Grover Takes the Lead
Ray Rises Through Co-Angler Ranks
Lakeport, Calif. — On the wings of a 23-pound, 14-ounce limit, pro Kyle Grover, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., vaulted from sixth place on day one into the lead on day two of the Rayovac FLW Series Western Division Clear Lake event.
Grover’s two-day, 10-bass total stands at 47 pounds, 15 ounces, enough to slip past day-one leader Aaron Britt, of Yuba City, Calif., who slipped to second place with 47-11.
While Grover enjoyed charging up the leaderboard, his rally didn’t come without a few adjustments due to calmer conditions.
“Today didn’t start off the same as yesterday,” he said. “The spot where I caught them on day one needs to have wind blowing onto it. We never got any wind, so I had to go to my secondary spot.”
The move was more than a little nerve-wracking, since Grover’s gut told him the fallback area was big-fish territory, not loaded with numbers.
“I went down the bank and caught eight bass,” he said. “I caught every fish I weighed from that single area.”
And Grover’s gamble was rewarded with enough bass to claim the lead.
As good as his plan B area turned out to be, Grover said he’d be glad if the Golden State breezes picked up on day three.
“The fish I was working yesterday got to rest all day today, so hopefully we get some wind tomorrow, otherwise I’ll just have to grind it out and get some good bites,” he said.
Britt Slips To Second
After stunning the field with a stellar performance and 29-pound limit on day one, Britt suffered a pair of misfires on day two and dipped to second with five bass for 18 pounds, 11 ounces.
“I fished clean yesterday,” he said. “Every bass I hooked, I got in the boat. Today a couple of good ones just came off, but I guess that’s fishing.”
Overall, Britt was happy with the catch and confident headed into the final round, where the top-10 pros and co-anglers compete on Saturday.
“All in all I’m happy,” he said. “I have four areas I’m going to fish tomorrow. I just have to pray the bass stay buttoned if I hook them.”
Sweat Slides To Third
Dan Sweat, of Pleasant Hill, Calif., brought a limit of 18 pounds, 8 ounces to the scale today. The weight was well off the pace set by his 28-7 day-one limit, and he dropped from second to third with 46-15.
“It was a rough day,” he said. “I got my fifth keeper at 4 o’clock.”
The timing was definitely off compared to his day-one schedule, when he reported catching all of his keepers in the morning.
“I did lose some fish,” he noted. “And I had to run around. All I could do was keep my head down and stay focused. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
Crutcher Grinds On
Mark Crutcher, of Lakeport, Calif., dropped from third to fourth, adding 19 pounds, 11 ounces to his day-one bag for a total of 45-6.
“It was a grind just like yesterday,” he said. ”I got about 15 bites today and put eight to 10 of them in the boat.”
On day one, he reported converting roughly a dozen bites into a similar number of catches.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he added. “I’m getting three to four big bites a day, and if I’m lucky enough to get them all out of the grass, I think I have a chance to win this.”
Meyer Unmoved
Clayton Meyer, of Henderson, Nev., clung to fifth for the second straight day, weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces for a total of 43-10.
The catch was down considerably from his day-one limit of 24-11.
“I didn’t get as many big fish today,” he said. “I caught more fish, but most were in the 2- to 3-pound range.”
Meyer opened the morning with a bang, however.
“I started the day with one good fish over 6 pounds and another one over 4,” he said.
While Meyer moved around as he did on day one, today’s running and gunning merely amounted to eliminating unproductive water.
“I ran around a lot, but I pretty much caught all my fish off one bank,” he said.
When asked if this would be his go-to spot on day three, he laughed. “It’s my only ‘to’ spot tomorrow.”
Still, Meyer has contingency plans if his honeyhole dries up.
“If the spot works out in the morning, fine,” he said. “If not, I’ll start moving around. There will be fewer boats on the water, so there will be a better choice of territory to fish. Hopefully it works out.”
Ray Rises Through Co-Angler Ranks
Dante Ray, of Sparks, Nev., rose from 11th place in the co-angler ranks to first place with a 24-pound, 13-ounce limit that gave him a two-day total weight of 39-5.
Ray's day-one and day-two bag contained the co-angler field’s biggest bass. Ray claimed Big Fish honors on day one with 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and earned similar honors on day two with an 8-10 behemoth.
“I had two great days,” he said. “Yesterday, I didn’t get five bites and came in with four fish. Today, I got exactly five bites, and they happened to be the right ones.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top-10 pros in the Rayovac FLW Series after day two:
6th: Justin Kerr of Simi Valley, Calif., 10 bass, 43-01
7th: Paul Bailey of Kelseyville, Calif., 10 bass, 42-15
8th: Jerred Jennings of Stockton, Calif., eight bass, 42-09
9th: Patrick Spencer of Penn Valley, Calif., 10 bass, 40-10
10th: Toshitada Suzuki of Tokyo, Japan, 10 bass, 39-06
Rayovac FLW Series event information
Takeoff
Location: Fifth Street Launch Ramp, #15 Fifth Street, Lakeport, CA
Time: 7:30 a.m. PT
Weigh-in
Location: Lakeside at Fifth Street Launch Ramp, #15 Fifth Street, Lakeport, CA
Time: 3:30 p.m. PT
Weigh-in Coverage
For those who can’t catch the weigh-in action in person, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, an online application that brings fans real-time weigh-in results, streaming video and audio.
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