Thursday was a good day all around for Walmart FLW Tour fisherman Billy McDonald of Greenwood, Ind.
All around Lake Chickamauga, that is.
McDonald produced the third heaviest bag in FLW competition on the lake when his five keepers totaled 29 pounds, 12 ounces at the weigh-in at Dayton Boat Dock.
As he said in a release from FLW Outdoors, "Today was one of those days where every decision that I made was the right one. I caught fish all day long. I caught some fish shallow and some fish deep. I didn't stay in one spot - I just kept moving."
Three of the fish he weighed came from deep spots; the other two came from shallow grassy areas.
McDonald acknowledged that he's out of contention for the tour championship, the Forrest Wood Cup, in August, "so I'm rolling the dice on this one and I'm going for the win. I hope I can go back out tomorrow and catch another good bag."
Michael Wooley of Collierville, Tenn., was second Thursday with 26-2 and got $500 for the big bass weighing 8-11. John Cox of Debary, Fla., was third with 23-9, just three ounces more than Dayton Boat Dock operator Michael Neal. Cox came into the tournament third in the tour's points standings.
"It was a pretty good day," Neal said. "Right before I came in was the best. Afternoon has been the best (for fishing) all week, and if I hadn't been in the late flight I wouldn't have done so well. Three of my big ones came in the last hour I was out there."
Alex Davis of Albertville, Ala., was fifth with 22-11.
First-year tour regular Marshall Deakins of Dunlap was 34th with 17-1, two spots ahead of Richard Peek of Centre, Ala., at 16-15. Points leader Wesley Strader of Spring City was 65th at 15-4, and Dayton's Andy Morgan - the 2013 and 2014 Angler of the Year - was 92nd at 13-0.
Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., who is second in the points and won the last tournament at Lake Eufaula, tied for 47th at 16-6. The top 20 pros after today's round will continue Saturday in the semifinal round.
The 143 pros brought in 121 five-bass limits and totaled 671 fish at 2,063 pounds, 3 ounces. The co-anglers totaled 448 bass at 1,097 pounds, 9 ounces.
The co-angler leader was Zachary Francis of Abingdon, Va., at 21-3, and Gary Runyon of Decatur, Tenn., and Cody Frazier of Soddy-Daisy were fourth and tied for eighth at 17-15 and 16-11. Rhea County High School teacher and fishing coach Brian Derlak was 43rd at 10-9.