Pappas tops on Lake Michigan

Co-angler Keefe hauls in day's biggest stringer at EverStart Northern event

ESCANABA, Mich. – Though walleye fishermen have known for years that Lake Michigan near Escanaba offered top-rate fishing, its waters have typically been ignored by tournament bass fishermen over the years. That all changed Wednesday, as EverStart Series Northern Division competitors brought forth the area’s first major bass-tournament weigh-in, and it was a sight to behold.

Though a slugfest was originally predicted, the pretournament talk indicated that the bite would be tough this week, with major rewards to be had if one could overcome it. Though only one stringer weighing more than 20 pounds was brought in – by a co-angler, no less – there were still plenty of big bass brought to the scales.

Overall, 104 out of 134 pros weighed in a fish, with Joseph Pappas of Southgate, Mich., leading the pack with a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces. Like most competitors, Pappas fished shallow and depended on the wind to haul in the bass. Some anglers, Pappas included, wanted a little chop in the water, while others needed calm seas to trigger the bite.

“This morning there was a lack of wind, so I had to slow down and fish a tube and Senko,” he said. “This afternoon, when the wind picked up, I used a spinnerbait and a jerkbait, mostly.”

From the launch point at Escanaba Harbor, anglers had their choice to stay close and fish Little Bay de Noc, head out a little farther and fish the big Bay de Noc, or make a much longer run to Lake Michigan itself. At least one angler reported catching a largemouth in the Escanaba River, but the smallmouth bite in the big water was by far the way to go. Pappas didn’t run far, sticking to Little Bay de Noc and the peninsula while waiting for the wind to blow.

“The wind got the fish active and stirred the baitfish up,” Pappas said. “They weren’t eating (in calm wind).”

Pappas – no stranger to the EverStart leaderboard, having won last year’s Lake Erie event – caught his bass in 7 to 15 feet of water, and they didn’t come easy. Judging from the comments made on stage today, nobody’s did.

“I caught seven fish today,” Pappas said. “They’re scattered all over, so I’m trying to cover a lot of water. There’s no rhyme or reason to it; I haven’t put a pattern together. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Pappas said he found his fish relating mainly to sand, weeds and rocks. Though no one argues the fish in this area are plentiful, intense fishing pressure is likely to put a damper on the bite tomorrow.

“It’s fixing to get tougher,” he said. “They were fished hard in practice, and they were fished hard today.”

Reault catches few fish, but the right fish

Livonia, Mich., pro David Reault landed in the No. 2 spot on day one with a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 14 ounces – a number that took him by surprise, and not because of its heftiness.

“I didn’t catch as many as I thought I’d catch,” Reault said. “The bite kind of died in the afternoon today. They were following the bait and not eating it, and then it just died. I couldn’t get followed – not anything.”

Reault, too, is fishing shallow and said he caught his bass today on a jerkbait. He culled three times today, saying he is not catching many, but when he does, they’re big ones.

“I’d probably like to see a little more wind,” he said. “When I found them, it was windy, and they were biting really well.”

Reault is also concerned about the fishing pressure, predicting a tougher bite for day two.

Lowen, Trombly tie for third

Two anglers brought in a limit of bass weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces to tie for the No. 3 spot. Ohio pros Bill Lowen of Cincinnati and Mike Trombly of Perrysburg each sit 8 ounces behind the leader heading into day two.

Predictably, Lowen caught his fish shallow and owes much of his day-one success to his co-angler partner, Jeff Bratonia of nearby town Rapid River.

“I had a rough practice, but I drew a co-angler who’s a local and he helped me out,” Lowen said. “I’m fishing shallow, and for me that’s good because I don’t like fishing deep.”

Lowen said he, for one, prefers a lack of wind to catch his bass and verified the fish won’t be found jumbled up in one specific honeyhole.

“I’d really love it to be flat with no wind,” he said. “The fish are scattered – really scattered. You can go for an hour and not catch a fish.”

Trombly, too, is covering a lot of water and caught his fish shallow in approximately 15 feet of water.

“The wind’s going to help me,” Trombly said. “It puts current in the water and definitely puts them on a bite.”

When the water went slack today, Trombly saw his bite fall off. He divided his time between Little Bay and Big Bay.

“There are a lot of people in the area I’m in,” he said. “(Tomorrow) depends on if the fish replenish themselves.”

Trombly is optimistic about that prospect, however, noting there’s deep water nearby that could keep his fishing spot with a supply of fish that would take him to the final rounds.

Adkins, Goodman tie for fifth

Gary Adkins of Green Bay, Wis., and Patrick Goodman of White Pigeon, Mich., both hauled in 18 pounds, 1 ounce of bass, with Adkins catching a limit and Goodman weighing in four. Goodman fished with the co-angler leader and triumphed despite a shortened day due to mechanical issues.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one on Lake Michigan:

7th: Kevin Spears of New Boston, Ohio, five bass, 17-13

8th: Fred Roumbanis of Auburn, Calif., five bass, 16-13

9th (tie): David Gliebe of Benton, Ky. (four bass) and Ed Pepin of Rock, Mich. (five bass), 16-12

Great Scot! Keefe brings in 21-3 from back of boat

Leading all anglers in total weight on day one is co-angler Scot Keefe of Hinesburg, Vt., who brought in a crowd-pleasing limit of bass that weighed 21 pounds, 3 ounces. As if the accomplishment was not feat enough, he did it after losing two hours of fishing time due to mechanical problems. He and his pro partner, Patrick Goodman, still caught enough to land both of them in the top five in solid contention for the final rounds.

“I caught my fish pretty early, but Patrick made me worry a little,” he said of the day’s events. “We lost probably two hours total.”

Despite the shortened fishing day, Goodman and Keefe still elected to make a longer run, heading out to a fishing hole approximately an hour away from the launch ramp. Keefe declined to disclose the fishing location, allowing that it was in the main lake.

He attributed his remarkable catch to a Carolina-rigging pattern that plays to his strengths.

“It’s just something I do a lot,” he said. “Patrick just happened to go to a spot where that kind of fishing worked. I found out something that was different that I normally wouldn’t do, and that made all the difference.”

Keefe reported catching fish in depths up to 20 feet and hopes to draw a partner tomorrow who’s fishing an area that will allow him to continue his bass-snatching pattern.

“I like it cold and rough,” Keefe said of the fishing conditions. “Today it wasn’t terrible – 1- to 2-footers.”

Though the chop was just rough enough to suit him, Keefe said the warm sunshine isn’t hurting him, as he’s not fishing all that deep.

Zeisner observes his way into second

Jeff Zeisner of Arva, Ontario, brought in a limit of bass that weighed 18 pounds, 8 ounces to land in the No. 2 position on the co-angler side. Though the impressive limit was no match for Keefe’s haul, the weight still ranks Zeisner among the day’s heaviest hitters.

“We made a bit of a run today, and with the bait we adjusted with today, the sun worked really well,” said Zeisner, who fished with pro Ralph Myhlhousen. “Ralph was on really good fish, and we worked hard, figured out the pattern and boated two good limits.” (Myhlhousen is currently 11th on the pro side.)

Zeisner said the key to his stringer was watching the fish attack the bait. If he saw the bass miss the offered bait, he would then go after them with a tube.

“If I see the bottom, I can probably get the same baits on tomorrow,” he said.

Howey takes third

Les Howey of St. Catharines, Ontario, also paired up with a pro making a long run and found it to be to his advantage, bringing in five bass weighing 16 pounds, 7 ounces to finish day one in third place.

“We fished one small area all day,” he said. “It was a mix of weed and sand on a drop-off, and we worked the area with tubes.”

Howey said he did lose a few fish out in the big bay today that could have improved his position, though he hopes to duplicate today’s success with the pro he’s paired with tomorrow.

“I could do well today and goose-egg tomorrow,” he said.

Nogalski, Jenkins round out top five

Paul Nogalski of Germantown, Wis., took fourth place on day one with a limit of bass weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces. More than a pound behind him is the No. 5 co-angler, Andy Jenkins of Elkhart, Ind., who brought in five bass weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers after day one on Lake Michigan:

6th: Virgil Grant of Findlay, Ohio, four bass, 13-10

7th: Jim Jones of Big Bend, Wis., four bass, 13-3

8th: Scott Webster of Oneida, Wis., five bass, 12-7

9th: Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon, Mich., four bass, 12-0

10th: Joe Woods of Fremont, Wis., four bass, 11-7

Competition continues tomorrow with a 7 a.m. takeoff from Escanaba Harbor, located in Ludington Park in downtown Escanaba. The entire field comprised of 134 boats will fish again Thursday, after which the pro and co-angler fields will be cut to the top 10 that will compete Friday and Saturday.