Bolivar twist

Gabe Bolivar takes over EverStart Western event on Lake Mead

HENDERSON, Nev. – With a two-day weight determining tomorrow’s winner of the EverStart Series Western Division event on Lake Mead, the nine pros behind Gabe Bolivar have a lot of ground to make up.

The Ramona, Calif., pro opened up a 2-pound, 6-ounce lead over opening-round leader Tim Klinger of Boulder City, Nev., and a 10-pound, 3-ounce lead over No. 10 pro Johnny Parks of Aztec, N.M. And like many anglers today, he did it junk fishing.

While the general consensus among the anglers is that the fishing today was tough and the bites were few and far between, the top five pros still managed to catch a limit, although no one brought in five from the back of the boat.

And though Bolivar definitely broke out today on the pro side, the co-angler leaderboard is very tight, with day-two leader Gary Key maintaining his No. 1 spot but holding only a 2-ounce lead over Lewis Milligan of Roseville, Calif.

The weather conditions may have tricked anglers again today, as a cold front set in and winds continued to blow. The wind was not so much the problem, it seemed, as was the fact that it was “blowing the wrong way.” Several anglers commented that they misjudged the wind direction and suffered for it.

The wind will continue to howl tomorrow, with even swifter gusts of up to 35 mph predicted. The temperature will also continue to drop, as highs tomorrow should only reach the mid-60s, a far cry from the mid-80s on days one and two.

Going with the flow

With a 2-pound-plus lead, Bolivar has good reason to be relaxed, and his mood reflected that at today’s weigh-in, when he brought in five bass weighing 12 pounds.

“I’m having a lot of fun in this tournament,” he said. “I’m just running around covering a lot of water, fishing spots I like.”

Bolivar reported that he is catching some of his bass on reaction baits and a few sight-fishing, though he is not limited to just a couple of methods.

“I’m throwing a variety of different baits, just going with the flow,” he said. “I’m on a little bit of a pattern but I’m kind of junk fishing, catching one here, catching one there.”

Bolivar’s only concern is the lasting power of the bass that he’s found, although his comfy lead – while not insurmountable – does give him an advantage.

“I’m trying to hang on,” he said. “I’m using up a lot of my fish, but Lord willing I’ll have them tomorrow.”

Whether he wins or not, Bolivar has already scored his best EverStart finish to date in his first appearance in the top 10.

Klinger falls to second

Boulder City pro Tim Klinger dominated the first two days of competition but fell to second today with a five-bass catch of 9 pounds, 10 ounces – not good enough for first, but plenty enough to keep him in the hunt.

Klinger noted that his fish seemed a little more reluctant to bite today in the wind, a situation that is certainly not going to help him if the winds indeed continue – and increase – tomorrow.

“I need the wind not to blow so much,” he said. “When it’s blowing like this I can’t see them follow my reaction baits.”

Klinger’s method all week has been to throw reaction baits to locate the fish and then follow up with a soft bait to reel them in.

“If the wind doesn’t blow so much I can catch them good,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. I’m having a good time.”

Kolender holds on to third

Dennis Kolender of Henderson finished the opening round in the No. 3 spot and sits in third again today with a five-bass catch weighing 9 pounds, 2 ounces. For Kolender, getting a few bites early today was key.

“I had a pretty good day,” he said. “I had four fish by 7:30. That relieves the pressure a little bit.”

Kolender is relying on his local knowledge of the lake to find his fish, and it has served him well so far this week even without much pretournament practice.

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I’m finding new water every day. I’m making long runs.”

Kolender said he is relying on one key bait, which he declined to reveal.

Le, Mascadri round out top five

Thanh Le of El Cajon, Calif., caught a limit of bass today that weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces to land in the No. 4 spot. Moving up to fifth is yesterday’s No. 7 pro Scott Mascadri of Sacramento, Calif. He caught a five-bass limit that weighed 7 pounds.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 pros heading into the final day on Lake Mead:

6th: Justin Kerr of Simi Valley, Calif., three bass, 5-10

7th: Shane Meisel of Alta Loma, Calif., two bass, 4-4

8th: Sean Andrachick of Marion, Mont., one bass, 2-7

9th: Clayton Meyer of San Diego, Calif., one bass, 1-15

10th: Johnny Parks of Aztec, N.M., one bass, 1-13

Key holds tight lead on co-angler side

Gary Key has a few things figured out about fishing behind a pro on a hot streak.

The Phoenix co-angler will in all likelihood leave the Lake Mead tournament as the No. 1-ranked co-angler, and he maintained his opening-round lead on day three with a three-bass catch weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces.

He fished with Klinger today and put into practice his fish-catching philosophy of taking a different approach from the pro you’re fishing behind.

“I fished with a guy I really look up to,” Key said. “I know this guy’s a vacuum cleaner. It worked out because we fished for different fish.”

Key also said he finds success through his versatility, a trait that serves most anglers well when catching fish in different conditions on different bodies of water.

“I feel confident throwing anything,” he said. “I think the ability to do the finesse fishing and power fishing helped me a lot.”

This is Key’s second consecutive EverStart top-10 in as many attempts.

Milligan close behind

Behind Key in second place is Roseville, Calif., angler Lewis Milligan, who caught four bass today that weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces. Had he not broken off a fish that he estimated was a 2-pounder, he might have opened up a lead on the co-angler side similar to Bolivar’s in the Pro Division.

Others in the hunt

The co-angler race is far from wrapped up, as the anglers in the third through seventh position still have a good chance at taking over the lead in tomorrow’s competition.

In third is Peoria, Ariz., angler Charlie Crawford with a four-bass catch weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces. Behind him in fourth is John Bitting of Westminster, Calif., with two bass weighing 5 pounds, 6 ounces. Heading into the final day in fifth is Joe Conway of Colorado Springs, Colo. Conway caught two bass today that weighed 5 pounds, 4 ounces.

Best of the rest

The rest of the co-angler top 10 on Lake Mead:

6th: Keith Van Riel of Las Vegas, two bass, 4-13

7th: Gayle Janes of Bermuda Dunes, Calif., two bass, 4-11

8th: Judy Chaney of Tucson, Ariz., one bass, 1-13

9th: Gary Haraguchi of Half Moon Bay, Calif., one bass, 1-9

10th: Andrew Jackson of Boulder City, zero bass

The final takeoff will commence at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow from Callville Bay, located at 100 Callville Bay Road in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Anglers will weigh in their final catches at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 300 E. Lake Mead Drive in Henderson.