Clausen Earns Top Spot in First Knockout Round; Evers, Montgomery, Thrift, Birge Also Advance
GROVE, Okla. – It’s double the fun this week as there are two Knockout Rounds at REDCREST 2022 Presented by Costa. The Knockout Rounds are usually some of the most exciting days of any Bass Pro Tour event, and having 10 pros battle it out for five spots in the Championship Round added some excitement on Friday (even though changing conditions made the bite painstakingly slow at times).
Saturday will include the same 10-man race for a Top 5 finish, and hopefully Grand Lake’s largemouth cooperate a little better.
Even with low catch totals, Luke Clausen put on a show midday. He had the most fish and total weight of the day and punched his ticket to Sunday’s Championship Round with nine bass for 24 pounds.
Clausen will be joined on the final day by Andy Montgomery, Edwin Evers, Bryan Thrift, and Zack Birge, along with the top five finishers from Knockout Round 2 on Saturday.
Grand Changes are Afoot
Since the anglers wrapped up practice four days ago, water levels have risen 3 feet on Grand Lake. Along with the changing water levels, the water has also become much dirtier and it seems like the combination of changes stymied the bite on Friday. There were several lulls in the action throughout the day, including an hour-long stretch in the final period without a bass over 2 pounds.
It was also the first day with sunshine after several days of overcast conditions, compounding the changing conditions in northeast Oklahoma. The weather forecast is for warmer conditions and the lake should stabilize, which should lead to great fishing in the next two days.
Clausen’s Big Second Period Pushes Him to Final
Clausen caught fire in the second period and placed seven bass on SCORETRACKER® during that period alone.
“Today started slow, and I knew it would be a struggle since the second day after a front is always the hardest to catch fish,” Clausen said. “I caught one scorable and a few little ones in the first period and then moved to a place with some wind blowing in on it and started catching them.”
His shallow area is a 300-yard stretch that he was able to make produce by fishing back and forth through the area.
“I caught seven scorables, lost one, and had a half dozen smaller fish there in that second period alone,” Clausen said. “I left in the last period to find some new areas and only caught one more. That leaves me with my main area and three or four more places that I think I can catch some.”
The changing weather conditions looming are on everyone’s mind, including Clausen’s.
“I’m not going to have a chance if the wind doesn’t blow,” he said of the Championship Round. “I have a feeling that once things stabilize, they’re going to bite better for everyone. I’m hoping the warmer weather moves some more fish up shallow and into the areas I’m fishing.”
Montgomery Heads to Championship Round
Three hours into the day, Montgomery caught his fourth fish to bring his total to 10-5. With that, he took the lead from Bradley Roy and then used that strong morning bite to finish the day in second place after scattering three more bass the rest of the day to finish with seven fish for 20-6.
“Today went pretty good, and I caught some early to help out,” Montgomery said. “I never caught a single bass off of docks today and that’s how I’ve caught them all week. I found a few little patterns and it was a hodgepodge with some fish on a jig, spinnerbait, and a crankbait.”
After a poor practice, Montgomery is happy to make it this far and is one angler who is hoping for more change.
“I’m not on anything and had two bites in practice,” Montgomery admitted. “I’m hoping things change out there to affect the patterns of other guys. I want all the changes I can get.”
Evers Rallies Late
One of the most popular picks to win this event is Oklahoma’s Edwin Evers and he has a shot at his second REDCREST trophy now. It didn’t look promising early as Evers was stuck on one fish for a long stretch to begin the day. He caught two bass to jump inside the Top 5 in the final period, settling in third place with six fish for 15-11.
“It was an absolute grind out there today,” Evers said. “The fish were really finicky when you got a bite, and I had a hair-trigger and missed several. It seemed like I was pulling it away from them.”
Evers has a wealth of experience on Grand Lake and thinks the water level should come down and that the bite quality has nowhere to go but up.
“Based on what I’ve seen, the water should start coming down,” he predicted. “It can’t get any worse out there, and I think the fishing should be pretty good by Sunday.”
Daily Leaders
- The Berkley Big Bass of the Day was Fletcher Shryock‘s 6-7 largemouth.
- Luke Clausen had the most weight on SCORETRACKER® with 24-0.
- Clausen also had the most scoreable bass with 9.
What’s Next & How to Watch
Another set of 10 MLF pros will return to Grand Lake on Saturday for Knockout Round 2, with only five moving to the Championship Round. The fishing kicks off at 8 a.m. CST. Live coverage of REDCREST 2022 presented by Costa starts at 7:45 a.m. CST on the MLF NOW! live stream. Watch for free on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF app, or the MyOutdoorTV app.