Patrick Touey Rallies to Second Place, Anthony Hunt Wins AAA Division
BY DAN O’SULLIVAN
Laughlin, Nev.– Once again, the final day theme of the 2023 Bass Cat / Mercury WON BASS U.S. Open presented by Laughlin Tourism Commission and Visit Laughlin turned out to be change. While the weather remained warm as it had been the first two days of competition, the field was treated to stiff breezes that spun the speed gauges up to 25 miles per hour.
Wind can be an angler’s friend, or in the case of precision casting with Forward Facing Sonar and finesse tactics, it can be a massive frustration. With many of the leaders using those type of tactics, the anxiety level of said anglers was elevated with concern of being able to present light lures to their prey.
As day three commenced, the anglers atop the leaderboard were separated by less than five pounds and day two 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 as the day began. With such a tight grouping atop the leaderboard, it really was possible for anyone in the top five to take the victory.
