Kinley Edges Ahead
Havasu local leads a tight pack into the final day
The fishing was tougher across the board on day two of the Costa FLW Series presented by Ranger on Lake Havasu, but the head of the pack has stayed pretty consistent. Moving from second to first, Chris Kinley of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., weighed 17 pounds, 6 ounces on day two to improve by 3 ounces on his day one weight and take the lead with a 34-9 total. In second, Shaun Bailey weighed 17-1 and is just 10 ounces back with 33-15.
Kinley started his day in the lower reaches of the Colorado River and boxed up three quality fish pretty quickly.
“About 11 o’clock I decided to completely change gears,” says Kinley. “I went to some areas in the lake that had been holding quite a bit of fish, but the fishing pressure has really had an impact. The fish have repositioned, they’re definitely holding on a different type of structure than they were on yesterday and they moved a little bit deeper today.”
In the end, Kinley scrapped together a limit with three river fish and two from the lake. Though the places he’s fishing look quite different, he says he’s taking a similar approach.
“The fish that I’m fishing for are in prespawn staging areas,” says Kinley. “Predominantly the areas I’m fishing hold smallies, but occasionally a largemouth will slide in there.”
Moving up from second to the lead, Kinley has some close competition and a good shot at his first win with FLW.
“I feel pretty confident about tomorrow,” says Kinley. “I lead this event in 2012 on day one and day two and Troy Lindner beat me by 2 ounces on the final day. I had this one slip through my fingers in 2012 and I really do not want that to happen again.”
Top 10 pros
1. Chris Kinley – Lake Havasu City, Ariz. – 34-9 (10)
2. Shaun Bailey – Lake Havasu City, Ariz. – 33-15 (10)
3. Sean Minderman – Greenacres, Wash. – 33-14 (10)
4. David Valdivia – Norwalk, Calif. – 31-13 (10)
5. Jason Milligan – Cottonwood, Calif. – 30-11 (10)
6. Jay Wright – Seal Beach, Calif. – 30-10 (10)
7. Michael Caruso – Peoria, Ariz. – 29-15 (10)
8. Joe Uribe Jr. – Surprise, Ariz. – 29-14 (10)
9. Tom Leedom – Escondido, Calif. – 28-15(10)
10. Justin Kerr – Simi Valley, Calf. – 28-14 (10)
Cunningham holds fast on the co-angler side
Joseph Cunningham started the day with a commanding lead thanks to his 18-2 bag on day one, and though he only weighed one 4-pounder on day two he’s still fairly in command. With a 22-3 total, Cunningham leads by more than 3 pounds over second place co-angler Dustin Remy.
Fishing finesse, Cunningham got three bites all day and converted on one big one.
“It seems like when I do get a bite it’s a good one, the problem is getting bites,” says Cunningham. “I knew it was slow out there, but my goal was to get 10 pounds. Going out tomorrow I’m going to try and get 10 pounds again, but man it’s tough. You just have to keep your head down and keep fishing.”