Rick Grover of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., rode the highs and lows of multi-day competition and won the co-angler division of the Costa FLW Series Western Division event presented by Evinrude at Clear Lake by weighing a tournament total of 42 pounds, 1 ounce.

Grover enjoyed his highest productivity on day one when his pro, Joe Uribe Jr., targeted a shad spawn in Rodman Slough in the morning. Fishing an under-spin and a Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait, he caught several dozen fish and picked out the best five to weigh 15-4 and take third place.

The next two days replaced fast-and-furious with straight-up grind, but Grover kept his bait wet and added 14-1 on day two and 12-12 on day three to earn the win with an 11-ounce margin of victory. His primary bait the last two days was a drop-shot rigged with what Grover described as the old reliable.

“I think if you live north of Bakerfield, Calif., the only worm you need to own is a margarita mutilator Roboworm,” he says. “They eat it like candy, so that’s what I did the last two days.”

Grover rigged his drop-shot with a 1/4-ounce sinker and a 3/0 Roboworm Rebarb hook. He was able to use the larger hook because he went with Roboworm’s 6-inch Fat Straight Tail Worm, versus the regular, thinner version.

“The Fat worm takes the bigger hook better; it has more meat than the regular straight-tail worm for that hook to fit into,” he says. “When you’re flipping into the tules or around docks, you have a shot at a big one, and you really have to get it out. Small-wire hooks will bend, so that’s why I use a bigger hook.”