Streamlining the Motor City field
400 anglers face top-10 cut Friday in Tour’s final event of regular season
TRENTON, Mich. – As the heart of the American automotive industry and one of the country’s leading centers of popular music, Michigan’s largest city goes by numerous nicknames. Yesterday it earned another: Detroit Bass City. Day one of the Chevy Open broke a Wal-Mart FLW Tour one-day catch record with 5,137 pounds, 6 ounces of bass crossing the scale.
With 200 of the world’s leading bass pros and as many co-anglers fishing either lakes Erie or St. Clair via the Detroit River this week, it’s no surprise they’ve dialed into the prolific smallmouth bite here and – with the occasional largemouth thrown in for good measure – established a new record. Somewhat puzzling, however, is the percentage of the field fishing Lake St. Clair.
Though St. Clair is widely revered as one of the best and most favored smallmouth fisheries in the nation, FLW Outdoors bass tourneys on the Detroit River have typically seen the largest sacks coming from the great expanse of Erie. But at Friday’s 6:30 a.m. takeoff, more boats were blasting off toward St. Clair.
At last year’s Chevy Open, Lima, Ohio’s Steve Clapper plucked enough fat smallies from Erie to pick up a wire-to-wire win by the end of the four-day event. Though he didn’t have the opening day he’d hoped for Thursday, Clapper – currently in 18th place – planned to stick to his guns and head south toward Lake Erie today.
Clapper didn’t blame the water for his relatively poor day one: “It was just my malfunctions. They just didn’t take (the baits) right … or something.”
Clapper is pulling 4-inch ISG Intimidator tube baits as well as drop-shotting “a multitude of Gulp baits.” He caught his biggest two fish on the north shore of Erie yesterday before heading to “the islands,” including the famed smallmouth haunt Pelee Island, north of Port Clinton, Ohio.
“I’m going to see what the wind is like,” said Clapper of his day-two plans, adding that if it blows as predicted from the west-southwest at only 10 to 15 mph, the weather won’t keep him from fishing his primary locations. “It won’t hurt the fishing; it’ll just make for a bumpy ride. I’ll probably start (on the north shore) and then head out toward the islands later.”
Joining Clapper on the Erie side of the equation are likely to be yesterday’s second-, third- and fourth-place finishers, who all hit the big water to kick off the tournament. And while St. Clair is typically thought of as the more conservative choice, it yielded Thursday’s tournament-leading sack to pro Vic Vatalaro of Kent, Ohio, who usually fishes Erie in Detroit River tourneys. And the two pros tied for fifth also used St. Clair as a springboard to their positions.
Whether anglers decide to fish St. Clair or Erie today, one thing is certain: The fishing pressure on both lakes will be downsized in a big way after the weigh-in this afternoon, at which time both the Pro and Co-angler divisions will be cut to the top 10 that will go on to fish the final two days. Also hanging in the balance are the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race, a tourney purse of $1.5 million and, for some of the field, qualification for the season-ending Forrest Wood Cup. To be sure, today will be one of the most exciting days of tournament action the FLW Tour has seen all year.
Logistics
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. each day from Elizabeth Park Marina located at 202 Grosse Ile Parkway in Trenton, Mich.
Friday’s weigh-in will also 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 One Washington Blvd. in Detroit beginning at 4 p.m.
In conjunction with 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 6 p.m. each day.
The Family Fun Zone offers fans a chance to meet their Fantasy Fishing team anglers face to face and review the latest products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other sponsors while children are treated to giveaways, fishing-themed games and rides like the Ranger boat simulator.
Children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone on Sunday will receive a free rod and reel combo while supplies last. One lucky member of the audience will even win a new Ranger boat during the final 4 p.m. weigh-in Sunday, July 13. Admission is free, and you must be present to win.
Friday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:07 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 71 degrees
Expected high temperature: 83 degrees
Water temperature: 72 degrees
Wind: WSW at 9 mph
Maximum humidity: 78 percent
Day’s outlook: partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms possible and a 30-percent chance of rain; winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph