LAKEPORT >> Ken Day of Team Washington weighed in the day’s biggest bag but it was Todd Herman of Team Arizona shooting to the top of the pro standings through day two at the B.A.S.S. Nation Western Regional pro-am bass tournament.
The three-day, 110-boat tournament wraps up Friday when the top 22 pros and the top 22 amateurs or co-anglers along with the three leaders from each state who aren’t already in the top 22 of their respective divisions give it one last shot to pull down the top cash prizes. The weigh-in begins at 2 p.m. at Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina.
Herman has been Mr. Steady for Team Arizona. After weighing in 17 pounds, 14 ounces following round one on Wednesday, he came back with 18-12 on Thursday to take the overall lead with 36-10. First-round leader Lane Coale of Colorado is Herman’s closest pursuer at 33-4.
Three fishermen who made major moves on Thursday were Addam Gross of Team Oregon, who brought 19-9 to the scale for a total of 32-6, Ryan Sparks of Team Oregon, who weighed in 19-2 to stay on the heels of his Oregon teammate with 32-2, and Day, who weighed in a five-fish limit of 21-1 and enters the final day of the competition in fifth place with 31-11.
Pros are allowed to weigh in a maximum of five fish, which most did for the second day in a row, while amateurs/co-anglers can weigh in a maximum of three fish.
Quincy Grupenhoff of Team Montana, the leader after round one in the co-angler division, held the top spot through day two with a total of 21-15. Loren Bryant of Team Arizona is less than a pound behind at 21-2 and Tucker Cappella of Team Wyoming is third with 19-14.
The top 10 professionals heading into day three are separated by less than 7 pounds, a difference that can be easily overcome on a fish-filled body of water such as Clear Lake.
Rounding out the top 10 through day two of the tournament are Joe Conway of Team Colorado, sixth with 31-5; Randy Pierson of Team California, seventh with 30-12; Jim Conlin of Team Montana, eighth with 29-12; Adrian Murar of Team California, ninth with 29-11; and Shane Baertsch of Team Montana, 10th with 29-7.
It took a two-day weight of 26-12 to crack the top 22 and reach Friday’s final round.
If the top 10 pros aren’t separated by much going into round three, the top 10 co-anglers are bunched together even tighter, with 5 pounds, 2 ounces separating first place from 10th.
While Grupenhoff, Bryant and Cappella hold the top three spots after Thursday’s weigh-in, they are being closely pursued by the likes of Tom McCart of Team Oregon (19-0), Thomas Edwards of Team Arizona (18-13), Ryan Gutierrez of Team Idaho (18-6), Clay Williams of Team Idaho (18-4), Bill Rosenbalm of Team Oregon (17-15), Jake Aubrey of Team Arizona (16-14), and Jake Morrison of Team Arizona (16-13).
Eighty-nine of the 110 amateurs limited out the first two days of the tournament compared to 95 of 110 professionals.
Chico State teams are holding down first and third through two rounds of the 2018 Carhartt College Western Tour tournament going on at the same time as the B.A.S.S. Nation Western Regional. Twenty-four two-man teams representing colleges and universities from throughout the nation are taking part and the college guys are having an even better tournament than their pro colleagues in the B.A.S.S. Nation event.
Carson Leber and Tyler Bounds of Chico State brought 22 pounds, 1 ounce to the weigh scale Thursday for a two-day tournament-leading weight of 39-2. Less than a pound behind in second place is the Northeastern State University team of Caleb Gibson and Tyler Winn, the first-round leaders, with 38-3. They are followed in third place by Nick Klein and Mike Klemm of Chico State with 36-10. Klein and Klemm had the big bag of day two and of the tournament at 24-9.
Each team can weigh in a maximum of five fish per day.
Rounding out the top five sports are Joey Price-Bobby Fralix of Clemson University (35-14) and Levi Wittrock-Gunnar Stanton of Northern Arizona University (35-8).
The weigh-in for the college tournament is 5 p.m. at Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina.
