Taku Ito has finessed his way up the standings. With a spinning rod in his hands most of this tournament, the 34-year-old Japanese angler was 22nd after Day 1 and 19th after Day 2 before making the biggest jump of today’s top 10 finalists. He started the day in 6th place, and he’s continuing to move up this morning with 3 fish weighing 3-12, including a 2 1/4 pounder.
“My fishing style is finesse and stay close,” said Ito, who thinks he may be catching bass caught and released here from previous tournaments, including this one. Ito had the big bass of Day 3 – a 4-10. He caught it and a 2 1/2-pounder in 8 to 10 feet of water on a weightless Senko. He’s using 12-pound fluorocarbon tied to 15-pound braid. He does have a baitcaster in his hands at times, throwing a 3/8ths-ounce spinnerbait, which produced two of his keepers yesterday.