I’ve got to blow my horn a little here. I made the Top 12 cut in the co-angler division and qualified to fish the final round tomorrow! I slid in there at 11th place when I weighed 5-5 today for a 2-day total of 14-12. I have to make up 3 pounds, 5 ounces to catch leader, Chris Lewis (18-01 total).

My pro partner, Lee Boutwell, took us to my spot twice today. I caught one fish there. Yesterday I threw back 4 and weighed a 9-07 limit out of there. She gave me just enough to squeak into the finals. Again, Thanks to Chuck at Kissimmee Boat Rentals out of Big Toho Marina for loaning me a boat to practice from. Four of my five fish came from the spot I found while practicing from one of his boats. That’s the biggest reason I made the cut.

On the pro side it took a little more weight to make the cut. Chris Lane is 12th with 31-11. JP Prouty is the first guy out of the cut with 30-12 after he caught 21 pounds of Toho bass today to rally from 46th yesterday.

Andy Montgomery almost caught the 8-pounder that pushed JP up the leader board. “He got there 2 minutes before I did,” said Montgomery who finished out of the money as a result. “I watched him catch that fish.”

Gerald Swindle still leads with 55-05 followed by Bobby Lane (51-13) and Trevor Fitzgerald (50-04). Larry Cahan and Ott Defoe round out the top 5.

Rumor has it that the leaders are throwing lipless crankbaits in hydrilla. I’ll try to confirm that tomorrow.

Weigh in tomorrow begins at 4p.m. at the Bass Pro Shop in Orlando. Live video coverage at Bassmaster.com. I will be there, not as a correspondent, but as a contestant. Wish me luck! (And hope I don’t need it.)