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MANY, La. — Toledo Bend Reservoir produced a little something extra — lagniappe in Louisiana French-speak — for Dean Rojas on Saturday.

Actually, that something extra was very large: a 7-pound, 2-ounce largemouth bass. And it proved to be the catch that made all the difference for Rojas on the third day of the May 1-4 Evan Williams Bourbon Bassmaster Elite on Toledo Bend.

Because of the big cull his 7-2 made possible, Rojas turned his day around. The so-so limit he would have had became a good day’s catch of 17-14.

Best of all, the 7-2 helped him to a 2-10 advantage over Friday leader Jacob Powroznik.

“I was fortunate to have that big one today that separated me from having a small limit,” said Rojas, who’s from Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

It helped that Powroznik tripped. He managed just 11-13 Saturday. Those bass put his total at 60-1, good enough for second, but not enough to stay in the catbird seat, the spot Rojas captured with his 62-11 total going into the final competition on Sunday.

But the Elite event hasn’t come down to a Rojas-Powroznik face-off. The pro in third place, Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande, Calif., trailed Rojas by less than 3 pounds. Lintner, the first-day leader, produced 17-8 Saturday for a 59-12 total.

Randall Tharp, 4-5 out of the lead, may not be as big a threat, but when Toledo Bend is still producing big spawning bass, anything can happen. The pro from Port St. Joe, Fla., stepped into fourth place, up from sixth place with 58-6.

Fifth after Saturday’s round was Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, an old hand on Toledo Bend. Faircloth has a three-day tally of 57-4, just about 5 1/2 pounds out of first.

The leader in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the race, Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark., was seventh after three days, a position that will help him protect his 30-point lead over Lintner. Lintner, though, could gain ground if he ends up with a much better finish than does Davis.

A big crowd turned out at Cypress Bend Park to see which 12 pros of the 50 semifinalists would qualify for Sunday’s championship round, when the stakes are a first-place prize of $100,000 and an instant qualification for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.

Rojas had to work for the 7-2. He spotted her on a spawning bed Saturday.

“When I Power-Poled down, I must have spooked it,” he said. “She would just wander around — even came up to the boat and looked at me — but she wouldn’t commit.”

Rojas let her “rest.” He left the bedding area, then returned about 50 minutes later.

“This time, my boat position was a lot different. I stayed way back, off to the side, and threw my (Big Bite) WarMouth up there. I was far enough away, I couldn’t really see. On the second pitch, the line felt heavy, and I thought I had her.”

Rojas set the hook and began to reel the bass to the boat. But as the fish got closer to him, he saw that it was the male that had chased his Warmouth.

“But as I was fighting him, I saw a green coloration in the water moving toward the area where I caught him. I released the male and made one more pitch up there. I never saw her eat it, but she started to swim with it, and the fight was on.”

“That was the game-changer. Without that fish, I’d have an 11-pound limit,” he said.

“I just need to find one more tomorrow,” said Rojas, adding that he planned to zero in on bedding bass on his final day of competition — working, if necessary, the several areas he has staked out.

Powroznik’s shad spawn bite — a key to his 20-plus-pound weights the first two days — didn’t happen Saturday in the several areas he planned to try it.

“There were no shad there,” said the pro from Port Haywood, Va. “It’s just part of that deal. Tomorrow they could be right back up there, and I could catch another big bag (of bass feeding on shad). You’ve got to try it for at least an hour and a half or two hours in the morning. To win this thing, you have to make that big gamble.”

Then, when he went to one spot he knew held big spawning females, the smoke from a controlled burn of forestland on the Texas shore was so thick he could not see.

He targeted other bedding fish the rest of the day, but the big bite eluded him.

Saturday’s largest bass was Rojas’ 7-2. But the 8-12 posted Thursday by Chris Zaldain of San Jose, Calif. — one of the Top 12 who will compete Sunday — led the competition for Carhartt Big Bass award, worth up to $1,500.

Lintner continued to lead the Berkley Heavyweight bonus competition for $500 for his big bag on Thursday of 25-7.

“Championship Sunday” will begin at 6:20 a.m., when the dozen finalists will take off from Cypress Bend Park. They will return to the park by 3 p.m., and weigh their catches beginning at 3:15 p.m. The all-day action will be covered by Bassmaster.com with from-the-water catch reports, videos and blogs; updates from the War Room presented by Lowrance; photo galleries; and more. Live, streaming video of the weigh-in and a real-time leaderboard will gear up at 3:15 p.m.

Also on Sunday, the Bassmaster Elite Series Expo will continue with demos, giveaways and products from the tour’s sponsors, including free boat rides in Nitro, Triton and Skeeter boats powered by Yamaha and Mercury engines. The rides will be offered after takeoff is complete and continue until 2:30 p.m. The event’s title sponsor, Evan Williams Bourbon, will offer free tastings.

All activities will be at Cypress Bend Park (GPS help: 3463 Cypress Bend Drive, Many, LA 71449). There’s no admission charge, and free shuttles from parking areas will be provided.

The local hosts of the Elite event are the Sabine Parish Tourist Commission, Louisiana Office of Tourism, Sabine River Authority, Cypress Bend Resort, TanMar and other local businesses.

The Bassmasters on ESPN2 will feature the Toledo Bend event May 18 from 8 to 9 a.m. ET.

2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha

2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Booyah, Carhartt, Diet Mountain Dew, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Plano, Power-Pole, Rigid Industries, Shimano

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series presented by Allstate, B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro.

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Media Contact: Dave Precht, 205-313-0931, dprecht@bassmaster.com or Helen Northcutt, 204-313-0944, hnorthcutt@bassmaster.com.

Top Quotes from day 3, tomorrow may be a shoot out!

Cliff Crochet (9^th Place, 55lbs -15 ounces)

Dave Mercer – Just 12 move on to Championship Sunday, and right now dude….what number is right there beside your name?

CC- ahhh….1^st.  Number one. Id like to stay there but, aaah….(crowd cheers)

Dave – how much would it mean to you to fish here tomorrow on Championship Sunday?

CC- It would, ah, it would be important.  You know, being from down South, you hear about Toledo Bend, and its like…its like heaven.  You know the fish…they big, and that’s why you go, and you know, its everything. But to come here and have a good tournament, anywhere is great but ah, at home, in Louisiana, at Toledo Bend, it would ah….I tell ya, I cant describe it.  It would be everything.  (crowd roars).

Dave – Biggest day of the tournament so far for you, are you on to something?  Why did they start eating so much for you?

CC- First (laughs as someone in crowd yells “HUNGRY!”)..thats no bull!  But  ah, the first day I caught ‘em and they were biting.  Yesterday, they weren’t biting and I kinda had to grind through ‘em.  Today, I think I might have figured a little something out, and I hope to get to go tomorrow, because it could be a good day.

Jonathan Van Dam (11^th place, 54-15)

Dave – Your best day of the tournament so far today.  Is the fishing getting better?

JVD- Yeah it is. You know, I started on that spot that I caught ‘em on yesterday today,  and ah, there’s quite a few fish there and a lot of real nice ones.  And ah, You know, I hadn’t started there all week before today, so ah, you know, you can bet I’m gonna be there tomorrow.

Todd Faircloth (5^th place, 57-4)

Dave – maybe you’ll get a shot to fish tomorrow.

TF- Yeah it’d be great. It’d be great. You know I’ve ah, I’ve…this is where it started for me, you know, Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend fishing with my Dad. And ah,  I fished against a lot of these guys out here (points at the crowd) and I’ve seen a lot of ‘em, new, familiar faces that I fished against growing up, and its just great to see the support from the crowd, coming out here and supporting us this week.  This is evidence that we do not have to go to a big town to have a big crowd and I want to thank y’all for that.

Dave – If you get the opportunity to fish tomorrow…you got some fish left?

TF – Well I don’t know.  You know, my weights have went down each day. Usually the ah, guy that ends up winning the tournament, his weight will go up a little bit, so he’s figuring something out.  It seems like my fish are, ah, dissipating on me and, ah,  you know I caught that big one and, ah,  I know there’s some more big ones out there.  If I get the chance to go fish tomorrow, you know, I’ll give it my all.  That’s for sure.

Hank Cherry (16^th, 49-15)

Dave – a great finish here again.

HC- Yeah, it’s a great finish.  You know, Evan Williams out this on,  there one of my sponsors, and ah, the Livingston Lures guys here always supporting us.  I tell ya, today was kinda like ah, a cross between a shootout at OK Corral and Bombs over Baghdad with all the A-Rigs I saw slingin’.  There was a TON of people on the lake today. Um, had some couple of unfortunate spots tried to get to, couldn’t get on there was…they were pre-occupied so I kinda ran around and made the best of it.  You know, 15 pounds is 15 pounds.

Mark Davis (7^th Place, 56-5)

Dave – I’m looking for a lake that you cant catch ‘em on, because you’re just catching them everywhere we go!

MD- I’m not gonna say anything to jinx that, cause you know, you know you start braggin’ – these fish will get you humble in a real hurry.  So, I ah, I don’t know, I’m sure that lake is right around the corner.   But I’m enjoying the ride for..for as long as it goes and Im gonna ride that train.  You know, Ive been there before, and you get in the zone, you know.  Fishing is like other sports: you get momentum, and you get in the zone.  You just pray real hard, and singin’ “Victory and Jesus”.  That’s my theme song.  I got Charlie Daniels for you guys (points to crowd) out there but ah, when Im on the ramp, you n=know, its “Victory and Jesus” and…that helps me.  It really does.  All day long, I hum that little song, yeah (crowd cheers).  You bet, thank you.  But anyway, man I…I’d like to go again tomorrow. Those big fish don’t bite for me everyday. I could, I could bust 30 pounds so easy, but they don’t bite everyday.  I had one spot, and I, I’m not gonna tell you exactly how I’m catching ‘em, but I’m, I’m catching a lot of them.  I caught maybe, 20 keepers, and finally I thought: “there’s gotta be a good one thee”.  And I give up, and I just troll…you can see, the water is clear,  so I troll up there on top,  and there goes a 4 pounder.  There goes a 5 pounder, and there goes a 6 pounder, so its not like they’re not there.  They’re….they’re stubborn. Its not like you can sight fish ‘em, but the potential’s there.

Jacob Powroznik (2^nd Place, 60-1)

Dave – It seems like the tap shut off a little bit.  We followed the action on the Bassmaster App today and ah, those early morning shad spawn fish just didn’t cooperate today.

JP- ‘No, they kind of….they kind of went away, you know.  Yesterday, the shad was there, you know I caught a big one, lost a big one.  But today, I remember hardly seeing any shad at all you know. But tomorrow morning, Im gonna go look for it again, because it’s a good way to catch a big bag, and ….but I just gotta say one thing: today was the first day I’ve ever got to fish in a forest fire.  I’m not lying.  My best pocket, where I’ve got like three or four big ones still left on the bed….I couldn’t see three feet in front of me. And, you’ll see it.  There’s a video of it.  I mean there was ashes falling in my boat and everything. But you know, that’s fishing.  It was a good time.  I love this lake; I love every one of y’all (gestures to the crowd) and ah, man, its been a blessing.  You know, just the chance to get out there and try to fish for…to win this thing and get a chance to go to the classic is awesome.”

Dean Rojas (1^st Place, 62-11)

Dave – Dude, what is it with you and Toledo Bend?

DR-  I dunno, Its just magic every time I come here. This lake has treated me so, so good over the years, and I’m just…I’m just so happy and so…..fortunate to be in the position I’m at right now.

You know folks, I’m just fishing, you know. I’m just fishing stuff that I’ve fished over the years, ah, just the experience out here on the lake, and ah, and they’re just…there.  They’re just all of a sudden just showing up. So, I you know its something that I know what to do when that happens…its just a fantastic fishery.

Top quotes from day 2Day 2 at Toledo Bend.

Justin Lucas

Dave Mercer – Unfortunately with a two day total of 24 lbs, 14 ounces, it was your birthday yesterday, and you get to celebrate it with the weekend off.

JL – Dude, this is a TERRIBLE birthday present, finishing about 90^th….but, Im gonna tell you, you know, fishing is always a learning process and I’ve got a LOT to learn about Toledo Bend. I got to learn how to run the boat trails –  number one.  Number two, I gotta learn how to catch some bass her.  So Ill be coming back and just having some fun fishing days here in the near future’.

Brian Snowden

Dave -With 29 pounds, 3 ounxes, you are going to be in that sweat club back there, just hoping to slide into this.

BS- (Smiles) Yeah, you know its probably not gonna be enough, but I didn’t lose any today.  I probably made a bad decision on where I went – I went to one area, didn’t have much luck so at 11 am I made a change and caught what I caught.  I wish I had the morning to do over again, but you know its all about decisions and ive lived my life on the bubble a long time, so im just glad that I get to do it and hopefully  ill get to do it again tomorrow.

Dean Rojas

Dave – Boy oh boy, I know where you live, but if you ever move I think this would be a good part of the world…pretty much this area has paid for a house basically!

DR- Yeah its treated me really good.  I tell you, Toledo Bend, she was really nice to me today.  You know…I’m just kinda fishing.  I’m not really on much I’m just kinda moving around and just fishing.  I’m just trying to keep an open mind on everything and fishing areas that I think the big fish are going to be at, and its been paying off.  I’m not catching a whole lot of fish, but as you can see when I find them, the quality is there.

Tommy Biffle

Dave – You’re inside the cut right now, but unfortunately we still got a bunch of anglers yet to go

TB-  Oh yeah, I wont last.  You know, I got hard headed; I made that bait called the “hard head”  and there’s a good reason for that.  I run to the North end of this thing the last two days, and only one other angler was up there, so you know, they didn’t send me the memo that they were all bedding down the lake.  You know, it’s a great place; I love fishing here.  I’m just glad I still got my lower unit. (crowd laughs).

Mark Davis

Dave – Did you change, did this change – what was different out there today?

MD-  The same old thing, you know.  I told ya I was catching over 20 every day in practice, and today they showed up.  I actually caught more fish yesterday- its hard to figure these bass out.  That’s what so intriguing about this sport, you know.  I ran basically the same water, the same lures, the same techniques and today I got some big bites.

Jonathan VanDam

Dave – fishing on Saturday for the first time this year, its gotta be a big sigh of relief

JVD- Yeah its nice  to fishing on Saturday for a change instead of driving home.  The one thing is, you know, Ill be driving on Sunday now – that means Chik-fil-A is closed.

Dave – That’s a problem huh?

JVD-  (Smiles) That’s a serious problem.

Dave – Don’t worry im sure you can find somewhere to eat with that 10,000 dollar check.  But I know you want a much better check.  You keep moving up that leaderboard and you might be fishing Sunday.

JVD- You know Im afround a lot of good fish.  I got two of those good bites today and I had one other one that came off.  Hopefully tomorrow, you know, some more big ones will show up.  It’s a pretty good area,  it seems like.  So we’ll see what happens tomorrow and make any change.