Well after prompting the usual pre-tournament sandbagging from pros and possibly some actual placement of sandbags around the property of homeowners along the shores of Grand Lake, the waters have stabilized and begun to fall slightly. Some portions of the lake are very clear now. This calls for adaptability on the part of contestants in the FLW Tour tourney on the big Oklahoma impoundment this week.

Rayovac Pro Jason Christie is adaptable. He has ridden 3 entirely different patterns in 3 entirely different sections of the lake to build a lead on Day 1 and then expand that lead to nearly 3 pounds today midway through the 4-day event.

Christie has a total weight of 40 pounds, 10 ounces and said that he is mostly flipping but also throwing a spinnerbait. Also of note is the fact that he has strong spot off the bank where he is catching some key fish. As waters continue to recede that could be important this weekend.

His nearest competitor is Robbie Dodson of Arkansas who has a total weight of 37-14. Dodson is fishing shallow because his practice rounds turned up nothing special out deep. He’s burning a lot of gas and said that his bite count diminished from about 30 on Day 1 to 6 today.

Angling legend Zell Roland jumped from 9^th to 3^rd today. The Texan has a total weight of 36-6.

Carolina pro Todd Auten slipped a notch to 4^th today but he’s happy with the way this event is unfolding. Auten is flipping at times and then mixing in a variety of moving lures to show the bass something different each time he passes a key stretch of water.

And talk about legends of the sport, Chevy Pro Jimmy Houston hung in the Top 5 with a 15-14 effort today. Coupled with his 20-pound sack on Day 1, Houston’s total now stands at 36-10.

While he’s throwing the usual Jimmy Houston lure lineup – spinnerbaits, jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, and spinnerbaits, Houston noted that he caught a remarkable 7 keepers from one small bush today.

He caught many more, but none that approached that 5-pound mark anglers need in order to separate themselves at Grand this week.

Darrell Davis of Dover, Fla. found such a fish. His lunker weighed 6-3 and took big fish honors today.

 

Keith Honeycutt of Temple, Texas holds the co-angler lead with 30 pounds, 8 ounces heading into what will be the final day for those fishing from the back deck.