Mike Raber will start the final day of the Toyota Series Championship with a 5-ounce advantage.
November 04, 2023
MLF Communications BRANSON, Mo. – Anglers were faced with another day of tough fishing conditions at the 2023 Toyota Series Championship at Table Rock Lake on Friday. Mike Raber of Elkhart, Indiana, brought a five-bass limit to the stage weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces to maintain the lead after Day 2 with a 31-7 total.
Raber holds a slim 5-ounce lead over Chad Mrazek of Montgomery, Texas, who brought 17-7 to the scale – the largest bag of the day – for a two-day total of 31-2.
Raber said he only caught six keepers for the day, and as the day neared its end, he had just three fish with only 25 minutes remaining.
“Today was a lot tougher,” said Raber. “I mixed up my rotation a little bit and I honestly think that made me fish a little too quickly. I rotated a lot, and it just wasn’t really happening for me this morning – I didn’t catch a keeper for more than two hours.
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“As the day went on, I started to get back in the groove. I caught a few to build some momentum and got a few good bites at the end to save me.”
He said he spent the day doing a lot of the same things he did on the first day, but conditions were rapidly changing throughout the day.
“I’m basically running two different patterns – I’m doing some of the LiveScope stuff, just like everybody else. That is how I caught a lot of my bigger fish, but I’ve also mixed it up with some shallow-water patterns,” said Raber. “I’m just flying by the seat of my pants at the moment and don’t really know where my next bite is coming from, so I’m trying to stay on my toes and have things ready to go.”
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Although Raber had hoped to have a better understanding of the fishery and the patterns the fish were running after the second day of competition, he said he ended the day just as confused as he was on Day 1.
“I’ve been on this lake for almost a week now, but I still can’t really figure out a rhyme or reason as to why the fish are biting in one area and not in another,” said Raber. “I’ll think I’ve crossed a spot off, then the next day that same spot will be firing. It was like that in practice for me too. So, I could pull up on the right section tomorrow and get it done, or we could stumble really bad, like it felt like we were about to do this morning.”
Raber said he weighed in four largemouth and a spotted bass on Day 2.
“I caught a couple bass on one pattern and the rest on a second pattern,” said Raber. “Going into the final day, I’m not really sure what I’m better off spending my time on. When it’s right, it’s very obvious what I should be doing, but when I do that for a couple hours and don’t catch anything, I feel like I’m wasting time.
“That’s really the balance I’ve got to find tomorrow if I’m going to survive and do well at all,” Raber continued. “It’s going to be a struggle, but I definitely feel optimistic, and this is a great opportunity. It’s not often that you get to go fish one full day with $200,000 on the line, so I’m super pumped. The possibility of me catching enough to win is definitely there, but it will not come easy.”
Here are the totals for the for the Top 10:
1st: -- Mike Raber of Elkhart, Ind., 10 bass, 31-7
The final 25 pros co-anglers will take off Saturday at 7:30 a.m. CT from Table Rock State Park Marina, located at 380 State Park Marina Road in Branson. Saturday’s Championship weigh-in will also be held at the marina and will begin at 3:30 p.m. Fans are welcome to attend the daily takeoffs and weigh-ins and also follow the action online through the “MLF Live” weigh-in broadcasts and daily coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
For compklete standings, click here
