Costabile leads Erie by ounces

Supik’s huge co-angler bag tops EverStart Northern

BUFFALO, N.Y. – It’s human nature – we always want to keep the good and expel the bad from every situation and today, EverStart Northern Division anglers saw that dream come true as Lake Erie shed its rough day-one demeanor and provided easier access to the great fishing for which competitors struggled during the opening round.

With light winds bringing the lake down to relatively flat conditions – as flat as Erie gets – boaters could run as far as their gas tanks allowed and holding steady on specific spots was profoundly easier than it was in yesterday’s brutal tossing.

Now, stats don’t always tell the full story, but they usually reflect an event’s general course. Today, pros caught seven more limits, 10 more bass and nearly 110 more pounds of fish than they did on day one. Co-anglers were up by eight limits, 34 bass and 206 pounds.

Today’s weigh-ins turned up a few statistical oddities:

• The heaviest pro bag (Lawrence Mazur) and the heaviest co-angler bag (Nicolas Supik) both weighed 24 pounds, 3 ounces.

• Mazur and Supik fished together on day two.

• Smallmouth of 6 pounds, 4 ounces earned Snickers Big Bass honors in the pro division (Bob Izumi) and co-angler division (Casey Magargle).

• The top three pros caught 20-plus pounds on days one and two.

• The top two co-anglers both broke 20 today.

• The 9th and 10th place pros tied at36-6.

• Co-anglers 8, 9 and 10 tied at 32-11.

In the pro division, Gaspare Costabile, of Niagara Falls, Ont. has been the model of consistency, turning in a day-two limit of 22-11 to match his 22-2 on day one. Moving up from third on day two with a total weight of 44-13, he holds a slim margin of 6 ounces over Mazur.

Today, Costabile fished a sand flat with transitional areas of gravel and small rocks in about 35 feet of water. With abundant forage such as gobies, crawfish and emerald shiners, the spot is a natural smallmouth magnet.

“There’s all kinds of food for them,” Costabile said. “It’s kind of an oasis in the dessert. It’s attracting stuff to come in from deep water.”

Given that he only ran about seven miles to his spot, Costabile took full advantage of today’s improved conditions. “I like flat water. Even though this is Lake Erie and I’m used to the big water. Some people say the fish don’t bite in flat water, but they bite just as good for me as they do in rough water. Today, I stayed (on my spot) until the last minute and then I ran in to make sure I was here on time.”

Costabile fished Set the Hook Crush Worms in green pumpkin and watermelon colors on dropshots. Baits with a little gold fleck worked best. Costabile used a 1/2-ounce weight to reach bottom quickly and maintain a vertical orientation.

“I tried to keep (the line) right near the boat and keep it vertical,” Costabile said. “It seems like the more vertical I could keep the bait, the better the bite was.”

Second-place Mazur whacks `em

After placing sixth on day one with 20-4, Lawrence P. Mazur, of Lancster, N.Y., gained four notches with that 24-3 day-two weight and placed second with 44-7. Today’s pleasant conditions provided the ideal scenario to strike quickly.

“It was sunny, calm and there weren’t 7-foot waves,” he said. “I could see them on the graph, so I’d just drop down there and pull them up. I was done fishing by 9:30.”

Fishing south around Angola, Mazur worked rocks in 40-48 feet. On his first spot, he caught 15 pounds in five casts. After that, he re-rigged all of his rods, relocated and got down to business.

“I got to my best spot and starting catching 4’s and 5’s,” he said. “I culled all of those first fish.”

Mazur caught his fish on a Poor Boys Erie Darter on a dropshot with a 1/2-ounce weight.

Voyles improves to third

Also breaking 20 pounds yesterday and today, John Voyles, of Petersburg, Ind. He added 20-8 to his 21-8 from day one and tallied a two-day total of 42 pounds that moved him up one spot to third.

Fishing the slope of a rock pile in about 42 feet down near Dunkirk, Voyles caught his fish by dropshotting a Reins 5-inch Bubbling Shaker in watermelon. Both days, he’s had all of his weight by 10 a.m.

“I’ve fished one area exclusively and I’ve pretty much had it all to myself,” he said. “I think the key has been the bait I’m fishing. My partners have been dropshotting (several other baits) behind me and I’m getting all the bites.”

Frost drops to fourth

After tying for the day-one lead, Ontario pro Simon Frost slipped three spots to fourth with 41 pounds, 3 ounces. On day one, Frost’s best spot was neutralized by rough water, which pushed the bait schools away and took the bass with them. Facing similar frustration today, he had to scramble, but managed to put together a competitive sack that weighed 18-14.

“I ran to my No. 1 spot that was off yesterday and it was still off today,” he said. “I went to my backup spot where I got all the weight yesterday and (those fish) were gone. I just started eliminating water and hitting areas where I had caught some fish and managed to scrape together 18 and change.”

Frost end up finding his day-two fish in 35-40 feet of water. He dropshotted a Crush Worm in purple/smoke. A glacial pace, he said, proved most productive.

“You had to keep the bait slow – really, really slow,” he said. “Drop it down, get on the trolling motor to hold the boat against the waves and just let the bait sit straight up and down.”

In fifth place, Mike Desforges of Burlington, Ontario caught a limit of 20 pounds, 12 ounces today and made a big move up from 26th place with a total weight of 37-10.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 pro leaders at the EverStart Series Lake Erie event:

6th: Chris Johnston, of Peterborough, Ont., 37-7

7th: John Murray of Phoenix, Ariz., 37-4

8th: Barry Pringle, of Welland, Ont., 36-12

9th: Brad Brodnicki, of Amherst, N.Y., 36-6

10th: Bob Izumi, of Milton, Ont., 36-6

Supik nabs big sack, makes big move

After a respectable start in 28th place, Supik blasted his way up the standings to earn a final-round berth in the top co-angler spot with a total of 38-3. Hailing from Butler, Penn., he leads his division by 3 pounds, 2 ounces.

Supik dropshotted goby and shad style baits over the same rocks in 40-48 feet where Mazur did his damage. Patient presentations were essential to his success.

“You had to let the bait sit as still as it could be,” Supik said. “To the best of your ability, do not make it move. I had a good bag by about 10:30 and then I culled one about 1 o’clock, which definitely helped.”

Milton Goff, of Knoxville, Md. placed second with 35-1, while Edward Pecore, of Plattsburgh, N.Y. took third with 34-12. James Dixon, of Southfield, Mich. finished fourth with 33-11 and Ken Ramsier, of Girard, Penn. was fifth with 33-10.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 co-angler leaders at the EverStart Series Lake Erie event:

6th: Nick Yeung, of Oakville, Ont., 33-7

7th: Gary Knight, of Magnolia, De., 33-6

8th: Chris Kinney-Hermes, of Plattsburgh, N.Y., 32-11

9th: Gerard Ling, of St. Catharines, Ont., 32-11

10th: Rick Rickman, of Gainesville, Texas, 32-11

Day three of EverStart Series Northern Division action at the Lake Erie continues at Saturday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 6:15 a.m. (Eastern) at NFTA Boat Harbor located at 1111 Fuhrmann Blvd., in Buffalo, N.Y.