Rooke in contention at Lake Mead

Lake Havasu City angler Michael Rooke is making a run at an FLW tour win.

After the second day of fishing in the Wal-Mart FLW Series National Guard Western Division event on Lake Mead Thursday, Rooke is sitting in fifth place with a 10-fish combined weight of 20 pounds,

4 ounces.

“I’m very pleased to be where I’m at,” Rooke said of his fifth-place standing. “We’ve had to adjust to the conditions every day.”

Rooke was in eighth place after day one with a limit string of

10-06 before moving up the leaderboard on day two.

Sean Minderman, of Spokane, Wash., has held the top spot both days of fishing. Minderman pulled in 13-09 on day one, slipping a bit to 11-12 Thursday for a combined weight of 25-05.

Six pounds separate the top ten leaders. After fishing is complete today, the top ten will fish the final round Saturday for the tour stop title.

Shaun Bailey, of Lake Havasu City, is sitting in 54th place after day two with a total weight of 15-05. He missed a full string Thursday after pulling in four fish weighing 6-04.

Tim Blanchard, of Lake Havasu City, pulled the five-fish limit both days for a total weight of 12-11 and 72nd place.

Lake Havasu City’s Terrence Rath, who finished second in the Stren Series Tour event on Lake Havasu in February, found fishing away from home a bit less accommodating. Rath hooked only two bass on Wednesday before snagging five Thursday for a combined weight of 6-06. Rath is in 90th place going into day three.

The total purse for the Lake Mead tournament is $1 million — including $125,000 for the first place finisher, $10,000 for the second- through 50th-place finishers and $2,000 for 51st- through 75th-place anglers in the Pro Division. All anglers in the tournament will also be competing for valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the BP East-National Guard West Fish-Off and a shot at advancing to the $2 million, 2009 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million — the sport’s biggest award.

Among co-anglers (amateurs who fish with a professional), Lake Havasu City’s Jeff Dean finished day two with a combined weight of 6-11 for 62nd place.

The co-angler top prize is $25,000 for three days of fishing.

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