Get it done or go home
Crunch time comes early on Lake Erie
PORT CLINTON, Ohio – A sense of urgency hangs over the start of day two of the Walmart FLW Walleye Tour season opener on Lake Erie.
Normally anglers have three days to qualify for the final round of 10. But with the first day of this tournament having been canceled due to the weather, make-it-or-break-it time has come early for 124 pros and their co-anglers.
It appears that nobody is sure to make the final round, not even Steve Vandemark of Linwood, Mich., who has what normally would be a commanding 6-pound lead heading into day two. But with the way the bite is going, the leaderboard this afternoon could easily reverse itself top to bottom.
“I’m going out there with an open mind and hopefully make it happen again,” said Scott Woodward of Glendive, Mont., who’s in fourth place with 29 pounds, 13 ounces.
Even anglers who drew a blank yesterday have reason for hope. The weather is improving and, with it, the bite. Lake Erie was so calm at takeoff this morning you could have run from Port Clinton to Canada in a 12-foot aluminum jonboat. Yesterday many anglers reported getting soft bites that led to lost fish, which surely is a sign of a cold-water bite. But bright sunshine today will continue to warm the water, and the fish are expected to be chomping by day’s end.
“It was a tough bite; the fish just weren’t hitting real well,” Dave Kraft of Bismarck, N.D., said of yesterday’s bite. “When that’s the case, I don’t do any running. I just sit in one spot and keep fishing all day long.”
Kraft, who’s in 10th place with 25 pounds, 12 ounces, said his objective yesterday was to find clean water. He was surprised by what he found.
“The whole lake was nice; I don’t know how come,” he said.
Lack of wind probably had something to do with it. The wind switched from a strong northeasterly to a milder northwesterly. Today it’s forecasted to be from the west at 5 to 10 mph, which bodes well for everybody no matter where they’re fishing.
A lot of anglers yesterday worked around Kelley’s Island, about a seven-mile run from shore. Some are jigging the reefs and catching fish, but the best bags were caught with crankbaits, and it’s certain that planer boards will cut wakes all over the lake today.
Thursday was like a practice day in that anglers ran everywhere in search of fish.
“It was like chickens with their heads cut off,” Kraft said. “I love it. It meant nothing was going on. You can’t catch fish running. So if the bite’s no good anywhere, I just sit down and keep fishing and hopefully catch five.”
Yesterday Kraft weighed four fish, placing him on a list of 83 anglers who failed to catch a limit.
Don’t be surprised if all 83 of them bring five fish to the scales today.
Weigh-in begins at Waterworks Park at 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Today’s weather
Temperature at takeoff: 40 degrees
Sky: clear
Wind: NW at 2 mph
Barometric pressure: 30.39 inches and steady
Forecast: sunshine and a high of 67 degrees; west winds at 5-10 mph.