DETROIT, Mich. – The EverStart Series is headed to the Detroit River July 14-15 for the third of four stops in the Central Division. The tournament will feature as many as 300 pros and co-anglers competing for top awards of up to $35,000 plus a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard for the pro and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard plus $5,000 for the co-angler.
“This is going to be an awesome tournament,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Rich Lowitzki of St. Charles, Ill. “Anglers can either fish Lake St. Clair or Lake Erie. I think that this tournament is going to be won on Lake St. Clair. The lake has really come alive the last couple of years. The water is cleaner, the gobies are plentiful, and the smallmouth have really started to grow. Plus it is a much easier run than Erie.
“Erie has gone downhill,” Lowitzki continued. “The water is dirtier, and the big fish just aren’t there anymore. It used to be that you could go out and get 4-pounder after 4-pounder; now they are pretty hard to come by. It’s pretty hard to run on Lake Erie too, so if you are in an unproductive area and the wind is blowing, it’s not going to be easy to get to your next spot.
“Drop-shotting gobies, leeches, finesse worms, wacky rigs and Senkos will be predominant in this tournament. Tubes, crankbaits and spinnerbaits will also be used. I would target rock piles and humps on the main lake in about 12 to 16 feet of water.
“The fish are going to be biting no matter what. I think it is going to take a 17-pound-per-day average to make the top 10 and 54 to 56 pounds to win the tournament.”
Anglers will take off from Elizabeth Park Marina located at 202 Grosse Isle Parkway in Trenton Mich., at 6 each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 2 p.m. daily. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 23800 Allen Road in Woodhaven, Mich., starting at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Pros will fish for a top award of $35,000 plus a 198VX Ranger boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger 177TR with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.
The EverStart Series tournament on the Detroit River is being hosted by Wayne County Parks.
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About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors is the largest tournament-fishing organization in the world, offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing at FantasyFishing.com, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge.