Secret jig triggers Meravy’s big move

Long runs to Lake Erie prove foolish

TRENTON, Mich. – Today was supposed to be the day that the season-opening Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event began in earnest. With roughly two-thirds of the field passing on the Detroit River and making the long run to Lake Erie, several 30-pound bags were supposedly in the works. It didn’t happen. Lake Erie’s waters turned to chocolate milk and proved to be fool’s gold, leaving many scrambling with hours of valuable fishing time wasted.

By 11 a.m., nearly all of those that ventured to the lake had given up and returned to the river. Several pros spent their entire morning looking for clear water on Lake Erie, only to return empty-handed. Not having your lines in the water until noon is not a good thing with $100,000 on the line for first place.

The good news was that Mother Nature thankfully eased up her angry grasp. The forecast once again called for a mix of rain and snow, but very minimal precipitation actually fell. The winds kicked up at times, but weren’t nearly as bad as yesterday. Average seas on the big lake ranged from 4- to 5-footers, rather than the 8- to 9-footers seen on opening day.

Pro Mark Meravy was one of the few anglers who wanted nothing to do with the lake. He spent all his valuable time fishing the river near the Trenton, Mich., channel, the same area he fished on day one. It turned out to be the wisest decision of the tournament thus far.

Another 20-pound day for Meravy

Meravy, a Shorewood, Ill., native, said he only received seven bites all day, but they were the right bites. His big fish measured 29 inches long and anchored a 22-pound, 13-ounce limit – the heaviest of the day. Up to this point, Meravy has been the only pro to put together two consecutive days of 20 pounds or more. His two-day total now stands at 44 pounds, 5 ounces and gives him nearly a 6-pound lead halfway through the tournament.

“It all depends on how much boat traffic there is tomorrow,” Meravy said of his chances of catching a 20-pound bag for the third consecutive day. “I’m pretty confident in getting a limit, but you can’t count on the big fish.”

Meravy’s main concern is well justified. He was left alone for most of the day, largely because a good portion of the field ran to the lake. Odds are, they won’t make the same mistake twice. Plus, the water upriver is supposedly getting dirtier and dirtier, making the smokestacks and the Trenton channel the cleanest water available.

Meravy did reveal a little more about his pattern. He’s running a combination of both plastics and shiners on his jigs. More specifically, he’s jigging two rods with solely plastics on them. His co-angler will then jig two rods tipped with shiners. He does this so that he can focus on boat control yet still keep a varied offering in the water.

“I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I realize there is a lot more fishing to go. The only thing that counts is being the leader on the final day.”

And with that, Meravy ran off, antsy to get to the local bait shop to purchase what he described as “secret jigs.”

Kjelden second

In second place is Brookings, S.D., pro Dustin Kjelden. Much like Meravy, Kjelden owns back-to-back days of hefty limits. His day-two limit weighed 21 pounds, 14 ounces. Kjelden said the option of fishing the lake never crossed his mind. Interestingly, the BFGoodrich Tires pro is fishing the same general area as day-one leader Scott Banks. Although he wouldn’t go into detail about where the spot is located, he would say it is north of Elizabeth Park Marina.

As evidenced both yesterday and today, that spot, wherever it is, is certainly holding some big fish. Kjelden and his partner caught only six fish total, but one weighed 6 pounds and another weighed 9 pounds.

Last year Kjelden was in this exact same position after day two on the Detroit River. This time around, he hopes day three is a little more kind.

“I’m going to try my best not to shoot myself in the foot like last year,” he said. “I made some real bad decisions that I hope I’ve learned from.”

Kjelden is running all plastics on 5/8-ounce jigs with a stinger hook. With two days of competition remaining, his two-day total stands at 38 pounds, 9 ounces.

Banks falls to third

Although he had nearly a 10-pound lead after day one, Banks was still a little uneasy about how the rest of the tournament would unfold. His water was getting a little dirtier, and more boats were arriving by the minute. At times, Banks said there were probably 30 or 40 boats on his best spot today, where yesterday there were only five or six.

Today he stumbled, catching only three walleyes that weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces. His presentation consisted of a 1/2-ounce jig tipped with bigger-profile plastics. Amazingly, he’s still less than 6 pounds off the lead with a total weight of 38 pounds, 8 ounces.

It’s not entirely surprising that Banks lost his lead, but the manner in which he did was unexpected. One would have assumed Banks was passed by a 40-pound bag caught on Lake Erie. Instead, a fellow river fisherman seized the top spot by simply demonstrating consistency.

To that end, Banks wasn’t all that disappointed with how things shook out Thursday.

“I know the fish are still up there,” said the Cannon Falls, Minn., pro. “Todd Riley was in there along with Dustin, and he had a big weight, so the fish are still there. The goal is still to make the top 10 and have a chance to win it Saturday.”

Fairbairn fourth

Evinrude pro Scott Fairbairn caught only two fish on day two, but still moved up two places to fourth. His pair of Detroit River walleyes weighed 9 pounds, 12 ounces, giving him a two-day total of 29 pounds, 9 ounces.

Fairbairn, a river rat from Hager City, Wis., said he wasn’t purposely hog hunting. He tried to fill his limit but couldn’t, which is surprising considering how many males were caught again today.

Herd fifth

Dan Herd, a resident of Hutchinson, Minn., caught a five-walleye limit weighing 11 pounds, 5 ounces. His total weight sits at 28-13, currently good enough for fifth place in the Pro Division.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros on day two on the Detroit River:

6th: Dean Kaminski of Columbia Heights, Minn., two-day total of 28-11

7th: Robert Lampman of De Soto, Wis., 28-8

8th: Kevin Goligowski of Maplewood, Minn., 28-6

9th: Todd Riley of Amery, Wis., 28-6

10th: Chris Gilman of Chisago City, Minn., 28-6

Local co-angler maintains lead

In the Co-angler Division, local fisherman Michael Eichbrecht maintained his lead by catching two walleyes that weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces. The Washington, Mich., native has a two-day total weight of 36 pounds, 8 ounces and a lead of more than 5 pounds.

“I came here with the intention of having a three-day charter,” he said. “I was just hoping to learn a few new spots on the river. This is beyond my wildest dreams.”

Although he only managed two fish today, Eichbrecht said he wasn’t disappointed because overall the bite slowed considerably.

“Hey, 5 pounds is 5 pounds. We were marking plenty of fish, but we just couldn’t get them to bite. We tried both longlining and jigging. I think the water was just too dirty.”

Rounding out the top five co-anglers on day two on the Detroit River:

2nd: Chris Kinzler of Trenton, Mich., two-day total of 30-15

3rd: Scott Collinsworth of Anaconda, Mont., 30-7

4th: Keith Strauss of Syracuse, Ind., 30-7

5th: Keith Hahn of Johnsburg, Ill., 29-12

Day three of FLW Walleye Tour competition on the Detroit River begins as the field of 150 boats takes off from Elizabeth Park Marina at 7 a.m. Eastern time Friday for the final day of the opening round.