In our week four top performers recap, we told you that week five was going to be juicy and it was exactly that!
Week Five brought us all the things, from big Largies to giant Smallies, the action was endless and the leaderboards were full of big limits and exciting drama. And might I say, on behalf of all us stuck on the dry ground, Thank you for keeping it interesting!
In a week where records were set and the century mark was broken, it's hard to decide where to even start, but we have to start somewhere, so let's break down the first moving water event of the season.
GRBY | WHITE RIVER #1 - presented by Achigan Brand
Setting a new, all-time record for angler participation in a single GRBY Series event, 71 anglers registered for the opening White River Series derby this past weekend.
The field was full of diversity with anglers hitting the river for their first time, to some of the most notorious river rats and smallmouth specialists in the state.
Conditions varied greatly over the course of this competition with nearly perfect conditions Thursday through Saturday and shall we say, less than ideal conditions the last two days, which was somewhat evident in the results as you scan through the daily limits.
Regardless, this event did not disappoint with solid limits being put up each day of competition. That said, Friday by far outshined the rest of the week. Out of the 25 anglers competing on Friday, 14 of them produced a limit and the top 10 for the day, all had over 70 inches. While we didn't see the truly giant smallmouth we have come to expect from this fishery, there were plenty of solid keepers caught.
Josh Chrenko of Greenwood, IN. landed a total of 87.50” Friday anchored by a 19.50 smallmouth, leading the Friday group and surviving the final 3 days of competitors to hold on to the number one spot, claiming the victory.
Our favorite Philosophical Angler and Indianapolis native, Justin Kivett, took second place with 85.50 inches, but even more impressive is the fact that he did it with a limit of all Largemouth! Filling out the top 3 was none other than, Nick Mattews, with 81.25”
The Big Bass of the event went to Josh Robbins, with a beautiful smallmouth measuring just shy of the 20-inch mark on the Ketch Board.
GRBY NE TRAIL STOP #1 | LAKE ST. CLAIR - Presented by PoorBoys
New to the GRBY format this year are two Trail Series. Each with 5 events on separate bodies of water within a particular region. A couple of weeks back, we recapped the Central Trail, which kicked off on Morse Lake, just north of Indianapolis.
This past weekend the North East Trail event kicked off with a bang, visiting one of the hottest fisheries on the planet right now, Lake St. Clair.
While Lake St. Clair is obviously not a Hoosier fishery; this event is a part of the NE Trail and has major implications on that series and the GRBY overall AOY and Championship. So, we're going to cover it just like all the other events here in the state. Plus… who doesn't want some more smallie talk!? Wait, isn't there a podcast about that….
21 anglers competed in the first NE Trail Event on Lake St. Clair with anglers from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Canada!
Things got kicked off Thursday when the one and only, Dusty Yakker, of Michigan put up a solid limit of 90” setting the tone for the remaining 20 anglers to compete.
On Friday the powerhouse duo, Bryan Sparks and Brian “The Coach” Moore, competed and Mr. Sparks upped the ante with a 95.50” bag.
However, Saturday the doors were blown wide open when Cole Garland of Grabill, IN. surpassed the Century mark, putting up 100.50 inches!! The smallest of his limit measured 19.75 and the largest was 20.75, also good enough for Big Bass of the event.
Cole not only took a win in the GRBY event, but he also brought home a 1st place trophy for the MKT event taking place at the same time.
Following his lead was Michigan angler, Taher Fletcher, with 99.75 inches, finishing in 2nd place, 4.25” ahead of 3rd place, Bryan Sparks.
GRBY | BRUSH CREEK #2 - Presented by BackYard Custom Plastics
Brush creek was back in action this week with its second event of the GRBY season. This time, 40 anglers accepted the challenge. Of those 40 anglers, 11 were able to put together a limit. The top 4 anglers all produced bags of 80+ inches.
Scott Rowe of Brookville, Ohio, the only angler to limit Thursday, took the hot seat with 65.50 inches before being bumped off in a big way on Friday when Austin Killion put up an impressive 88.25” anchored by his PB of the season, a 20.25” pre-spawn largemouth.
However, the 3rd and final lead change of the event came Saturday when "Mystery Man" Cory Rucker of Franklin, IN. landed a 5-fish limit totaling 90.50 inches.
Day one leader Scott Rowe missed the podium, but he still managed a decent payday, with the Big Bass of the event, a 20.75 inch Stud!
USA BASSIN | LAKE MONROE
USA Bassin held its 2nd event of the season in the Hoosier State, this time on Lake Monroe. Unfortunately, the turnout was pretty light for this event with only 3 anglers registered to compete.
There were no fish submitted in this event as Monroe continues to be hit or complete miss.
USA Bassin Tournament Director, Chad Brock, released this update following the event.
“After the event, the decision was made to carry the payout forward from the 4/15 event to add to the payout for the next event on 5/13.”
So there is a little extra incentive for you all to try out the Lake Monroe series when it hosts its second event of the season on May 13. On top of the extra money, this event is going to hit prime time for this lake. It may be stingy at the moment, but it’s about to bust wide open.
Don't believe us? Here are some of the May results from the last couple of seasons.
Congratulations to all our Top Performers for week 5!
As we said, week five was Juicy, but week six is jam-packed with events and potential too. In fact, this is the busiest tournament week of the season thus far. Check out what's coming up below.
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