Final showdown

Competitors head into the rising sun for the final round of Northern Division competition. Photo by Jeff Schroeder.

September 29, 2001 • Jeff Schroeder • Archives

Day four at Lake Erie underway

DETROIT – Day four of the Northern Division tournament set off under calm, clear skies Saturday as 20 pro and co-angler finalists made their way onto the Detroit River at 7 o’clock this morning. Today’s one-day shootout competition will decide the winners, in both divisions, of the last $185,000 regular-season EverStart Series event of the year.

It should be quite a showdown Saturday, one that may come down to whether or not the pros have burned out their fish. Catch weights were relatively light on days one and two, mostly due to cold, blustery weather. Yesterday, competition intensified as it warmed up and the top 10 anglers made sure they caught enough weight to make the finals.

Are there enough bass at the location on Lake Erie shared by the top two leading pro qualifiers, Barry Bucciarelli and Jon Jezierski?

At takeoff, Koby Kreiger set up camp – like he has the previous three days – right outside of Elizabeth Park Marina and started casting even before the last tournament boat left the harbor. Does he have enough fish there, after four straight days of pressure, to push him over the top and land him his second EverStart win this year?

And what about Steve Clapper? He said he “struggled” yesterday in the process of landing almost 19 pounds of bass. What happens if he doesn’t “struggle” today?

Today is the fourth and final day of EverStart competition on Lake Erie. All competitors restarted the day with zero weight and are competing in a one-day shootout to determine the winner. The winning pro will receive $15,000 and a Ranger boat plus a $1,000 bonus from Garmin if he or she was using a fixed-mount Garmin sonar product. The winning co-angler will collect $6,000 cash.

The final weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 2155 North Telegraph Road in Monroe, Mich.

Also to be decided today are the final Northern Division standings and qualifiers for the EverStart Series championship to be held at Pickwick Lake, Ala., in November.

Day-four vital statistics

Sunrise: 7:29 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 48 degrees
Expected high temperature: 65 degrees
Wind: From the North at 6 mph
Relative humidity: 96 percent
Day’s outlook: Mostly Sunny

Day-four related links:

Photos
Pairings