DETROIT, Mich., June 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury. 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: Costa pro 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: Quaker State pro 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: Berkley pro 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: Pennzoil Marine pro 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
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
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.
In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field of 360 anglers competed in the two-day opening round. Co-angler competition concluded following Friday’s weigh-in, while the top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury is more than $930,000. The tournament is hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission, Macomb County, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Authority and the Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2018 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2018 Forrest Wood Cup will be on Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 10-12 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. EDT each morning from the Lake St. Clair Metropark, located at 31300 Metro Parkway, in Harrison Township. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, June 30-July 1, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the Lake St. Clair Metropark from noon to 4 p.m. each day. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.
Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at the Lake St. Clair Metropark on Saturday, June 30 from 9-11 a.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to anyone under the age of 18 and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1st and 2nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury will premiere in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) Aug. 8 from Noon-1 p.m. EST. The Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
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