Paul pulls off first EverStart win
Rookie chalks up another 20-pound catch for the Co-Angler Division
SANDUSKY, Ohio – One thing you didn’t hear at Sandusky Bay this week was co-anglers complaining that they couldn’t catch fish. The smallmouth bite was so productive and so conducive to fishing from both ends of the boat that, over the first three days, the co-angler leader actually caught more fish than the pro leader. The active bite led rookie David Paul to a fourth-consecutive Co-Angler Division-leading stringer weighing around 20 pounds and his first EverStart Series Northern Division victory.
Paul took home $6,000 for his 20-pound, 2-ounce five-bass limit Saturday, soundly topping runner-up Daniel Cramer of Van Wert, Ohio, by a pound and a half.
“I didn’t miss one fish,” said Paul. “I caught nine bass today and it was hard even to decide which ones to cull. They were all in the 3- to 4-pound range.”
Paul, who said he appreciated the friends he made this week even more than the cash, made sure to thank his dad for his accomplishment.
“Believe it or not, this is a dream come true,” said the New London, Conn., native. “I work construction, but I’d like to do this for a living.”
The co-angler champion said his key to victory was his custom-made tube bait from Stalker Bait Co. Like everyone else’s tube, it was green, but it was also flaked with gold, copper and red coloring. With the wind laying down for the final round, Paul was able to slow down his fishing at depths of 14 to 20 feet.
“I was just dead-sticking them,” he said. “It was like actual fishing today. I wasn’t just dragging it across the bottom.”
His pro partner pairing for the day didn’t hurt, either. He fished with third-place Pro Division finisher Steve Clapper of Lima, Ohio. Together they mined Clapper’s productive fishing location for over 41 pounds combined today.
“My pro partner today was awesome,” Paul said.
Another co-angler finalist benefited from the same location that Paul fished Saturday, but ran into less enviable, and unfortunate, results. Dwight Ameling of Fremont, Ind., the second-place qualifier two days running this week and last month’s winner at Thousand Islands, N.Y., was fishing the same location with pro winner Vic Vatalaro of Kent, Ohio. Ameling caught what he thought would be a five-bass stringer around 18 pounds, but when he arrived at Wal-Mart for the weigh-in, he discovered only four fish in his livewell.
“I had five by 8 o’clock,” a disappointed Ameling explained. “But somewhere along the line I threw the extra fish away.”
While Ameling fished well enough to win the entire week – including today – he ended up with four bass weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces for a $1,900, sixth-place finish.
Following Paul’s 20-plus pounds in the Co-Angler Division finals was a list of solid, Lake Erie-smallmouth weights: Cramer (2nd place, $4,000) caught five bass weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces; opening-round leader Ted Will (3rd, $3,500) of Zeeland, Mich., caught five bass weighing 18 pounds, 6 ounces; Gary Michalski (4th, $3,000) of Naperville, Ill., caught four bass weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces; James Liechty (5th, $2,500) of Fort Wayne, Ind., caught five bass weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces; Ameling (6th, $1,900); Don Amari (7th, $1,800) of Fort Wayne, Ind., caught four bass weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces; Dennis Shaw (8th, $1,700) of Centerville, Ohio, caught five bass weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces; Dale Dickson (9th, $1,600) of Tiffin, Ohio, caught three bass weighing 8 pounds, 2 ounces; and day-three leader Doug Caldwell (10th, $1,500) caught three bass weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces.
The next EverStart Series Northern Division tournament, the year’s fourth and final regular-season event, is another Lake Erie affair. It is scheduled to take place at Lake Erie Metropark in Detroit Sept. 26-29.
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