Grover Takes Co-angler Title on Clear Lake
Taking it slow brings home the win
Rick Grover of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., pulled in 55 pounds, 5 ounces of bass for the Rayovac FLW Series co-angler win on Clear Lake. All told, it was worth a new Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower outboard and $5,000.
“This is only the second time I’ve ever been on this lake; the first time was in 1979,” says Grover, who owns Anglers Marine, a large Ranger Boats dealer in southern California. “It’s kinda a cool lake.”
Fishing slowly and in less pressured bits of water was the key for Grover this week. He relied almost exclusively on two baits – a small brown-and-purple Pro Line Lures football jig with a green pumpkin Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw and a Neko-rigged (a wacky rig with a nail weight in the tail) green pumpkin Zoom Finesse Worm.
“I caught a few this morning on a drop-shot-rigged Brush Hog, but everything I weighed today came on the Neko rig,” says Grover. “This lake has a lot of rocks off the bank. The key is staying off it a little if the pro is fishing on the bank. I would cast about halfway to the bank or toward the back and that’s where they were.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Rick Grover – Trabuco Canyon, Calif. – 55-5 (15) – $5,000 and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower outboard
2. Glenn Wolfgang – Solvang, Calif. – 48-14 (13) – $3,782
3. Daniel Leue – Colusa, Calif. – 47-15 (15) – $2,933
4. Tom Nokes – Riverton Utah – 43-15 (15) – $2,566
5. Chris Rains – Soledad, Calif. – 43-7 (14) – $2,119
6. John Toscano – Lancaster, Calif. – 40-9 (14) – $1,833
7. Kevin Gross – Claremont, Calif. – 39-11(14) – $1,466
8. Casey Dunn – North Highlands, Calif. – 37-14 (14) – $1,283
9. Paul Buccola – Elk Grove, Calif. – 35-0 (15) – $1,100
10. Gayle Janes – Bermuda Dunes, Calif. – 34-10 (14) – $916