Probably the biggest angle heading into Saturday’s fishing is that the lake has opened up for the top 10 finalists. With 190 of the 200 boats now out of the way, those coveted big-bass deep ledge areas should be a lot more accessible for the last 10 standing from the opening round. Barring an onslaught of recreational fishing traffic, you probably won’t hear many more stories this weekend about guys having to sit and protect spots all day long like David Dudley did yesterday.

On the fantasy front, this event has turned out to be gangbusters for a lot of players. There aren’t really any true dark horses in the final top-10 field, and a good number of pros who should be there – a.k.a. pretournament favorites who are, thus, on a lot of rosters – are fishing this weekend. Dudley was the No. 1 pick by the numbers, and judging by what I heard off the record yesterday, you should feel pretty good about yourself right about now if you picked him to win. All of you Andy Morgan and Craig Powers fans – a whole bunch of you – are sitting pretty, too.

In fact, also off the record between you and me, I can say that the top fantasy players so far from this event have matched more pros into the top 10 than at any previous event this season. So competition is going to be stout the next couple days as the anglers jostle for their final positions. My guess is that victory might boil down to the fantasy player who made the Brandon Coulter local connection or even managed to slip in a Hank Cherry under the radar.

Best of luck on your exacta hunt, players.