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Little Rock, Ark. (August 29, 2006) – Anglers competed this past week at the last of three Major tournaments this year, the Bassmaster Legends presented by Goodyear. Fishing was tough and bringing in limits was even tougher as 55 of the best Elite Series pros competed for a first place prize of $250,000.

The Bassmaster Legends tournament was the third and final of its kind this year, preceded by the Bassmaster Memorial in Fort Worth, Texas and the Bassmaster American in Charlotte, N.C. This week's tournament honored a true legend in professional bass fishing, BASS founder, Ray Scott. Anglers fished the Arkansas River Thursday and Friday, having paid no entry fee and with no Angler of the Year points on the line. Anglers were allowed to lock up two or down two, making it not only a fishing tournament, but a race with time as well.

After two days of fishing, the field of 55 was paired down to the top 12, fishing a six-hole course on Saturday, located between Burns Park upriver and the Interstate 440 bridge downriver. On Saturday, the field was again shaved down to the ‘super six,' who would have the opportunity to fish the same course on Sunday for a chance at the big money prize.

When the dust settled, Advance Auto Parts pro Gerald Swindle found himself in the ‘super six' fishing for the quarter-of-a-million dollars. Swindle's practice went well, but rain Wednesday cooled the water down and completely changed things up.

"I had my best bites in practice flipping wood in the backwater areas," Swindle explained. "The first night before the tournament, we got a cool rain and the water temperature got down to about 65 degrees, which was about 14 degrees cooler than the night before. The first day of the tournament, I went out and started fishing trees and never had a bite. I got to a piece of grass, where I had not been catching them before and caught a keeper. I realized the pattern completely changed and from then on, I qualified in the grass, flipping a 4 inch tube."

Swindle caught them well on Thursday, as he was one of only five anglers to bring in double digits the first day. Swindle continued to impress on Friday as one of only five anglers to bring in a limit. With a two-day combined weight of 21 pounds, 12 ounces, Swindle was in first place going into Saturday. Weights were cleared Friday afternoon and the top 12 started from scratch on the six-hole course, which had been off-limits until the third day of competition.

Swindle found quickly the pattern was not the same as it had been the two days prior.

"I came into the six hole course Saturday thinking I would continue to catch them in the grass," Swindle said. "But the pattern was not the same. We didn't have the backwaters here with the depth I needed, so I switched it up and started fishing big, heavier mats and caught a lot of shorts."

Things were tough on the six-hole course. As the nail-biting weigh-in continued, Swindle was the last to make it on stage, creating an atmosphere of anticipation among family and fans. Swindle brought in two fish weighing 3 pounds, 9 ounces – just enough to put him in the ‘super six.'

However, fishing wasn't any easier on Sunday, as Swindle struggled to bring in one fish.

"Today I feel like I never had the opportunity to catch much at all," he said. "I caught some shorts, but never had any other keeper bites, other than the one I brought in today."

Swindle weighed in that one fish, totaling 2 pounds, 1 ounce, putting him in sixth place overall, a very honorable finish for such a tough fishery. Lucky Craft baits came into play for Swindle on Sunday, as the only keeper bite he had and the only fish he weighed in came on a Lucky Craft Gunfish 95 in American Shad.

The next and final tournament on the schedule for the Elite Series pros is Table Rock Lake in Missouri. As the last tournament of the season approaches and knowing he is already locked into the Classic, Swindle is looking for the win.

"I'm going for the win at Table Rock," Swindle concluded. "You can't get too gung-ho on the first day on this lake. You want to go out and catch eight to 10 pounds and stay in the game. I think it's going to be key to dropshot out there, because we're going to be looking at water that is 40 – 60 feet deep. It's going to be really deep, really slow and really hot."

Just narrowly missing the cut to 12 was Marty Stone, who was not even a pound outside the cut. Fifteenth was a very respectable finish for Stone, as he completed his 100th tournament as a professional fisherman.

Practice proved tough for the North Carolina resident, as he tried to decide which pool to fish and how many locks to navigate through.

"I fished three of the five pools we could go to, Pine Bluff, Brody Pool, and the Little Rock pool near the launch site," Stone said. "I had bites in every one of them, but you only had 3 hours to fish in Pine Bluff and 6 hours in Brody because of the lock schedule. If you didn't lock at all, you had all day to fish."

It was decision-making time for Stone, as he had to make up his mind about where he would spend the first day of the tournament.

"I chose to fish in Brody on the first day because I thought it had the potential for some bigger fish," Stone explained. "Yesterday (Thursday) I had a four-pounder down there and today I had one that weighed about three pounds. The fish there were the right size, I just couldn't get many bites or add much weight together."

According to Stone, fishing was tough because the water temperature was really high. In the early morning, it was already in the 90s.

"It was like fishing in a microwave," Stone said. "When the water is so hot, the fish will feed really early and really late in the afternoon, but not in the middle of the day. When water temperature is in the upper 90s, a bass' metabolism basically shuts down. They will get very inactive and also go over deep water and suspend. They are very hard to catch when they are over deep water, as there is no structure to fish around."

Stone has heard rumors Table Rock, the final stop on this year's tour, will be a very deep-water tournament. No one has ever mistaken Stone for a deep-water fisherman and this tournament will be no different.

"I'll be looking for fish in two to five feet," Stone said. "When the rumor is deep water, you can sneak up from behind, find a pattern on the bank and win the tournament."

Stone would have to win Table Rock to make it to the 2007 Classic and even then, he might still be a few places short, but that won't deter him from working hard.

"My goal is to make the top ten and finish the year strong. My fishing in the beginning of the year is what will keep me out of the Classic, but I turned it around and I am ready to finish strong and get ready next year."

It was a tough tournament for Advance Auto Parts pro, John Crews, as he did everything right, but couldn't seem to get into those key areas with the big keepers.

"This week has been discouraging for me, because I actually fished well," Crews said. "I didn't lose any keepers, I just never got into the right areas."

Crews knew nothing of the Arkansas River prior to practice, so pre-fishing was key. However, after catching only two keepers in three days, he didn't have much to go on going into the first day of the tournament.

"I practiced in Pine Bluff the first day and caught a three-pounder and some shorts. I didn't really know what, if anything, I had going there, so I moved around a bit the next two days of practice.

"The first day of the tournament, I went to an area below some dams where there was some current flow," Crew continued. "I figured I could come up with a few keepers in there, but that didn't happen for me. I had about 25 fish the first day, but never caught anything even close to a keeper."

After coming in empty handed on Thursday, Crews was determined not to duplicate that on Friday. With a lot of ground to make up, he chose to fish in Pine Bluff, which has a reputation of having big fish.

"I just decided to go down there and go fishing," Crews said. "I caught about 15 fish and basically used everything I had. I caught some flipping, some cranking and some on topwater. I caught the one keeper I did bring in on a Gambler 7-inch worm. After that, I caught a couple 14-inchers, but never had another keeper."

After a discouraging week in Arkansas, Crews will shake it off and travel to Table Rock Lake in Missouri, for the last tournament of the season. Like many of the Elite pros, he doesn't know much about Table Rock in the fall.

"I'm familiar with this lake, but not this time of year," Crews said. "I know it's going to be tough. I think the majority of the field is hoping we get some rain in that area so we'll have a little stain in the water. I'm going to try and find them shallow the first day, but fish deep after that if the shallow bite doesn't happen. I'm happy to be locked into the Classic for next year, so I'm going to fish for a top ten in Missouri like I do at every other event."