MORNING RESET: Top 10 Look to Cash In on Hot Harris Chain Bite
LEESBURG, Fla.– Day 3 on the Harris Chain was about as good as it gets, with Jeff Reynolds and Michael Neal cracking 27 pounds, and three others getting over the 20-pound mark. There are few guarantees in life, and fewer in bass fishing, but gosh if it doesn’t look like we’re in for a banger of a finale for Bass Boat Technologies Stop 2 on the Harris Chain Presented by Frogg Toggs.
So, buckle up for a full day of bass-catching action, as the Top 10 battle for up to $135,000 in the Sunshine State.
Buck Ready to Rise
Sneaking in the Top 10 in ninth after Day 3, Grae Buck is on the level with everyone else now and looking to swing.
The first two days, Buck flipped a Z-Man Bang StickZ to pads, cattails and buggy whips for his weight. Day 3 brought an unexpected addition to his game plan.
“This morning I kinda stumbled into a little ChatterBait deal and caught 14 pounds in the first hour,” Buck said. “I started off flipping, and I was actually trolling up to my next spot and picked up the ChatterBait and first cast I caught one. It was a hot start, and then I was able to really settle in and go flip the rest of the day.”
Buck thinks his ChatterBait bite was shad-related, but maybe not an actual shad spawn. Still, he’s planning on running with it on the final day to start.
“I’m gonna do the same thing,” Buck said of his Day 4 plan. “I think I’m going to try to lean into that ChatterBait deal in the morning, give that a good run, and then I’m going to flip again. I haven’t run across a true giant yet, so I feel like I’m due for one of those 8- or 9-pounders. I just want to catch over 20 again, but it’s probably going to take 25 pounds to win. There are too many good guys in the Top 10, I bet it takes 24 pounds at least.”
Galloway Finally Has Momentum
Grant Galloway came into the event without a finish above 100th to his name on the Pro Circuit. If things break right today, he could come out a champion.
“I was beginning to question it,” said Galloway, who qualified out of the Toyota Series Central Division in 2020. “I know I qualified to get here and all that, but this is my second year and I feel like I was on a different lake than everybody at every event. I finally got a taste of it now. I hope I can take this momentum and run with it, not only for tomorrow, but for the rest of the season.”
Doing his damage in the Ocklawaha River, Galloway has caught big ones on everything from a stick worm to a little jerkbait, so he’ll likely have some options open on the final day.
“Tomorrow I’m going to go throw the jerkbait all day probably,” he said. “I found a few more fish out in the guts, out in the dead center of that canal that I haven’t even fished. I’m gonna beat that up tomorrow.”
Having caught three truly big fish this week, Galloway is certainly around the fish to win.
“It’s going to take a tremendous amount of weight,” he said. “I’m around 20, but I don’t know. Anything is possible with the fish that I’ve caught, I never know when they’re gonna show up. Being around that kind of fish, it’s extreme. I never know with each bite, the opportunities are endless.”
Big Day 3 Moves Rose Up
Putting 20 pounds on the scale on Day 3 moved Mark Rose up the leaderboard from 29th to sixth, and in a position to earn his seventh victory at the Pro Circuit level.
Ordinarily, you’d expect Rose to be dialed on an offshore bite, but this time he’s working a couple of small creek mouths with specific ingredients.
“I found two little places that have really short hydrilla in the guts of them,” Rose said. “It’s a mixture of the short hydrilla, the mud line meeting the clear water canal, and the wind blowing in on it. It’s a combination – short hydrilla, a little bit of bait and a little water clarity meeting.”
Rose says his Day 3 wasn’t too different from his first days, but the numbers don’t really back that up. He got two big bites on Day 3, as opposed to one each of the first days, and his average has been significantly better each of the last two days. Could he keep the upward momentum going?
“If I could get three big ones, and then a good solid average, I would have a shot,” Rose said. “I’m going to have to have three big ones. I caught enough fish today to where it surprises me I didn’t catch three big ones. The number of fish that I caught on one little flurry today, it seems like there should have been more of those in there. I haven’t lost a big one yet, I need to continue to capitalize and just keep working hard.”