Wagner Follows Instinct for Top Spot

Jacques wins co-angler title

Heath Wagner of Angola, Indiana, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win the second Walmart Bass Fishing League Michigan Division tournament on the Detroit River presented by Navionics. For his victory, Wagner earned $3,592.

“We ran to a mid-lake area on Lake St. Clair that was holding a lot of fish in 19 feet of water,” said Wagner. “We pulled up to a spot and quickly caught a 4½-pounder. That’s the location I ended up focusing on the entire tournament.

“The bass were roaming along the grass edge in the sand,” Wagner continued. “The water was so clear you could see them relating to the cabbage weeds. I used a Smallmouth Magic-colored 4.8-inch Keitech Swing Impact FAT swimbait and caught two more good ones within the hour.

Wagner said he ended up catching his two heaviest fish using a DUO Realis Spinbait. 

“Earlier in the day I used a drop-shot rig, but was able to cull those fish using the swimbait,” Wagner said. “When paired with the DUO Spinbait, I had a great combination of lures.

“What’s interesting is that I have around 2,400 waypoints on Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, but I decided to ditch them and go with my instincts,” concluded Wagner. “I didn’t have a waypoint for the area that produced my winning stringer within three miles.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Heath Wagner, Angola, Ind., five bass, 21-11, $3,592

2^nd:         Pat Upthagrove, Monroe, Mich., five bass, 20-11, $1,796

3^rd:          Cliff Blackford, Grass Lake, Mich., five bass, 20-5, $1,201

4^th:          Jared Rhode, Port Clinton, Ohio, five bass, 19-9, $838

5^th:          Wayne Macklin, Fenton, Mich., five bass, 18-11, $718

6^th:          John Devries, Fishers, Ind., five bass, 18-9, $629

6^th:          Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., five bass, 18-9, $629

8^th:          Derrick Soulliere, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 17-15, $539

9^th:          Joshua Kolodzaike, Toledo, Ohio, five bass, 17-11, $479

10^th:        Todd Schmitz, Goshen, Ind., five bass, 17-6, $419              

Complete results can be found here.  

Brett Haake of Shorewood, Illinois, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $460.

Jacques wins co-angler division

Erik Jacques of Harrison Township, Michigan, weighed in five bass totaling 19 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win $1,796 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Erik Jacques, Harrison Township, Mich., five bass, 19-11, $1,796

2^nd:         Jon Witt, Kalamazoo, Mich., five bass, 18-9, $898

3^rd:          Justin Sawyer, Dearborn Heights, Mich., five bass, 17-4, $598

4^th:          Garry Collins, Russell Springs, Ky., five bass, 17-3, $419

5^th:          Mark Brooks, Dayton, Ohio, five bass, 16-4, $359

6^th:          Bret Holling, Lansing, Mich., five bass, 16-2, $329

7^th:          Kevin Webb, Ladson, S.C., five bass, 15-13, $299

8^th:          Austin Klotz, Westland, Mich., five bass, 15-2, $269

9^th:          Tom Cooley, Novi, Mich., five bass, 15-0, $239

10^th:        Brian Clark, Findlay, Ohio, five bass, 14-7, $210

Witt caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $230.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.