Photos by Jen Edgar
Joe Uribe Jr. and Jody Jordan stood at the tanks mentally weighing each fish Uribe put on the scale. Seconds later, the champion Uribe was announced, winning by a mere ounce over Jordan. No one was more shocked than Uribe, whom even said, “I honestly did not think my fish weighed that much.” This makes Uribe’s third top-10 in the FLW Rayovac Western Division this season, and his second victory – a remarkable feat for any angler.
URIBE’S PATTERN
All week, Uribe made numerous casts to specific targets such as rock and shade lines with a Lucky Craft LV 500 and a RC 1.5. On the third day the wind blew Uribe off his main spots in the morning, at about 10 a.m., his co-angler Rick Grover clued Uribe into slowing down. So, Uribe added a 3/8 oz Texas-rigged Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver in Big Texan color to save his day. He fished the Beaver with Daiwa 30 lb J-Braid and a 15 lb Sunline FC Sniper leader, using a 7’2” Daiwa Tatula medium-action rod and 6:3:1 Daiwa Tatula reel.
Uribe would rotate 10 -15 spots per day, focusing on rocky areas with grass and bait. If he pulled up to one of his spots and there was no bait, he would run to the next spot. Noting only about half of the spots he’d run would have fish, and each day the fish would show up on different spots than the day before. Uribe noticed a difference in the lake on this trip saying, “I didn’t really find [schooling fish] this year; I really had to work hard to get the fish I did.”
Uribe’s three-day total was 66-10, earning him his 2nd new boat for 2015. He takes home a Ranger Z518 w/200 HP outboard ($45,000) plus $28,851 in winnings.
GROVER WIRE-TO-WIRE
Rick Grover maintained the lead all three days to win the co-angler division at Clear Lake. Also a considerable feat considering that it was only his second time on the lake and his first time since the late ‘70s.
Grover took more of a finesse approach to catching his fish behind the top western pros that he was paired with. He fished a ¼ oz brown/purple jig with a 3” Berkley Chigger Craw as a trailer. He wanted a smaller, more compact, lighter jig to be able to slow down and fish more meticulously. He would also go even lighter and fish a neko-rigged Zoom Trick Worm in green pumpkin.
Grover’s three-day total was 55-5. He also took home a new boat, earning a Ranger Z117 w/90 HP outboard ($27,000) and Ranger Cup earnings of $5,000.
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