Sunny Friday
Top 10 in two-day battle for Havasu title
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – The tournament field has been trimmed from 165 boats to 10, and the weather has decided to become more manageable, as well, at Lake Havasu.
This year the EverStart Series format has been changed to mimic the Wal-Mart FLW Tour format. Thus, instead of 20 boats fishing Friday with a top-10 cut for Saturday, both the pro and co-angler fields were cut to the top 10 Thursday in Western Division competition. Like the FLW, those 10 are competing in a two-day, combined-weight shootout Friday and Saturday to determine each division’s winner.
Leading the charge for the pros in the opening round was Clayton Meyer of San Diego, who held a 5-pound-plus lead over second-place Richard Smith of Santa Clarita, Calif. Jim Wickham of Morristown, Ariz., also led the co-anglers decisively, by more than 4 pounds over second-place Greg Fishkur of Flagstaff, Ariz.
Those weights mean little to each field’s finalists, however, since everybody’s weight was reset to zero for the final two days. Rather than crowing over his domination of the opening round, it’s a good bet that Meyer is more worried about his competition. Lurking to take over the tournament are notable Western pros like Gary Dobyns of Yuba City, Calif., Paul Hodges of Glendale, Ariz., Tim Klinger of Boulder City, Nev., and Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., not to mention upstart pro Justin Kerr of Simi Valley, Calif., who had a strong showing at Havasu last year.
Leading catch weights plateaued at just over 14 pounds yesterday, but sunny skies and calmer water could put anglers within sight of a few more shallow, prespawn bass today. Look for at least one 15-pound limit to lead the day.
Day-three weigh-in festivities begin at 4 p.m. Mountain time at Windsor Park located at 699 London Bridge Road in Lake Havasu City.
Friday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 7:38 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 50 degrees
Expected high temperature: 64 degrees
Water temperature: 54-55 degrees
Wind: from SSW at 5 mph
Maximum humidity: 51 percent
Day’s outlook: partly cloudy