2013 Central Everstart results Detroit River

[SODY]

Hi all, Everstart Tourney update.

The big ponds had perfect weather for the central everstart and the first day was a giant fest with several co anglers over 19 lbs. I fished my first day on the co side fishing with local Nick Neves who ended up 29th overall. It was a great day and we ended up fishing some familiar water in the channels of St. Clair with a nice drop to 20 ' and a great shelf of 2-3' water. I smashed the fish on a pearl nickel's spinner bait and a pearl chart sexy shad rattle bait. The rest of my fish came from 20' of water doing the tube dance in all our favorite colors and then trying to upgrade in the river on the way back. I finished day one in 71st spot with 12-01lbs.

Ron Norris my travel partner drew Kellogg's pro Greg Bohannan and his heart sank when the plan was to target green fish, lucky for him that ever since I got spanked on the Saginaw bay river with a flipping stick ., I always travel with green fish tools. Ron borrowed them and caught a good sack at 14lbs. Greg weighed in 17-03 and 18-14 worth of green fish to shocked onlookers finishing a solid 17th cashing a check and thumbing his nose at the greatest brown bass fishery in the world. Proving green bass are catchable and he caught hundreds. No secrets Jig and pig.

Ron's day two partner blue a power head and he did not fish, but another friend of his Philip Borsa made the cut and finished #7

Day two found me teamed with young Ranger pro Eric Schultz who was a great guy, we caught several giant fish and he ended up #27 cashing the last check. I ended up #48 with 14-03 ending up 26-04 lbs two day total.

I really had fun and caught almost all my fish on drop shot and tube on day two catching loads until 10:00 AM when this front shut them down, roaming packs in mid lake St.Clair 16' of water. Note worthy a definitive shad bite in the lake , craw bite in the river the live well told the story. Little 2 inch bait fish and giant crawdadsl

All totaled I caught over 50 fish and culled about 18 cookie cutters to get my weights, I had the fish on to win and lost three toads. Oh well great time. Day three weather took over and only two co's caught limits, the rest caught two fish.

I fished Okechobee in Jan and will be  fishing the Sept Bass open in Sandusky. wish me good fortune and fine weather as I really want to fish the islands.

Oh one more thing FLW has instituted a new rule of marking fish I'm sure you've heard about by now, what a hassle co anglers must tag each fish before it goes in your live well. Took my bite and killed it several times.I think this is an unfair not needed rule at best, how long have we been fishing these without a problem? I could see tagging your fish at mid day or something. After the ten oclock shut down I would have been willing to give them all a massage!

Good fishin Sody

[djkimmel]

Thanks for the great report! Sorry you missed the money by just a bit. Congrats to GreatLakesBass.com member Team houston for his top ten finish! Congrats to the 4 or 5 top ten boaters who are GreatLakesBass.com members!

Sounds like conditions were even worse than the original weather forecast?

I hadn't noticed the new mandatory co-angler fish tagging rule. Do you have to leave the tags on the fish until you get to the weighmaster, or take them off before you go to the weigh in stage?

[markgoetsch]

The tagging of the fish is a new rule because some co's aren't very smart and it happened twice when a co put his fish in the pro's side of the livewell.

[Team houston]

My Everstart journal day 1    I am paired with eventual 2nd place boater Rick Taylor. We head out as boat 19 to Erie and start on a  reef a couple miles past Colchester. We are sharing it with two other boats. We see a couple other people catching fish but it is slow for us.

We catch a few shorts and Rick mentions he didn't catch any here in practice. He eventually catches a small keeper and I get a 3lber. He decides to move a short distance away and we still can't get anything going. He decides to move up shallow and power fish. I quickly dig out a jerkbait and go to work. Shortly Rick hooks one over 4lbs and it has a chaser.

After I net the fish I immediately grab my dropshot and drop it over the side. Fish On! About a 3 1/2 lber. Rick hooks up again and this is a big one. At one point pulling him to his knees and almost pulling the rod out of his hand. This fish eventually will weigh 5.9lbs. Now I get hit on the jerkbait and land one close to four. I get bit again and loose this one half way to the boat on a jump. We are taking turns getting bit.

I lose another one after a couple of seconds and some strong rod pumps. Rick fill out his limit and then culls out his small one. I get my last two and have a nice limit. All of this action occurs in about 30-40 min. We both have the shakes from such a frenzy of big fish. Rick pulls off the spot to save it for the next day.

We now go practicing trying to find similar areas with no luck. We try some more deep stuff and each catch some that won't help us. Later in the day we go back near the hot spot to see if he can expand on the area out deeper. Rick does catch a couple more and one does cull one out. We head back in after a terrific day on the water. Rick ends up with 21.12 and lands in second. I have my deep fish die and end up with 17.7 and land in 13th place.

[blakstr1]

Oh one more thing FLW has instituted a new rule of marking fish I'm sure you've heard about by now, what a hassle co anglers must tag each fish before it goes in your live well. Took my bite and killed it several times.I think this is an unfair not needed rule at best, how long have we been fishing these without a problem? I could see tagging your fish at mid day or something. After the ten oclock shut down I would have been willing to give them all a massage!

How did tagging your fish kill them?  (responding to your quote "Took my bite and killed it several times"     I tag all my fish before I stick them in the box, usually weigh them too for ease of culling.  Not saying its not possible but I have never had a fish die due to being tagged? (at least I don't think...didn't do an autopsy)   Just trying to get a clear understanding....
oh yeah knock on wood....

[djkimmel]

The tagging of the fish is a new rule because some co's aren't very smart and it happened twice when a co put his fish in the pro's side of the livewell.

People can get so excited... 

[t-bone]

He wasn't saying that tagging fish killed the fish - he was say that the time it took to tag the fish, killed the bite. He was missing the action because he could just pop them in the well... at least that is how I read it.

Oh one more thing FLW has instituted a new rule of marking fish I'm sure you've heard about by now, what a hassle co anglers must tag each fish before it goes in your live well. Took my bite and killed it several times.I think this is an unfair not needed rule at best, how long have we been fishing these without a problem? I could see tagging your fish at mid day or something. After the ten oclock shut down I would have been willing to give them all a massage!

How did tagging your fish kill them?  (responding to your quote "Took my bite and killed it several times"     I tag all my fish before I stick them in the box, usually weigh them too for ease of culling.  Not saying its not possible but I have never had a fish die due to being tagged? (at least I don't think...didn't do an autopsy)   Just trying to get a clear understanding....
oh yeah knock on wood....

[Team houston]

Day 1 correction. My first day boater Rick Taylor finished the day in 4th.

DAY 2
Today I am paired with a very nice retired gentleman from Naples FL by way of Minnesota. Gred schultz was his name and by coincidence he was one of the other two boats that was on the first reef from day one.

As boat 95 today we have more company  when we get out to the same area. We come off plane and I unstrap my rods. I grab my dropshot rod open the bail and let it drop over the side. I put the rod down and take off my life jacket. I pick the rod back up and a fish is on already. I work the fish into the net and am happy for a good start. I feel like a limit today will get me a check. 15 lbs and I have a shot at the top 10 cut. 16lbs will do it for sure.

I re-adjust my dropshot and drop it over the side again. It hits the bottom and immediately a fish bites again. #2 is in the boat. I catch # three and four over the next 15 min. Four solid keepers in the first 30 min is a terrific start. Greg has picked up a couple also. Around 8:30 I catch my limit fish.

The wind goes completely flat and it gets tough. Greg does not have a limit yet and decides to Carolina rig. A good decision as he catches three 4lbers in a row. By now every other boat has left the area. We patiently work our way around and catch one here and there. Greg decides to go hit Colchester reef and we each cull one there. Eventually our time is up and we head in. Another great day on the water. My best 5 weigh 17.5 Gregs go 17.15 I end up making the cut in 4th place.

[Team houston]

Day 3
The weather is the story today. I am paired with Ryan Said. He tells me we will check the conditions at the river mouth and decide then. We get thru the churning area of the wind meeting the current and Ryan yells to me that we are going for it. It is not a rough ride because we are able to ride the troughs We are only able to go 20-30 mph.

We eventually get out to Ryans starting area. Trying to hold on the sweet spot is not an option. The best we can do is try to get a drift going thru the key area. We have a drift sock out but still have only 10-15 min a drift. No bites at the first stop so we make a small move and start drifting again. Ryan catches two small keepers here.

By now the conditions are way worse and the boats near us have all left. We see one more boat coming back from farther away. I should mention that again we are fishing a few miles past Colchester. With the waves a lot bigger ryan does not want to be the last one out here. So we head back but make one more stop a few miles West of Colchester.

Ryan says we will head in at 12:30. Ryan again picks up two better keepers. I have caught 3 shorts and it looks like I will be making the walk of shame. Its 12:45 and we are still out there.

Ryan wants badly to get his limit. Lo and behold it is me that gets a fish on. We manage to get it in the net. I unhook the fish and put it in the livewell.

On my knees on the back deck untangling my hook from the net I hear Ryan yell "LOOK OUT". The biggest wave of the day hits us broadside and washes over both decks. I have to hang on to my rod and the net to keep them from being washed overboard.

We ask each other if we are ok and Ryan says lets get out of here. I am good with that. We make it back and fish the last half hour in the river.

I end the day with one 2lber and fall to 7th overall. Ryans four help him to a 5th place.  I would like to thank all three of my boaters for the week. Who were all very accommodating and great to fish with.

[motocross269]

Great reports...

I decided to fish this one as a Co angler because between work and some other personnel issues prefishing wasn't much of an option...

On day one I drew a boater from PA...We ran up to the mile roads and struggled puting bigger fish in the boat...You could tell the young kid was a pretty good angler but LSC was throwing him for a loop...According to my Budddy we are restricted on giving out info but it was tough to keep my mouth shut and it may have not helped anyway since it appeared that the majority of the boaters that ran to LSC struggled getting the bigger bite...I ended up with 11-3 and my boater had 12 something...

On day two I knew I probably needed 20lbs to cash a check...I drew a boater that had a new Bass Cat Jaguar...That was worth the price of entry right there to get an opportunity to ride in that rig...We started way out on the North shore and worked are way back..On Friday Erie was about as flat as I have ever seen it..We eventually worked are way back west and into deeper water and found a good school of Bass...I was able to put 2 4s and a heavy 3 in the boat with two line squeekers I needed to cull...Time ran out and with only 15lbs or so in the bag I knew that I was no where near cashing a check so both myself and my boater released our fish and headed home a little sooner...

The Bass Cat Jaguar is the Ultimate Bass Boat for big water and if you get a chance to take one for a ride, make sure you do...It isn't the fastest boat our there but the ride and dryness is the best I have seen...

As far as baits...All my big fish came on an Xtreme tackle triple threat tube...If the wind was blowing hard enough to get a good drift and make some current the bigger bass would hit...I also switched to Kustom kicker jigs this month and it has helped with "chronic fish coming unbuttoned" disease.....

Overall it was a fun experience...There were anglers from all over the country.  It was good to see some guys that I haven't talked to in awhile since I have been pretty much out of it the past couple of years..The only real downfall of going as a Co angler in an Everstart on the big water is you just don't know the experience of the boater that you are going to draw...At least in the BFLs chances are the guy has run and fished bigger water...It may be Saginaw bay or East Bay in Traverse city but the off shore experience is there..I heard a few horror stories from Co anglers but I guess it is that way in any event...I was lucky my day 1 boater was from PA so he had Experience running on Erie and Day 2 was from Michigan so I never felt my life was in danger...

I agree the tagging of fish does suck....It greatly slows down your momentum before you have your limit...Prime example is when I caught a decent smallie on Thursday and he had 4 other fish with it...They stayed with the boat and my boater culled 2 off from the school before I had my fish marked and in the livewell...I switched to baby diaper pins the next day to speed things up..I kept them in my pocket...Blake, you are talking about culling as a boater where your tags are out and available and in or close to the livewell...As a Co angler your culling tags are probably buried in your tackle bag somewhere...Culling is a another PIA from the back of the boat...
The reason that i was given for tagging all of the Co anglers fish is in case the boat breaks down...The rules state that the boater can stay with the boat and the Co angler can jump in a fellow competitors rig with both bags of fish and weigh his fish and his boaters fish....I am sure the Co angler puting his fish in the wrong livewell has something to do with it also. I can see how that would be an easy mistake if you are used to culling from the driver's side..

[Team houston]

I may be wrong but I thought it was only in the FLW tour were you could not give the boater any info. Marking the fish was a pain. I would say it was more for the fish getting put in the wrong side than for the ride in another boat. In that situation you could just tag them when you switched boats.

[Team houston]

I just checked the rules. Co-anglers ARE allowed to give info to the boaters. It is the FLW tour were they are NOT allowed. Just goes to show they tell us at every meeting, read and know the rules. You could have helped yourself out bigtime motocross.  If you want to check yourself look at rule 5 for both.

[motocross269]

Thanks for the info Houston. Your right I should have checked myself. It was actually a guy that has fished the FLW tour as a pro that gave me that info so that may have been the confusion....I had my waypoints  on my laptop in HB pc  with me.

[SODY]

Great stories everyone, Ironically team Houston I was with Shultz son, he was telling me his dad was fishing Erie, what are the odds that we drew family members. I guess they travel with one other pro to all the everstarts talk about a great Dad!

I was talking about follow up fish in the school when I said it took my bite and killed it, by the time I tagged the fish, placed into live well and threw back out they were gone.

Oh well that's fishing, good times!