Ferguson has fished Douglas for more than 10 years, and he had to dig deep into his wealth of knowledge to claim his first B.A.S.S. win. He sacked 15-15 for a three-day total of 61-9, more than 4 pounds ahead of runner-up Rogne Brown.
“This one feels really good,” he said. “There was a lot of tough competition out there. Any time you go into a tournament and you’ve got the likes of Tim Smiley and other local guys looking down your back, you’re in for a run.”
Over the three days of competition, Ferguson’s bite dwindled, forcing him to scramble somewhat to keep the lead after pack-leading stringers the first two days. Luckily, those hefty bags totaling 45-plus pounds gave him enough of a lead that he could afford a slight faltering the final day.
Rather than an off-and-on bite, Day Three showed Ferguson a slow bite. He managed to snag his two best fish in the final 30 minutes of competition.
Ferguson focused on ledges in 25 to 30 feet of water on Day Three, pulling one bass from 36 feet. He relied on a trio of baits, none of which he went into details about: a crankbait, soft swimbait and swimming jig. His crankbait bite was early, then once the sun got up, Ferguson focused on suspended fish.
“Suspended fish are the hardest fish that you’ll ever fish for,” he said. “It seemed like those bigger fish got out over points and suspended.”
Ferguson also had to contend with spectators encroaching on his fish. After he blasted off, a 35-boat armada and a helicopter followed him down the lake, with the chopper lingering for nearly 15 minutes.
“I have no idea what that was about,” Ferguson said about the helicopter. “But, I left two holes and came back a little later and there were spectator boats fishing them. That can be aggravating.”
For his win, Ferguson won $10,000 cash as well as a Nitro Z9 boat with a 225-hp Mercury OptiMax motor. Since he did not fish the previous two Southern Opens, Ferguson is not eligible for the Classic berth he would have earned otherwise.
The entry will now go to the next Elite Series pro in line based upon Angler of the Year points after the conclusion of the Elite Series season on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake in two weeks.
Rogne Brown of Hixson, Tenn., mounted an admirable comeback try on the third day, catching 19-9 for a 57-4 total. Tim Smiley of White Pine, Tenn., caught 15-14 on Day Three for a total of 54-6, good enough for third place.
In fourth place is Tommy Bryant of Knoxville, Tenn., who managed 12-12 on Day Three for a total of 44-2; and in fifth place is Roland Martin of Naples, Fla., who made a big move with 17-4 to wind up with 43-1.
On the co-angler side, Tim Robinson of Creedmoor, N.C., took home a brand new Triton/Mercury boat-and-motor package for his winning catch of 19-15, 5-14 of which he caught on Day Three.
“This takes a lot of pressure off of me,” he said amid an upwelling of tears after the last co-angler weighed. “I can’t thank the good Lord enough for this win. He’s been so good to me.”
Robinson was trailed closely by Dan Jolly of Houston, Texas, who made a run at Robinson with a Day Three catch of 6-1, which gave him a total of 19-7.
In third place is Jonathan Holland of Elkmont, Ala., who caught 6-10 on Day Three, giving him 19-4. In fourth place is Jack Morgan of Lake Placid, Fla., with 18-15. Rounding out the top five co-anglers is Jason Patterson of Bluffton, Ind., who totaled of 18-2.
This stop concludes the 2011 Southern Opens season. The next Bass Pro Shops Open is out of Richmond, Va., where the Northern circuit will open on the James River, July 7-9.
The top five pros in the Southern Opens points race are offered spots in the 2012 Elite Series. They were Gerald Swindle, Brandon Card, Ott DeFoe, Cliff Prince and Britt Myers. Card and Prince are the only two not currently Elite Series pros.
FINAL STANDINGS - BASSMASTER SOUTHERN OPEN 3 – DOUGLAS LAKE - PRO
2011 Southern Open 3 - Douglas Lake 6/2-6/4
Douglas Lake, Jefferson County TN.
(BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Bobby Ferguson Chuckey, TN 15 61-09 315 $55,533.00
Day 1: 5 25-04 Day 2: 5 20-06 Day 3: 5 15-15
2. Rogne Brown Hixson, TN 15 57-04 295 $15,800.00
Day 1: 5 18-05 Day 2: 5 19-06 Day 3: 5 19-09
3. Tim Smiley White Pine, TN 15 54-06 290 $13,167.00
Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 19-15 Day 3: 5 15-14
4. Tommy Bryant Knoxville, TN 15 44-02 285 $10,533.00
Day 1: 5 14-13 Day 2: 5 16-09 Day 3: 5 12-12
5. Roland Martin Naples, FL 15 43-01 280 $9,480.00
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 12-09 Day 3: 5 17-04
6. Gary Pilkenton Morristown, TN 15 42-13 276 $8,427.00
Day 1: 5 18-13 Day 2: 5 12-09 Day 3: 5 11-07
7. Ott DeFoe Knoxville, TN 15 42-03 272 $7,373.00
Day 1: 5 16-13 Day 2: 5 15-07 Day 3: 5 09-15
8. Mark Mauldin Knoxville, TN 15 41-12 268 $6,320.00
Day 1: 5 17-13 Day 2: 5 13-08 Day 3: 5 10-07
9. Jimmy Crum Afton, TN 14 37-08 264 $5,267.00
Day 1: 5 15-00 Day 2: 5 16-10 Day 3: 4 05-14
10. Buster Lilly Bluff City, TN 14 36-01 260 $4,740.00
Day 1: 4 15-04 Day 2: 5 12-06 Day 3: 5 08-07
11. Fletcher Shryock Newcomerstown, OH 15 33-08 257 $4,213.00
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 5 15-03 Day 3: 5 07-02
12. Steven Priest New Lexington, OH 13 27-06 254 $3,687.00
Day 1: 5 14-11 Day 2: 5 10-01 Day 3: 3 02-10
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 107 661 1267-03
2 97 611 1115-09
3 10 57 137-04
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214 1329 2520-00
FINAL STANDINGS - BASS PRO SHOPS BASSMASTER SOUTHERN OPEN 3 – DOUGLAS LAKE - CO-ANGLER
2011 Southern Open 3 - Douglas Lake 6/2-6/4
Douglas Lake, Jefferson County TN.
(NON_BOATER) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Tim Robinson Creedmoor, NC 9 19-15 305 $35,000.00
Day 1: 3 05-10 Day 2: 3 08-07 Day 3: 3 05-14
2. Dan Jolly Houston, TX 9 19-07 295 $4,267.00
Day 1: 3 04-15 Day 2: 3 08-07 Day 3: 3 06-01
3. Jonathan Holland Elkmont, AL 8 19-04 290 $3,200.00
Day 1: 3 06-04 Day 2: 2 06-06 Day 3: 3 06-10
4. Jack Morgan Lake Placid, FL 9 18-15 290 $2,400.00
Day 1: 3 02-14 Day 2: 3 12-12 Day 3: 3 03-05
5. Jason Patterson Bluffton, IN 9 18-02 280 $1,893.00
Day 1: 3 07-06 Day 2: 3 05-03 Day 3: 3 05-09
6. Jason Williams Winder, GA 8 17-11 276 $1,600.00
Day 1: 3 07-15 Day 2: 3 07-03 Day 3: 2 02-09
7. Steve Pugh Gray, TN 8 17-01 272 $1,333.00
Day 1: 3 06-06 Day 2: 3 08-03 Day 3: 2 02-08
8. Brad Smith Brownsville, TN 9 16-08 268 $1,280.00
Day 1: 3 08-02 Day 2: 3 04-07 Day 3: 3 03-15
9. Dennis Ogle Kodak, TN 7 16-04 264 $1,173.00
Day 1: 3 08-02 Day 2: 3 05-03 Day 3: 1 02-15
10. Kibbee Mccoy Crossville, TN 6 14-14 260 $1,067.00
Day 1: 3 07-06 Day 2: 3 07-08 Day 3: 0 00-00
11. Keith Thames Owens Cross Roads, AL 6 14-00 257 $960.00
Day 1: 3 06-06 Day 2: 3 07-10 Day 3: 0 00-00
12. Chris Jeffery Sedan, KS 6 12-07 254 $853.00
Day 1: 3 05-11 Day 2: 3 06-12 Day 3: 0 00-00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 95 361 582-02
2 86 336 566-07
3 6 23 39-06
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187 720 1187-15