Wehr’s the champion
Indiana co-angler takes victory in first EverStart tourney – and first trip to Lake Champlain
TICONDEROGA, N.Y. – Some guys have all the luck. What are the chances that an angler could walk into his first EverStart Series tournament, fish on a lake he’s never seen before and walk away with a $6,000 victory over 165 other guys? Well, Stan Wehr did exactly that Saturday, winning the Co-angler Division at Lake Champlain with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 1 ounce. But it wasn’t just dumb luck.
On a day when eight out of 10 co-angler finalists weighed in five-bass limits, it takes more than luck to top them all. Wehr figured out earlier in the week that to catch bigger bass amongst the multitudes of them in Lake Champlain, he needed a heavier weight. He resorted to jerry-rigging some ¼-ounce jigs with 1/2-ounce sinkers to make them fall faster.
When he threw the homemade concoctions into the grass beds Saturday, the big ones ate them up. Fishing with pro Steven McGahan, he ended up culling 10 largemouths to fill out his five-bass stringer at 16 pounds.
“This lake is unbelievable, period,” Wehr said. “You cannot catch as many 3- to 5-pound bass at any other lake in the country. I had a target anywhere I wanted to throw.”
The extreme bass productivity of Lake Champlain was a fact unknown to Wehr prior to this week. Hailing from Huntingburg, Ind., and fishing in only his first FLW Outdoors tournament, he had never fished Champlain before – or appreciated it. He does now.
“I’m used to fishing lakes and the Ohio River around home. I know I’ve caught more fish here in four days than the entire BFL tournament on the Ohio River caught today,” he said, referring to the Wal-Mart BFL Hoosier Division tournament also being held Saturday. “After fishing here all week, you’re patterns are so refined and your confidence level soars unlike anything you would get from any other lake.”
Runner-up co-angler Dan Luman of Manchester, Conn., seconded Wehr’s sentiments about the options a co-angler has at Lake Champlain.
“As soon as the pro in front of me had fished a spot, I’d just throw in the next hole behind him,” said Luman, who caught five bass weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday. “There’s just so many places to fish, the pro can’t cover them all.”
Luman collected $4,000.
Rounding out the top five finishers in the Co-angler Division were 2000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship winner Homer Stephens of Noblesville, Ind., (third place, $3,500) with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 1 ounce; Chris Wade of Preston, Conn., (fourth, $3,000) with five bass weighing 13-9; and Mitch Pierson of Newton, N.J., (fifth, $2,500) with five bass weighing 13-0.
The next EverStart Series event is a Northern Division tournament to be held at Thousand Islands in Clayton, N.Y., August 21-24.
Day-four links:
Rollin’, rollin’ Dolin
Photos
Final results
Press release
Day-two weigh-in story
Day-one weigh-in story