Unanswered Questions
Weather, day off leave anglers wondering what will happen
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RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. Day Four dawned cloudless and chilly for the 12 remaining anglers fishing the Toyota Trucks Diamond Drive on Lake Dardanelle. Changing conditions and a day off Saturday due to the cancellation of Day Three left the Elite Series pros with more questions than answers.
The biggest question is whether the hole that offered up three 20-plus-pound stringers on Day Two will hold up after a massive cold front dropped in overnight.
"There is a huge school of fish using that area," Elite Series rookie Greg Vinson said. "I don't think any of us know what those fish are going to do. We might have to change the way we are fishing."

Vinson, along with Kevin VanDam, Fred Roumbanis, and second-place Cliff Pace are all in the same close quarters. Being so close to Pace had Vinson questioning how he needed to approach the area.
"I didn't even realize he was back there when I pulled up on the morning of Day Two," Vinson said. "I don't want to cut Cliff's throat because he has a better shot at winning — I'm much father back. The only way I think I could win is to visit another area that I have and catch a couple of better fish."
Vinson planned to start in the productive hole and then expand out from there if it wasn't paying off. Another angler that expected to have to expand was Matt Herren. Changing water levels and lower water temperatures had him questioning what time of day the fish would start biting.
"I know my stuff isn't going to fire until noon," Herren said. "They dropped the river 8 inches overnight and it has been much colder so I am going to let it sit as long as I can because these fish are spawning. In the meantime, I hope I can find some prespawn fish that might have moved up."
Herren has a high-level tournament win on Lake Dardanelle and is very comfortable on any river system, so with the tough changing conditions, he likes his chances for a comeback on the final day.
"This is what I like about fishing rivers," Herren said. "Sometimes you can overthink things and take yourself out of contention and sometimes you make a small adjustment that makes a huge difference."
Another angler prepared to make a big adjustment is Florida's Chris Lane, making his first top-12 cut of the year after struggling in 2008 and just missing out on qualifying for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic.
"I've been in a hole since missing the Classic," Lane said. "I changed things up mentally and progressively I've been getting better and better this year. There are a lot of fish in my area, I just have to make the right decisions at the right time. I'm ready to switch up techniques to one of my favorite ways to catch winter bass, punching mats, it the sun comes up."
Adjustments are not in the cards for tournament leader Mark Menendez. His two-day total of 39 pounds, 4 ounces have all come from a small honey hole that has taken an aluminum boat and 2 hours of running time to access.
"I'm not leaving there," Menendez said. "I'm turning the motor on twice: once to get there and once to come back. Hopefully, time management has played into my hands and there will be plenty of fish left for me to catch. I haven't caught a fish in there with a hole in its mouth, so it evidently doesn't get fished much."
Menendez has managed his water well, only fishing it for 2 hours the first day and 3 hours the second. If he can get to his spot with plenty of time to spare, it will be hard for the rest of the field to catch up, as only second-place Cliff Pace is less than 5 pounds behind.
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