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GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (April 11) — Still within striking distance of a Bassmaster Elite Series win on Lake Guntersville this weekend, Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler David Walker positioned himself solidly within the final cut mark going into championship Sunday.

By bringing in a decent stringer of five fish at 18 pounds, 14 ounces, Walker increased his three-day tournament total to 67 pounds, 2 ounces. However, with the rest of the anglers struggling a bit on the water Saturday, Walker is now less than 3 pounds behind leader Mike Iaconelli going into the last day of competition.

“Today wasn’t nearly as successful for me,” Walker said. “I really felt like I was letting this tournament slip away from me. I wasn’t catching that many fish, and the fish that I caught weren’t as big. Thankfully midway through the day I was able to catch one really big one, which changed the outlook on the day.

“With that being said, I still felt like I was in trouble as far as a chance to win this thing. It turned out that everyone else was struggling as well, so I only fell one place. The leader fell quite a bit, which just tightened everything up.

“The good news for tomorrow is that it’s really like a one-day tournament now. If someone catches one big stringer tomorrow, they’ll win this thing.”

Looking to take over the top spot, Walker will launch for the last time this weekend at 6:15 a.m. CT and return for weigh-in at 3:15 p.m. at Guntersville City Harbor.

“Had it been one of those days where everyone else was doing well and I wasn’t, I would have thought that I was doing something wrong,” Walker said. “Instead, it was something that I can’t take personally because no one was catching them.

“Tomorrow I’m going to start out in the same area and I may fish some new places. For me to not go back and fish an area that has gotten me this far along would be crazy. I’ll go give it a try, but I’ll probably be a little more susceptible to leaving sooner tomorrow than I would have been today now that I know the circumstances. I’m sure the fishing is going to be better though. It’s a great lake, obviously. The weights are high and staying that way.”

Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler David Walker is less than 3 pounds from the No. 1 spot going into the last day of competition on Lake Guntersville.

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (April 10) — Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler Mike McClelland pulled off the ultimate tournament comeback on Friday at Lake Guntersville, moving from the bottom of the Bassmaster Elite leaderboard on day one to survive the first cut on day two.

After catching only 12 pounds, 13 ounces on day one, McClelland brought in almost twice that amount on day two with a 23-pound bag and now sits 41st overall with 35 pounds, 13 ounces.

“It’s pretty unbelievable,” McClelland said. “All I can say is that I am 100 percent blessed. It was one of those days again when things didn’t start off well. I didn’t catch my first keeper until about 11 a.m., so I had to stay extremely focused.

“What’s crazy is I tried different stuff this morning that I thought I had missed yesterday but I didn’t catch them again. Then I went back to what I did yesterday when I only caught 12 pounds, and the first five fish I caught today had to be over 17 pounds. It’s one of those things where you think, ‘Should I just keep doing this?’ The answer to that was no. I needed to gamble.

“I struggle this time of the year because the fish really scatter. I’m good when fish concentrate. I made the decision to move to the bank and start fishing. I was blessed with a 6-15 fish at probably around 1:30 p.m., and I knew that was a game changer. I just kept fishing after that, culled one more time, and it all came together.”

Hoping to continue to move his way up the leaderboard and make the final cut, McClelland will launch at 6:15 a.m. CT on Saturday and return for weigh-in at 3:15 p.m. at Guntersville City Harbor.

“This may be one of the best lakes in the country right now,” McClelland said. “I’ve had 30-pound bags here before in the past. When you know that that’s possible, you can kind of go out and gamble.

“The best days that I have ever had here is when I run around and fish a lot of different spots. The one thing that I did better today is fish more water. Tomorrow I’m going to try to fish twice as much water as I did today.”

Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler Mike McClelland moved from the bottom of the Bassmaster Elite leaderboard on day one to survive the first cut on day two at Lake Guntersville.

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (April 10) — Making a definite statement after the first two days of fishing on Lake Guntersville, Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler David Walker finds himself sitting second on the Bassmaster Elite leaderboard for this weekend’s tournament.

After a solid opening day of five fish weighing 23 pounds, 1 ounce, Walker continued his successful ways on day two with another impressive bag of 25 pounds, 5 ounces, bringing his two-day total to 48 pounds, 6 ounces.

“It’s even better than I imagined,” Walker said. “It wasn’t just a rebound; it was the polar opposite. Today was just a good day. I caught them good yesterday, but to be honest, today was definitely one of my best fishing days on the water. Everything went right and I made all the right choices.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow because before, when I’ve been in this position, I’ve almost had a feeling of dread worrying about this, that, or the other. This time I don’t feel like that at all. I’m really excited about the whole thing. I know it may sound a little cliché but after a start like I had to the season, to be able to recover so well is quite a relief.”

Looking to continue his stout weekend, Walker will launch with the other Elite anglers at 6:15 a.m. CT on Saturday and return for weigh-in at 3:15 p.m. at Guntersville City Harbor.

“It’s not so much that I have a secret spot or a secret lure that I’m using,” Walker said. “I’m just fishing with a lot of confidence this weekend. It sounds a little strange, but when it comes to fishing confidence is big. That’s why you see some of the anglers who are really great in this sport, they fish with such confidence most of the time.

“It’s kind of easy to beat yourself up with the decisions that you’re making throughout the day. Like today, I didn’t have any of that regret. Everything that I decided to do I tried it, and if it didn’t work that was fine, too.

“Tomorrow, regardless of how I finish up, I’m looking forward to it because a day like today makes up for a lot of bad days. When it comes to tournament fishing, there are more bad days than good days, but this wasn’t one of them.”

Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler David Walker finds himself sitting second on the Bassmaster Elite leaderboard with a two-day total of 48 pounds, 6 ounces on Lake Guntersville.