WON Bass Communications

LAUGHLIN, Nev. – Once again, the final day theme of the 2023 WON Bass U.S. Open turned out to be change. While the weather remained warm, as it had been for the first two days of competition, the field was faced with stiff breezes that spun the speed gauges up to 25 mph.

Wind can be an angler’s friend, or in the case of precision casting with forward-facing sonar and finesse tactics, it can lead to massive frustration. With many of the leaders using those types of tactics, the anxiety level of was elevated with concern of being able to present light lures to their prey.

As Day 3 commenced, the five anglers atop the leaderboard were separated by less than 5 pounds and Day 2 leader Kyle Grover of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif, and second-place pro Spencer Shuffield of Hot Springs, Ark. had a scant .51 pounds as their margin. With such a tight grouping up top, it really was possible for anyone in the Top 5 to take the victory.

It almost happened.

When fifth-place pro Patrick Touey of Santa Maria, Calif. weighed 19.93 pounds to take the lead with four anglers remaining, the story got really interesting. Garrett Howard of Riverside, Calif. fell short with 13.18 pounds. Roseville, Calif. pro Bryant Smith just missed the mark with 17.98 pounds and Shuffield had an atypical off day with 11.98 pounds, leaving only Grover to erase Touey’s Cinderella story.

Feeling he had fallen short himself, Grover needed 16.25 pounds to tie Touey, but when the scales bottomed out to 16.49 pounds, Grover erupted in celebration and Touey emotionally left the stage after the pair embraced.

Grover won the 2023 WON Bass U.S. Open in wire-to-wire fashion with a three-day total weight of 56.75 pounds, with a .24-pound winning margin over runner up Touey. Smith retained his third-place position with a total weight of 55.36 pounds. Shuffield finished fourth with 51.73 pounds and Howard rounded out the Top 5 with 50.01 pounds.

As he took the microphone from WON Bass tournament director Bill Egan, Grover explained that he saw a fish move late in the day that his AAA partner caught, and that made the difference.

“I saw a good smallmouth bolt under the bow of my Ranger Boat and head towards the back,” he said. “I told him to drop behind the boat, he did and caught it. It was a 2-pounder that culled us up a half of a pound, and that was the difference.”

Grover said he spent the tournament in the Upper Basin between Cottonwood and the powerlines and had three areas that produced.

“I had a deep spot that had a school of smallmouth on it and I caught a couple off of it each day,” he said. “My other spots were guts and pockets that the fish were roaming in chasing shad, which was key – there had to be shad in those pockets.”

Grover used a pair of dropshot baits thrown on 7’3” medium-light St. Croix Legend Elite spinning rods matched with Daiwa Certate reels. He spooled them with 10-pound Sunline braid and 6-pound Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon leader. He alternated between a 4.5-inch Straight Tailed Roboworm in morning dawn color or a Berkley Flatnose Minnow in brownback. He rigged them both on size 1 Gamakatsu Split Shot/Drop Shot Hooks and alternated between 1/4- to 3/8-ounce teardrop tungsten dropshot weights, depending on depth. Lowrance Active Target 2 was also instrumental in his victory – he reported that he used the forward-facing technology to catch the majority of his weight.

He said he could not believe he was a U.S. Open Champion.

“I remember fishing my first U.S. Open on Lake Mead thinking I was hot stuff, and blanking,” he said. “I realized how tough this tournament was then and watched as guys like Aaron Martens – who has always been my favorite angler – won this trophy, and now I have one of my own; I am so happy, but stunned, it’s a dream come true.”

For his efforts, Grover earned the keys to a 2024 Bass Cat Cougar FTD/Mercury 250 ProXS combo from Bass Cat Boats’ president Rick Pierce. Rigged with Lithium Pro batteries and charger, a Power-Pole Total Boat Control 8-foot Blade, trolling motor and electronics, it's valued at $82,000. He also earned a cash prize of $74,000, bringing the champion’s purse to $156,000.

Touey said that the tale of his tournament would come down to lost fish. He reported having a good practice period but had to adjust with the pressure.

“I fished above Cottonwood in the Upper Basin and caught them on a crankbait, a tube and a dropshot,” he said. “I lost 10 pounds of culls that would have closed this out easily, and you just can’t do that in tournaments and expect to win.”

He fished a Bill Norman Little N in chartreuse shad color early in the week. He threw it on an iRod Crank Jr rod with 10-pound fluorocarbon, but had to turn to finesse tactics more as the event progressed. He chose iRod 722 Air spinning rods with 10-pound braid and 6-pound leader and a pair of finesse baits – a green pumpkin tube on a tube jig and a Berkley Maxscent Flatworm in green pumpkin on a dropshot rig with a 3/8-ounce weight.

Anthony Hunt, of Clovis, Calif. earned the win on the AAA side by moving from fourth place with a 10.39-pound limit to bring his three-day total weight to 41.29.

“I have fished my whole life, but had to stop for quite a while, and I’ve just gotten back into it recently with my father-in-law,” he said. “I love to fish and knew that this was the biggest tournament out here. I can’t believe I’ve won it.”

Hunt reported using a variety of baits to catch fish.

“I caught some on finesse baits and some on reaction baits this week and had a great week with my pros. I’m absolutely in shock.”

Hunt earned $8,500 cash and an ATV worth an additional $8,000.

For complete final pro standings, click here.