DETROIT – The wind finally laid down a bit on the Great Lake Erie today and as a result, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Chevy Open scales got a tremendous work out as about 700 more pounds of fish came across the stage compared to day one.
In all, 10 20-pound-plus stringers were weighed in today compared to day one’s total of five.
And in the closing laps of the Land O Lakes Angler of the Year race, Shin Fukae got right on Jay Yelas’ bumper and, as they say in NASCAR, “tried to get him loose,” but Yelas remained unrattled and closed up the 2007 Angler of the Year title. (See Quick Bites for Yelas’ AOY details)
With less wind than yesterday, the Lake Erie boys went to work and knocked some of the St. Clair crowd out of the Top-10. Terry Baksay, Kevin Long and Clark Wendlandt will now be the only ones pointing their boats north to St. Clair on Saturday morning.
Still maintaining the lead is well-known Ranger pro Steve Clapper of Lima, Ohio. Clapper followed up his 22-pound stringer yesterday with 20 pounds, 14 ounces today for a two day total of 42 pounds, 14 ounces.
“I went back to where I caught them yesterday and caught 18 pounds by 9 o’ clock,” Clappers recounted. “That let me practice fish the rest of the day. I kind of fished my way back, purposely looking and checking places closer to take-off and I found a couple of other places closer in that have some 3-pounders on them.”
The Lake Erie legend continued to fish waters 20 to 30 feet deep today with Poor Boys Gobies and Berkley Gulp! on a drop-shot rig.
Clapper’s biggest problem tomorrow – make that everyone’s biggest problem tomorrow – will likely be the wind, which is forecasted to blow from the southwest at 20 to 30 mph.
“That’s not good,” Clapper said candidly as he paused to consider the ramifications. “What’s going to be different for me tomorrow is the smaller boat. (Top-10 anglers are required to fish from FLW supplied Ranger Z20’s which are smaller than Clapper’s personal Ranger) A smaller boat, less fuel and a shorter trolling motor shaft will be different variables for me in that big water.”
Clapper, however, noted all his eggs are not necessarily in the Lake Erie basket.
“I’m not totally against going to St. Clair,” he said. “I have fished tournaments there and done well in the past; it’s just not the way I would prefer to fish. I did spend about 6 hours over there in practice one day just to look around. I’ll go there if I absolutely have to, but it’s not my strong suit.”
Schenck second
Shad Schenck of Waynetown, Ind., vaulted his way into second place today on the strength of the tournament’s biggest stringer – 22 pounds, 14 ounces – for a two-day total of 41 pounds, 3 ounces.
Schenck is fishing Erie, about 30 miles out into the big lake.
“When the wind lays like it did today, it makes it so much easier to fish out there,” Schenck said. “That was the reason for the bigger stringer today: I could make the precise presentations to the spots I’m fishing in 25 feet of water. This morning I made 10 casts and caught 10 fish because I could hit the exact spot every cast. When it’s windy, I can’t do that, I have to drift more and it takes longer to catch them. But even if it blows again tomorrow, I’m still going back.”
Schenck is fishing tubes and drop-shots rigged with Berkley Gulp! on Berkley’s new Professional Grade fluorocarbon line.
Moleski third
Local pro Thomas Moleski of Elkhart, Ind., is in the third place position with a two-day total of 40 pounds, 11 ounces.
Moleski, too, is fishing out in Erie and began working on his wind contingency plan today.
“I went to my spot where I caught them yesterday, caught a few and then after considering the weather forecast for tomorrow, I decided to come back and check some of my water closer in,” Moleski said. “The places I looked at today are about 10 or 15 miles closer to home. In a 20 to 30 mph wind that adds up to about 45 minutes to an hour’s worth of fishing time.”
Baksay fourth
Terry Baksay of Easton, Conn., qualified in the fourth place position with a two-day total of 39 pounds, 7 ounces.
Baksay is one of three pros of the top 10 fishing in St. Clair, and with the wind forecasted to blow tomorrow, that could play to his advantage.
Baksay’s weights out of St Clair have been impressive: 19-5 on day one and 20-2 on day two.
As to why he is getting bigger bites, he said, “I’m probably fishing a little deeper than most guys are over there. I’m dragging around in 16 to 18 feet of water and most folks fish much shallower than that in St. Clair.”
“It doesn’t matter how hard it blows, it won’t impact me near as much as it will those guys going to Erie,” he added.
Pirch fifth
Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., climbed into the fifth place position today with a two-day total of 38 pounds, 5 ounces.
Pirch is also fishing Erie, keying in on small sections of breaks where the fish are schooled up a little better.
“Some breaks are as shallow as 12 to 15 feet and some are as deep as 26 to 30 feet,” he said. “But all my best spots are essentially key spots along longer ridges and breaks.”
Big bass
Kevin Vida of Clare, Mich., caught the big bass of day two in the Pro Division weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top-10 pros who will fish in the final round of the Chevy Open on the Detroit River:
6th: Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon, Mich., two-day total of 38-0
6th: Christopher King of South Amherst, Ohio, two-day total of 38-0
8th: Josh Myers of Chatham, Ont., two-day total of 36-13
9th: Kevin Long of Berkley, Mich., two-day total of 36-12
10th: Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, two-day total of 36-12
Richardson leads co-anglers
James Richardson of Harrison, Ohio, moved into the lead in the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 37 pounds, 8 ounces.
Richardson fished with pro Terry Baksay over on St. Clair on day one and then went back to St. Clair with Totino’s pro Tim Johnson today.
“We fished places today that were very similar to what we fished yesterday and that helped my confidence tremendously,” Richardson said. “I kind of took what I learned yesterday and applied it again today, which always helps. And I couldn’t have asked for two better partners.”
Bill Gift of Alix, Ark., is in second place with a two-day total of 35 pounds, 10 ounces.
Gift got a ride over to Erie yesterday with Tom Moleski and a ride over to St. Clair today with David Reault.
“I’ve drawn two of the best locals in two days, it doesn’t get any better than that,” said Gift of his partners.
Gift caught his fish yesterday on Berkley Gulp! Gobies and today he used Berkley Gulp! Leaches.
“That Gulp! is amazing stuff,” Gift said. “I’ve caught every kind of fish in the lake on it – catfish, drum, perch and big smallmouth – it’s incredible.”
Mike Simpson of Dayton, Ohio, is in third place with a two-day total of 34 pounds, 14 ounces.
Ken Murphy of Meridian, Miss., is in fourth place with a two-day total of 33 pounds, 15 ounces.
James Dixon of Southfield, Mich., rounds out the top 5 in the Co-angler Division with 33 pounds, 7 ounces.
Big bass
Mike Oberski Ann Arbor, Mich., caught the big bass of the day in the Co-angler Division weighing 5 pounds, 1 ounce.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers who will be fishing the final round of the Chevy Open on the Detroit River:
6th: Drew Montgomery of Concord, N.C., two-day total of 33-2
7th: Truman White of Myersville, Md., two-day total of 32-14
8th: Ben Felton of Marshall, Mich., two-day total of 32-14
9th: Scott Leo of Grand Rapids, Mich., two-day total of 32-13
10th: Jason Sherwood of Damascus, Md., two-day total of 32-13
Day three of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Chevy Open will begin at 6:30 Saturday morning at Elizabeth Park Marina located at 202 Grosse Isle Pkwy. in Trenton, Mich.