Motown throwdown
Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers battle big waves, big smallmouths in season finale
DETROIT – Helmets: check. Extra bilge pumps: check. Trolling motor triple-tied down: check. Transom bolts tightened: check.
These are just a few of the thoughts that were running through FLW Tour anglers’ heads Thursday morning as they launched into the Detroit River for the Chevy Open – the sixth and final stop of the 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Tour regular season.
While it would be much easier to be concerned with details like lure color or hook sharpness, this is the land of “Kowabunga,” an unofficial expression that roughly translates into something like “very huge and gigantic waves.”
Many of the 200 pros are planning a long trek out of the Detroit River far into Lake Erie, where proper preparation, boat-driving skills and equipment care are far more critical than the actual fishing.
The size of the waves found on Erie can only be appreciated by those who have bobbed up and down on its 6-footers, 20 miles from the nearest land, wondering how many more colossal walls of water they can take over the bow.
“Getting out there and getting back is the name of the game here,” noted Lake Erie expert Joe Balog of Harrison Township, Mich., who is fishing the event out of a Ranger 620 walleye boat designed to take the monumental waves that whip up on the Great Lakes with the whisper of a wind.
“Tournament anglers talk about the size of the waves on places like Kentucky Lake or 
Champlain,” Balog chuckled. “A rough day on those lakes is a calm one here.”
So why would anyone in his right mind want to endure such rough conditions?
The answer is simple: smallmouths. Make that giant smallmouths, the kind that make up 23-pound limits on a regular basis. Such sacks of fish are considered to be a sure ticket to the potential $200,000 winner’s check that will be awarded at the Chevy Open on Sunday afternoon.
Balog and some of his well-known Lake Erie contemporaries like Steve Clapper, Mike Trombly and Bryan Coates will likely be headed to Erie’s promised land: the Pelee Island area, a 30-mile boat ride into the middle of Erie from the mouth of the Detroit River. It’s here that some of the biggest schools of monstrous smallmouths make a living sucking up unsuspecting gobies off the bottom.
Of course, there are alternatives to riding the giant swells of Erie for hours before making a cast: Anglers can go north and fish a much smaller Lake St. Clair, but it is likely to be no bed of calm water either. A stiff southwest wind – which is forecasted to blow 15 to 25 mph today – pushing against the ripping current of the Detroit River can make for a long, horrendous ride to St. Clair as well.
Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year leader Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas, is opting for the St. Clair route.
“I’ve got the points title on my mind – that’s what I’m gunning for, not the tournament win,” Yelas said. “Lake Erie is just too risky – fishing in 8-footers is not my cup of tea. That’s a specialized way of fishing that some of the locals here are very familiar with and I’m not. I have to go with my strengths and where I feel most comfortable. So I made up my mind to fish St. Clair. I committed my whole practice there; I never even put my boat in on Erie.”
Yelas noted that he arrived at his St. Clair-only decision after carefully studying the weights of past events from this region. He needs a 26th-place finish or higher, based on his points lead, to lock up the 2007 Angler of the Year title.
“The most it’s ever taken here for 26th place is 34 pounds for two days,” he said. “I’ve had a pretty good practice on St. Clair, and I feel like I can come pretty close to 17 pounds a day over there. To me, it’s the safer bet.”
Judging from a recent Wal-Mart BFL event on St. Clair, where four limits broke the 20-pound mark, the smaller lake is fishing pretty well right now.
“This tournament is going to be wide open,” Balog continued. “I think it’s going to be a high-weight event. If the wind really blows hard for two days, it might knock the top-10 cut down to 32 pounds. But if it’s nice for two days, it might take 40 pounds to make the cut.
“That might sound like a high-weight guess on my part, but both lakes are fishing really good. The big fish on Erie are not quite grouped up thick on deep structure yet; they’re still scattered out on those ridges in 10 to 15 feet of water, which basically means that guys that like to drift fish `areas’ have a chance at doing well. If this tournament was in August, then it would likely be dominated by locals who know how to fish the deep 30- to 40-foot structure. But being that it’s July, there are still big stringers to be caught in shallower areas in both lakes.”
Logistics
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 12-15, from Elizabeth Park Marina located at 202 Grosse Isle Parkway in Trenton, Mich. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins also will be held at Elizabeth Park Marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Cobo Center located at 1 Washington Blvd. in Detroit beginning at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the Cobo Center from noon to 4 p.m. each day. The Family Fun Zone is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers and review products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other manufacturers while children are treated to fishing themed games and rides like the Ranger boat simulator. 
The first 300 children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone Saturday will receive a free FLW Outdoors hat. On Sunday, the first 300 children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone will receive a free rod and reel combo.
On Sunday a member of the audience will also win a free trip for two to Hot Springs for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup championship and outdoor show and a chance to win a $53,000 Ranger Z20 powered by Yamaha. Participants must be present during the 4 p.m. weigh-in Sunday to win.
On the Web
For those unable to catch the weigh-in action in person, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, an online application that brings fans real-time weigh-in results, streaming video and audio.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:07 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 63 degrees
Expected high temperature: 78 degrees
Water temperature: 73 degrees
Forecasted winds: W at 15 to 25 mph
Day’s outlook: breezy