Dean Rojas retook the lead in the Bassmaster Elite Series Sabine River Challenge from Todd Faircloth who had assumed control yesterday. Faircloth has a 3-day total weight of 34 pounds, 13 ounces and for the first time this week came in a fish short of a limit. Rojas (38-6 total) is one of only 6 anglers to catch a limit each of the three tournament days.

Ish Monroe is throwing big baits and still, half of his fish are shorts. 30-to-35 bites per day yield about 15 keepers per day. As mpreviously mentioned, 94 of 100 pros have not caught 15 keepers this week.

Ish’s list of lures includes the Missile Baits D Bomb, an upgrade from the Missile Craw he was using earlier this week. He said the D Bomb produces bigger fish. Apparently it has. Ish’s penchant for catching bigger bass has put him in 3^rd place heading into the final round of competition with a total weight of 31-11.

‘Big Show’ Terry Scroggins has taken a different path to the top. While the rest of the top several contestants have pretty much brought limits each day, Big Show has brought bigger fish, even though he has left 4 swimming over the course of the tournament. His 11 bass weigh 31-6, nearly a 3-pound average. Had he caught 5 each day he would be leading this thing by a bunch.

Small limits are worth big bucks this week.

Jeff Kriet has quietly brought his 5 fish each day. His total weight of 30-6 puts him in 5^th.

That’s the pretty picture. For the rest of the field, how tough has it been?

Rick Morris caught a 5-fish limit. It took him 3 days to do it. He weighed only 3 fish the first two days and made the 50 cut.

That has to be a record.

Today he added 2 more to give him a grand total of 5 keepers on three days. As is Scroggins, Morris was on the right size fish, better than a 3-pound average. His 17-7 aggregate was good for 31^st place and $10,000.

Billy McCaghren made the 50 cut with a two-day total weight of only 10 pounds. That is an official Bassmaster Elite Series record for lowest weight ever to cut a paycheck. He caught 5 total keepers the first two days. He matched that with a limit today. That jumped him up 25 spots in the standings.

Takahiro Omori made the top 20 with a zero on his scorecard (from day 1).

Dennis Tietje actually made the 12 cut with a 1-fish showing on the first day.

Small bass aren’t the only ineligible fish eating the pros lures this week. Saltwater species abound. “I caught fish that I don’t even know what they were,” said Elite Series rookie James Elam.

Fish, gators, and snakes aren’t the only wildlife encountered by the pros.

On day 2 Brandon Card compared his 20-acre backwater to the movie ‘Deliverance’. Said he’s passing a bunch of weird houses with weird people walking around. Dave Mercer teased on stage yesterday, “If you start hearing banjos, get out of there!” Today Card an update, “You know that spot I was talking about? I kid you not, banjos were playing this morning. If I’m lying I’m dying.”

Card is running 73 miles one way to his deserted fishing hole. By comparison to many pros this week, he’s fishing close.

Mike McClelland said that if he makes the cut and fishes tomorrow he will have logged over 1,000 miles in his boat this week. He made the cut.