For starters, Smith Mountain has hundreds of boat docks on it – and most of them have a pleasure boat tied to it. With temperatures pushing close to 90 degrees the local traffic on the lake increased exponentially. In addition to pleasure boats, there are scores of local fishermen also intently focused on the shallows.

Secondly, Kevin VanDam, the leader at launch, is arguably the most dangerous angler on the water. He made his move up from 12th place Friday by weighing the heaviest stringer of the day, and showed no signs of slacking off now that he has his 15th win in range as our On the Water coverage team reported.

But with less than four pounds separating the top spot from the 12th-place cut, a key fish or two would go a long way. In fact, with Saturday being the customary “moving day” on the Elites, it was safe to say that no one was immune from falling victim to the capricious leader board.

While the leader board changed dramatically throughout the weigh-in proceedings, one constant remained. Kevin VanDam started, and ended, the day as the man to beat after bringing 15 pounds, 6 ounces to the scales Saturday. With a total weight of 47 pounds, 15 ounces, VanDam increased his lead by an additional pound heading into the final day.

Matt Herren, with 44 pounds, 7 ounces, pulled up closest to VanDam after bringing 15 pounds even to the scales Saturday. Just two ounce behind him is Day One leader Kelly Jordon who continued the grind by bringing 12 pounds, 11 ounces to the scales to boost his combined weight to 44 pounds, 5 ounces.

Dean Rojas stayed close with 43 pounds, 7 ounces, after placing 13 pounds, 7 ounces on the scales to close the third day of fishing. Greg Hackney moved from 15th place into fifth with his limit weighing 14 pounds and an ounce – good for a total weight of 41 pounds, 14 ounces.

Rounding out the Super Six was Matthew Sphar, with a three-day total weight of 41 pounds, 9 ounces. Sphar’s Day Three weight of 10 pounds, 15 ounces was his lightest of the week, but it allowed him to stay in the hunt for Sunday’s final shot.

VanDam in Control
Kevin VanDam has said each day of this event that his fishing starts slow, but grows in intensity as the day wears on. The third day was more of the same, but recreation and spectator traffic added to the early-morning grind. 

“It was hard to see this morning, and I had a lot of boats following me,” he said. “Their wakes made it really difficult to see things. It was just a real struggle today.”

Pointing out that his pattern is really more of an afternoon deal, VanDam is fine with the morning pace. “In the mornings they’re just not up there because the water is still pretty cool first thing,” he said. “As the day wears on, you’re able to see more and more coming in.”

Kevin pointed out that he’d found some quality fish in the last hours of Friday’s competition, but they had vanished overnight. “A lot of the fish that I’d found yesterday were gone today,” he said. 

Herren Covering Water
Having relied on sight fishing for 100% of his weight this week, Matt Herren is pleased with where he’s at heading into the final day. “I’m tickled to death with my day and where I’m at in this thing,” he said. 

“If you can get in the right area, it’s not that hard catch them. The problem is, I’m not seeing the kind of quality that I’d hoped for.”

The key to Herren’s program is keeping his MinnKota trolling motor on high and plowing through as much water as possible. “I’m just running around trying to cover new water every day,” he said. 

“I found some fish yesterday and started there this morning. I was able to get a limit off of them and just kept the day going.”

Herren explained that he caught 25 keepers throughout the day, but was never able to cull for more than a few ounces at a time. “Once the sun got up, and it got really good to see, I was able to pretty much keep after ‘em all day,” he said. 

“Everything I’m catching is between two and three pounds, and that won’t win it.”

Tomorrow, Herren will repeat the same process that’s brought him this far; however, he has a few beds that he plans on re-visiting. “I’ve got a couple of areas that I finally saw some bigger fish, but they’re just cruising around,” he said. 

“I’m hoping that tonight a couple of them will get up there and start to do their deal.”

Jordon Still Betting on the Come
After a slow start Friday, Kelly Jordon pointed out that he’s betting on the come. Saturday he went back to some water he’d been holding in reserve to see if the gamble paid off. “Today I went to some water that I’ve been saving,” he said. 

“They weren’t big ones, like two- and two-and-a-half-pounders, but I was able to catch a few of them, which got me started.” 

Friday afternoon, Jordon spotted a pair of quality four-pounders the he planned to boat Saturday. Unfortunately, the vanishing act that’s been repeated all week occurred once again. “I’d found a couple of big ones that I thought I could catch today, but they were gone,” he said. 

“I don’t have any explanation for it, except that they’re crazy bass. That’s about it.”

Jordon expressed his displeasure with how the tournament has shaped up, given what he saw Monday. “I’m actually pretty disappointed because I’m just not seeing any big fish at all,” he said. 

“There weren’t any new ones that had pulled up. I’m sure that they are somewhere, but they sure didn’t come in like I’d hoped.”

Kelly knows that it’s a long shot to win, but he’s holding out hope that Monday’s giants will make an appearance in Sunday’s finale. “They’re really going to have to come in tonight for it to make a big difference,” he said. 

“That will be about the only way that I have a legitimate shot at this thing.”

Rojas Needing a Push for Sunday
“It was kind of a challenge,” Dean Rojas said of his morning. “I just kind of went over some fish that I had found yesterday, and caught those, and then went and found some fresh spots.”

Fortunately, from there things went pretty smoothly as he was able to begin culling soon after. “I was able to stay calm and grind out a limit pretty early, but they were all small,” he said.

“Once the day started rolling I was able to see a couple of big ones but they just weren’t locked on.”

Rojas explained that Sunday is the wild card. To win, an overnight surge to the shallows will be required. “I don’t know about tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t know if I can catch the right fish to win. 

“I need some fish to move in if I’m going to catch Kevin. I’ve seen it happen before, but it’s really going to be tough to make up that kind of ground.”

Hackney on the Junk 
Greg Hackney has is one of the few anglers fishing Sunday who’s been able to better his daily catch, but he doesn’t really have a strong explanation as to how he’s doing it. “I don’t know, I’m really just fishing,” he said. 

“I feel like I’ve been really fortunate because I’m running new water everyday just junk fishing.”

Hackney pointed out that there’s been very little he hasn’t tried at least once this week. “I’ve done a little bit of everything,” he said. “I’ve sight fished a little bit and threw around docks – really just whatever is in front of me is what I’m fishing.”

DAY THREE STANDINGS