and a reputation as a strong dock lake, so he should have plenty of options. So far, he’s doing most of it with a flipping bait, a jig and a spinning rod and is focusing on more isolated docks.
11:50 Hays is moving around up the river
Dylan Hays has moved way up the Colorado River now and he’s fishing around flooded brush and rocks up there. He’s hit some main river stuff and has now moved into a pocket just off it. So far, it’s not produced many fish and no culls, but it’s where he spent most of his time the first two days.
11:40 Gagliardi has adjusted masterfully
Anthony Gagliardi catches them all over the country, everywhere we go, but today he’s made a genius move. He has recognized and capitalized on the shoreward movement of bass better than anyone else so far. He’s dialed in on narrow, rocky pockets and is throwing a floating worm, a jig and a swimbait for spawning fish and ones around the bed. He’s about five pounds behind Mark Rose now, but man does he feel dangerous at the moment.
11:20 Rose moves
Mark Rose has finally left his boat ramp. He ran his way up the lake a big and has ducked into a rocky cove with some docks off the main lake to fish a jig.
11:15 They’re starting to spawn
Some pros went looking on day three, and Clark Reehm is looking at a 3-pounder and a 5-pounder on a bed now. Clark Wendlandt is moving to the bank and has started flipping his way around up shallow as well – he’s not looking for a spawner, but he’s hoping to catch one by just fishing in the right areas. The only guy who is really capitalizing on the spawn is Anthony Gagliardi – he has some big ones and has lost a 4-pounder off a bed twice now.
11:00 Rose strikes again
Fishing a little closer to the bank on his same ramp, Mark Rose just jigged up a 3-pounder. With that, he takes the lead and has about 12 pounds with just four bass.
Behind him, Clark Wendlandt just culled up by about a pound. He’s got 10 pounds in the boat now.
10:50 Reehm is going looking
Clark Reehm has abandoned his offshore fish. He’s pulled up to the bank and is looking for spawning bass. He says he has a few big ones located, so we’ll see if he can find them again and then actually make them bite. It’s pretty windy out, but it is starting to get much brighter and the threat of rain seems to be dissipating.
10:45 Wendlandt limits
Clark Wendlandt just put his fifth fish in the boat. It’s not a big one, but it keeps.
Troy Morrow has his fourth now as well. He now has about 7 pounds in the boat now.
10:33 Hays is moving
Dylan Hays has finally left his little point. He ran up to a place just above the narrows on the Colorado River and is fishing a little island of submerged brush.
Meanwhile, Anthony Gagliardi has filled his limit. He went back to where he missed one earlier and caught a 2-pounder on a jig to fill his limit. He’s now in third place over Dylan Hays by a pretty good margin.
Day three GoPro highlights
10:22 Thrift moves, Rose has a short
Bryan Thrift has moved up to Pace Bend Park and is still fishing shallow. He’s flipping and buzzing bushes up near the bank.
Mark Rose just caught another short fish on a swimbait, but he still only has three keepers. He’s bounced around a little, but mostly he’s been slinging away at his boat ramp.
10:15 Gagliardi just misses and hits
Anthony Gagliardi is suddenly in the mix to win from 10th place. He needs a Texas-sized bag to do it, but he already has a good bit of the makings. Unfortunately for him, he just missed a 3- or 4-pounder. That’d be a really big help.
Now, still throwing a worm, he just caught a 2-pounder to get his fourth. That brings his total weight to about 15 pounds and puts him in third place behind Thrift and Rose.
9:58 Wendlandt has two more
After trying up shallow, Clark Wendlandt moved back offshore and has now moved tight again and is cranking a rock bluff. There, he quickly picked up a short and two small keepers.
9:50 Rounding up some news
We had a laptop battery snafu that put the blog down for a bit, but we’re back and better than ever now. The most relevant news is that Bryan Thrift has culled up by a pound. He caught a 2-pounder on the bank with a toad on a buzzbait and might be getting into a little Thrift groove.
Behind him and making waves is Anthony Gagliardi. Gags’ third fish was a solid 3-pounder (caught on a worm) and he now has about 13 or 14 pounds with just three bass. He’s working on a pretty epic day.
9:25 Patek is swinging
Stephen Patek probably cost himself a chance at the win by being late on day three. Now he’s swinging for it. After starting with a Carolina rig and no fish, he’s moved to a main river cove and is throwing a big swimbait. He caught a kicker on day one with the swimmer and if anything is going to get him a huge bag, a swimbait ought to do it.
9:20 Batts has his limit and is culling
Clayton Batts has been catching most of his fish on a drop-shot this morning (he’s got a mess of them on the graph), and he’s now culled once. He has almost 10 pounds in the boat and seems to be on a pretty good pace.
9:12 Reehm limits
Clark Reehm has finished his limit for about 11 pounds now. He’s done it largely off the one spot he’s been banking on all tournament. He seems pretty excited.
Dylan Hays hasn’t made any new culls, but he’s caught a few more fish. He’s dragging a light Texas rig with a lizard on it.
9:00 Thrift culls, Wendlandt is moving
Bryan Thrift just made a tiny cull with a jig off the biggun dock.
Clark Wendlandt is moving now, he just fished a bank for a few minutes and is on the hunt again. He’s been dying to get a good shallow bite going all week. This might be the best day yet for it.
8:52 Thrift is at the dock
Bryan Thrift just ran to the dock where he lost a giant and caught his kicker on day three. Now we wait…
8:50 Tons of keepers for Hays
Dylan Hays has caught more keepers today than some pros caught all week on Travis. He’s already landed eight keepers, and has culled his way up to about 9 pounds now. He’s unofficially in third place behind Thrift and Rose.
8:40 Batts and Morrow add
Clayton Batts added a drop-shot keeper to his creel, he’s now got three for a little more than 5 pounds. Troy Morrow has also added his second, a decent but not spectacular keeper.
The weather on the lake is getting more dreary by the minute. It’s windy, very overcast, and some fog is starting to roll in.
8:30 Rose’s tactics
Mark rose started with a swimbait, but now he’s strolling a jig down the ramp. Because Travis fluctuates so much, the ramp he’s fishing extends way out into the lake. He’s trolling up it a little and casting his jig up toward the edge and then strolling back out on his trolling motor to setup a really long retrieve.
All but one of his early bites came on the swimbait, so it isn’t really working yet, but it’s an interesting way to fish for sure.
8:23 We’re almost ready for FLW Live and Reehm and Hays are catching
Clark Reehm’s second fish is a chunky 2-pounder. Meanwhile, Dylan Hays has filed his limit for about 8 pounds. He doesn’t have much size, but he’s sure catching at a quick pace.
8:00 Hays has two, Thrift limits
Dylan Hays finally made it to his starting spot and appears to be getting going where he left off. He’s already got two keepers in the boat. Also up around there, Clark Reehm ha added his second keeper.
Bryan Thrift has been catching fast this morning. He’s now got a limit and has made one small cull. He’s probably now back in the lead or about tied with Rose. He’s sitting in front of a dock and throwing a jig out toward the creek channel, possibly dragging it through some brush or rock.
Wendlandt also has his second, which is just a standard keeper.
7:54 Reehm is on the board, Rose and Thrift add
Clark Reehm’s morning spinnerbait deal seems to be working pretty decent again. He’s on the board early with a 2-pounder and this overcast weather ought to help him out.
Elsewhere, Bryan Thrift has added two small keepers to his creel and Mark Rose has added a small keeper to his.
7:38 Gagliardi is moving on up
Anthony Gagliardi’s first fish was a 4-pounder. His second fish was a 6-pounder. Unofficially, he’s now in third place. He’s pitching docks, and it seems like some fish may have moved up for him.
7:33 Thrift is moving a lot
While Mark Rose has remained at his starting spot (and caught one short bass), Bryan Thrift is on his third spot of the day. He’s moved within sight of Clark Wendlandt and is fishing a boat ramp.
7:28 Thrift has his second
Fishing the same area, Thrift’s second fish appears to be a line-burner guacamole bass. We’ve upped the estimate on his first keeper to about 2 pounds, but he is well off the pace that Mark Rose is setting.
7:20 Can Rose keep it up?
Mark Rose seems to have a knack for unbelievable starts at Travis. On day three, he got going really early and then basically scuffled the remainder of the day. If he can keep catching, he could put this derby to bed pretty fast. As for how he’s catching this morning, a swimbait is doing the work.
Meanwhile, Anthony Gagliardi has also started off right, having just put a 4-pounder in the livewell.
7:15 We’re off and running
Starting pretty close (Wendlandt on the spot that produced his kickers on days two and three), Clark Wendlandt began his day with a 2-pounder and Troy Morrow started things off with a 14-incher.
Starting down near the dam again, Mark Rose picked up where he left off and popped a 4-pounder off his boat ramp and another on his next cast. He’s had about the best start possible to have.
Bryan Thrift is already on his second spot of the day and just landed his first keeper of the day.
6:57 It’s Thrift vs. Rose again
The final day of the FLW Tour presented by Quaker State on Lake Travis is set to be pretty epic. Sitting in first, Bryan Thrift is riding on the strength of his 24-12 day one bag and his ability to pick up a couple of key kickers elsewhere. In second, only a pound behind him, Mark Rose is lurking and looking for his second consecutive Tour win (which would be a first for anyone). While Thrift’s weights have faltered somewhat, Rose has been surging, boxing over 17 pounds on day two and nearly 16 pounds on day three.
Close behind the leaders, Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, is the hometown boy and has an upset on his mind. Wendlandt certainly has the crowd behind him, and he may have enough history and knowledge of Travis for a serious run at the win. Wendlandt has been mixing between deep and shallow this week, and he’s intimated that he has a few secrets left for the final day.
There are evidently some really big bags to be had in Travis, so anyone might surge ahead today – Stephen Patek, Jeremy Lawyer and Clark Reehm have all struck for more than 19 pounds at some point this week. We’ll be looking hard thought the top 10 for someone to really catch them today – the weather sure seems conducive to fishing. There’s a fair amount of rain and thunder in the forecast, there’s a chance we get lucky and avoid most of the rain. Rain aside, it’s warm in the morning for the second day in a row and the water is coming up again – today might be the day a big wave moves shallow.
Thrift's kicker from day three
Top 10 pros
1. Bryan Thrift – Shelby, N.C. – 45-9 (15)
2. Mark Rose – West Memphis, Ark. – 44-9 (15)
3. Clark Wendlandt – Leander, Texas – 41-12 (15)
4. Dylan Hays – Sheridan, Ark. – 41-0 (15)
5. Stephen Patek – Garland, Texas – 39-0 (15)
6. Clark Reehm – Huntington, Texas – 37-6 (14)
7. Jeremy Lawyer – Sarcoxie, Mo. – 37-4 (14)
8. Troy Morrow – Eastanollee, Ga. – 37-1 (15)
9. Clayton Batts – Macon, Ga. – 36-5 (15)
10. Anthony Gagliardi – Prosperity, S.C. – 35-3 (15)
Conditions
Temperature at takeoff: 66 degrees
Forecast high: 78 degrees
Sky: mostly cloudy
Precipitation: 50 percent chance of rain
Wind: SE at 11 mph
Tournament Details
Folgers Morning Takeoff: 7 a.m. CT at Jones Brothers Park, 10301 Lakeside Drive, Jonestown, Texas
Weigh-in: 4 p.m. CT Saturday and Sunday at Jones Brothers Park
FLW Expo: 12 to 4 p.m. CT Saturday and Sunday at Jones Brothers Park
FLW Live: Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. CT to 12:30 p.m. CT