Fom east Detroit river sept 2nd

[fishon1219]

Well we fished the final regular season event for FOM this past saturday and what a day it was. The weather man was calling for some terrible winds and rain most of the day so leading up to this tournament we were really worried about our chances. Also there was a tight race for anglers of the year with only 6 points separating myself and my partner Mark Clark being in first place and the team of Paul Cowen and Derrick Holmes in second. They would need to beat us by 6 spots in this event to take the crown so we in no way had it lock up.
Practise: we practised for the event on Friday and were greeted with a strong east wind which was going to make getting to my favorite rock pile on Erie a chore, but we had to check it out. We make the 15 mile run to the pile in just under an hour because of the rollers and fished it for about an hour with nothing. The whole time we were there we watched about 30 of the Everstart competetors working the whole area really good and they were not getting any bites either. I wasn't to concerned about not getting bit as my past experience with this pile was I didn't catch a fish off of it until around 9am.  Well just about 9 mark hangs one just over 4lbs and than I catch its twin. We decided than that they are still there and we leave hopping to find a back up pattern if Ernesto decides to not let us get there on tournament day. We fished our way back to the river and had nothing to speak of all the way back. We hit several spots that we had caught them during previous tournaments, but they were all a month ago. We work all of our normal river spots and caught a few small fish and near the end of our day we went to a small rock shelf that we hadn't had a bite from all season and Mark lands a beauty that was just over 5 and I caught another around 3 1/2 with a few big fish chasing him. So now we have a dilemma. Do we hit this spot fist thing in the morning or do we head out to the pile on Erie. We go to the pre tournament meeting for a great meal and an awesome fellowship message still contemplating were to start. As we leave we decided to let the wind tell us what to do.
Tournament day: I am on my way to pick mark up at his house and all of a sudden I hear a very loud clanking coming from the transfer case on the ole suburban so I am hopping to just make it to his house. Well I made it and we switch tow vehicles over and get to the launch with no problems. The wind was supposed to be out of the Northeast at 10-20 increasing to 15-25. On Erie that translates to stay in the river in an 18footer. So we decide to hit our shelf were we finished off the day with the good fish. We hit the spot for just over an hour and didn't get a bite so I look at mark and say tie everything down we are going to Erie. With the way we embarrassed ourselves with the last FOM tournament out here I was determined to have a good showing this time. We make the run down the river and turn the corner and was pleasantly supprised that it was as flat on the north shore as I have ever seen it. We run to the pile and get everything back out and go to work. Well just about 9am I here Marks drag slipping and he has got fish number 1 in the boat, a beautiful 4lber. After about 20 minuets I get number 2 that was blind in one eye and was a twin of marks fish. We fish around the pile for another hour with out a bite so I switched to a tube. I dropped it down and just let it lay on the bottom and after about 2 minuets I have number 3. While mark is putting that one in the box I have number 4 on the way up and flip him right to him. It is now about 10:15 and we have 4 fish and like our chances for rapping up the division championship title, but we know we don't have a winning weight. We finally get number 5 and it is amazing how many fish you catch after you have the limit in the boat. We werent upgrading at all after about noon so we decide to take our time and head back to were we started in the river and hope for somemore of what we got yesterday. Well we didn't catch another keeper the rest of the day. We went to the ramp and found out that 2 boats didn't make it back. One team had motor trouble on the north shore and somebody was coming for there trailer and another team was to far away to make it in on time because the lake just kicked up to much to make it safe and run all the way back so there trailer was on the way to them. We ended up taking 2nd with just under 17 lbs and won 2nd big bass with a 4 1/2. The winning weight was almost 24 lbs. I don't know how they do it, but I hope I can figure it out before the regional on the same body of water in 2 weeks. We did win the points race and now we are really looking forward to championship at lake Murry SC in may. So to all of you who helped us (you all know who you are) with winning this division championship a Big THANKYOU and especially to Mark Clark for helping me make the right decisions on the water during all of the events. We couldn't have done it with out you.

[Revtro]

Great job Kev,
I'm disappointed I couldn't fish the rest of the FOM.  I enjoyed fishing wtih all you guys.  And I'm sure I'd have learned a ton from you if I had been able to fish them.  Next year I'm hoping my schedule can accomodate fishing ALL the FOM events.  I ended up concentrating on another circuit where I had a chance of finishing high.  Problem is... the gas prices didn't allow for me to seriously fish 2 trails.     Anyway, great job in the trail and I hope you do well in 2 weeks.  We'll be rooting for you to finish well at Lake Murray. 

[djkimmel]

Congratulations Kevin and Mark! A job well done!