DETROIT, Mich. (June 29, 2018) – FLW Tour pro Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minnesota, brought another limit of smallmouth bass to the scale Friday – this one weighing 24 pounds, 4 ounces – to maintain his lead after Day Two of the FLW Tournament at Lake St. Clair. The 180-boat field is now cut to just the top 30, and Grigsby will start Saturday’s Day Three of competition with a slim 4-ounce lead over Costa pro Dylan Hays of Sheridan, Arkansas (49-13), who sits in second. Local ace Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan is in fourth place with 10 bass totaling 46-5.
“They weren’t acting the same as they were yesterday,” said Grigsby, who has nine previous FLW Tour top-10 finishes in his career. “The bait that was key for me yesterday didn’t work, so I grabbed another bait that I hadn’t thrown all week and started catching them on that. It was a smaller-profile, finesse-type bait. I’m kind of feeling like I’m one step ahead of the fish and I’m just rolling with whatever they tell me to throw.”
Grigsby said that he caught fish on four different baits throughout the day, but the fish that he weighed in came on just three. He had his day’s weight by 10 a.m. and spent the rest of the day looking to see if he could find any other areas near his on the southern section of Canadian waters. He said he was unable to find anything that was as good, but is confident that his area can hold up.
“It’s about a mile long, and no one else is fishing where I am,” Grigsby said. “There are a couple of sweet spots. Every time I go across one waypoint, it’s almost a guarantee that I catch one.
“I really wanted to make the Forrest Wood Cup, and about the only way that I was going to do that was to win here, so that was my goal,” Grigsby went on to say. “I thought that a 23-pound-a-day average would be enough to do it, and I’m ahead of that right now. I was really confident coming here that I could do it. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I’ve got two more days of fishing to go.”
The top 30 pros that made the first cut and will fish Saturday on Lake St. Clair are:
1st: Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn.., 10 bass, 50-1
2nd: Dylan Hays, Sheridan, Ark., 10 bass, 49-13
3rd: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 10 bass, 46-9
4th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 10 bass, 46-5
5th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 46-4
6th: Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., 10 bass, 45-1
7th: Joey Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., 10 bass, 44-5
8th: Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 10 bass, 43-9
9th: Ryan Chandler, Hebron, Ind., 10 bass, 43-5
10th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 42-7
11th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 42-4
12th: Scott Canterbury, Odenville, Ala., 10 bass, 42-3
13th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 42-1
14th: Carl Jocumsen, Queensland, Australia, 10 bass, 41-13
15th: Justin Atkins, Florence, Ala., 10 bass, 41-11
16th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 41-11
17th: David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 10 bass, 41-8
18th: Cody Hahner, Wausau, Wis., 10 bass, 41-8
19th: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 41-5
20th: Shane LeHew, Catawba, N.C., 10 bass, 41-5
21st: Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 41-2
22nd: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 10 bass, 40-13
23rd: Jeff Dobson, Bartlesville, Okla., 10 bass, 40-4
24th: Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 10 bass, 40-3
25th: J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 10 bass, 40-1
26th: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 10 bass, 39-13
27th: Wes Logan, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 39-9
28th: Craig Rozema, Simpsonville, S.C., 10 bass, 39-5
29th: Miles Howe, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., 10 bass, 39-4
30th: Clark Reehm, Elm Grove, La., 10 bass, 39-2
Chandler earned Friday's $500 Simms Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a monster 6-pound, 10-ounce smallmouth bass.
Overall there were 842 bass weighing 3,011 pounds, 15 ounces, caught by 173 pros Friday. The catch included 162 five-bass limits. The pros’ two-day total catch of 6,045 pounds, 6 ounces is a new FLW Tour record, besting the previous record of 5,938 pounds, 12 ounces which occurred in a 2008 Tour-level event at the California Delta.
Mark Myers of Cedar Falls, Iowa, won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 42 pounds, 4 ounces, followed by Billy Messer of Spartanburg, South Carolina, who finished in second place with 10 bass totaling 41-4, worth $7,550.
The top 10 Co-anglers finished:
1st: Mark Myers, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 10 bass, 42-4, $20,100
2nd: Billy Messer, Spartanburg, S.C., 10 bass, 41-4, $7,550
3rd: Jamie Jacobus, Johnstown, Ohio, 10 bass, 40-3, $5,000
4th: Cody Kelley, Portage, Mich., 10 bass, 40-0, $4,000
5th: Chad Smith, Minnetonka, Minn., 10 bass, 39-13, $3,000
6th: Jeff Baffa, Frankfort, Ill., 10 bass, 39-13, $2,500
7th: Keith Bridges, Mission Viejo, Calif., 10 bass, 39-5, $2,000
8th: Christopher Kanute, Clover, S.C., 10 bass, 37-13, $1,800
9th: Justin Drljaca, Nashotah, Wis., 10 bass, 37-8, $1,700
10th: Justin Mounce, Springdale, Ark., 10 bass, 37-6, $1,600
Stephen Crawley of Bush, Louisiana, earned $250 for the Simms Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division Friday with a 6-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth. Overall there were 644 bass weighing 2,412 pounds, 12 ounces, caught by 165 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 122 five-bass limits. https://www.bassresource.com