Quick Bites: Chevy Open, FLW Tour Detroit River – Day 1
2007 Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Chevy Open
Detroit River, Detroit, Mich.
Opening round, Thursday
AOY race tightens up … If the race for 2007 Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year were to end today, Shinichi Fukae – not current points leader Jay Yelas – would be hoisting his second angler of the year trophy. Like Fukae, Yelas is a former FLW Tour Angler of the Year, and he entered this week’s event just 26 points ahead of Fukae in the points standings. However, Yelas sits 36 spots behind Fukae on the Detroit River leaderboard, thus giving Fukae a 10-point edge in the AOY race. Yelas ended day one on the Detroit River in 46th place with a respectable 15-12, but Fukae busted an 18-pound, 14-ounce stringer, much to his own surprise, to end the day in 10th. In an interview translated by his wife, Fukae said that after a bad practice, he set out this morning with his goal being to get a limit – in fact, he was only hoping to catch around 10 pounds. Given the fact that Fukae’s stringer included a pound’s worth of penalties, meaning he truly caught almost 20 pounds, it’s safe to say Fukae exceeded his own expectations. “He didn’t care about angler of the year because he had a bad practice,” translated Miyuki Fukae. “It was a miracle today. He has a chance to get angler of the year again, and if he wins that title, that’s fantastic. But he says that if he cannot, he is still happy because he competed for the title.” … Fukae also said through Miyuki that his contention for the top point-getter prize surprised him considering how dismally his year started at the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Lake Okeechobee. He finished 189th in that tournament, his first of the season, and says he could not imagine going on to compete for the FLW Tour Angler of the Year title. “Hopefully he will make the cut,” Miyuki said for Shinichi. “He needs to make a miracle again.”
Yelas not done yet … Meanwhile, when Yelas weighed in, well in advance of Fukae, the veteran pro acknowledged that his second Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title wasn’t wrapped up just because he entered the final tournament No. 1. “It’s not over yet,” Yelas said on stage. “I’ve got my work cut out for me. It’s tough – you earn it if you win it here.” Yelas has certainly had an awesome year on the FLW Tour, racking up three top-10 finishes so far, including two runner-ups. “It has been a great year,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and this is one of the best years I’ve ever had.” …. As both Yelas and Fukae are both former anglers of the year, should either of them ultimately claim the title over the next few days, they would join Clark Wendlandt as the only competitors with multiple AOY titles. Wendlandt was ranked first in 1997 and 2000.
Local advantage? … Much was made over the influx of local sticks competing in this week’s tournament, and sure enough, many of them performed well, most notably Steve Clapper, a Detroit River/Lake Erie master who is currently leading the pro field with 22 pounds. However, a few pretournament favorites did not perform as expected, particularly Kevin Vida, currently languishing in 135th place with 10 pounds, 13 ounces. “I’m in sticker shock over this sack,” Vida said. “I don’t know what happened. Mentally, it just destroyed me.” … Other locals with hefty Detroit River stats who stumbled on day one include Joe Balog and David Reault, currently tied for 120th with 11-14. Balog explained the relative lack of local advantage this week. “The fish aren’t really ganged up, and when it’s rough, it reduces the amount of time you have to find fish,” he said. “If you only have four hours, you’d better be on them – or lucky.” Reault agreed, suggesting the time of year is the advantage-killing culprit. “Two weeks earlier, I would have had a distinct advantage,” Reault said. “I’d say that the local advantage is strong, but the way the big-water smallmouths are grouped up, anybody can come up on a big school.” Balog said the lone advantage he and the rest of the Detroit River gang can claim is location. “There is always a local advantage here because we know where the big fish are to begin with,” Balog said. “But this time of year, the fish are always moving. You need time to move from point A to B to C. When it’s this rough, you’re efficiency fishing, and you’ve got to work hard. I’ve got a bunch of reasons (for not catching fish today), but they’re all excuses.”
Kopcok-y … Whether their so-called local advantage paid off today or not, the fact of the matter is, guys who fish this area all the time are most definitely used to catching big fish. Getting accustomed to catching solid stringers can give an angler a false sense of security, a fact that came back to bite co-angler John Kopcok today – hard. Kopcok is from Ontario and is thus well-versed in Detroit River/Erie/St. Clair fishing, and he was something of a guide today for his pro partner Craig Powers. When Powers got his limit of five, Kopcok began fishing with a vengeance, and according to Powers, he got on something of a hot streak. “He got No. 5 and never even measured it,” Powers said. “He just threw it back. He said, `Dude, it doesn’t matter; I’ll catch bigger ones!’ He never caught another one. Throwing back No. 5 was not a good move.” Says Kopcok, “Canadians are used to catching bigger ones.” Indeed, after tossing out his fifth keeper, Kopcok went on to weigh in only four that totaled 14-4, good for 36th on the co-angler side.
A Chevy Open Chevy … Tennessee pro Brandon Coulter may be sitting in the relatively unremarkable 59th position, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t give somebody a very remarkable day today. While on stage weighing in his bass, Coulter talked about how badly he regretted having to miss his son Trevor’s 16th birthday yesterday. Looking into the cameras that broadcast the weigh-in over the internet on FLW Live, Coulter then jiggled a set of keys and told Trevor to be looking in the driveway. “It’s hard when you’re gone, but I think he’ll get over it,” Coulter said. “His mama had a party for him, and they set it up so he’d be watching FLW Live today. As we speak, he’s probably outside checking it out.” The gift? A Chevy Tahoe formerly owned by Brandon in the mid-1990s that he bought back for his son. “He hasn’t seen it in five years,” Coulter said. Happy birthday, Trevor! And buckle your seatbelt.
Come to jackpot, stay to win … Trevor Jancasz is one of FLW Outdoors’ most accomplished co-anglers, with his most notable achievement being an FLW Tour championship victory back in 2005. He’s also a Michigander who decided this week might be a good week to try fishing from the front of the boat, and his leap paid off well, as he is currently in 12th place on the pro side with 18 pounds, 9 ounces. “I switched over to the boater side for this because I had nothing to lose,” Jancasz said. “I’m already in the championship, so I just came to jackpot.” So how is life different in the front of the boat? This is, after all, his first foray as a pro on the FLW Tour. “I think it’s really different here because you’re on your own,” he said. “If the wind changes direction, you’ve got to figure it out yourself. It doesn’t matter how good everybody else is catching them. In practice, I went to Canada because I didn’t want to hear it. I know when I switch to the pro side, I’ve got to catch them for myself.” Spoken like a true professional.
Quick numbers:
0: Number of FLW Tour events competed in by Clapper prior to this week.
29: Number of top-10 finishes Clapper has accumulated on the Detroit River or lakes Erie or St. Clair (including Sandusky Bay) on other FLW Outdoors fishing trails since 1995.
7: Number of those top-10 finishes that were wins.
5-10: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the heaviest bass of the day, caught by pro Chad Morgenthaler.
4: Number of top-10 pros regarded as local Detroit River heavyweights – Clapper, Thomas Moleski, Eric Struif and Kevin Long.
Sound bites:
“I thought I would have to do some things that weren’t in my comfort zone, and I got real uncomfortable.” – Reault, on a disappointing day one.
“I told Darrell, `Thanks for flying Air Cherry.'” – Pro Hank Cherry on a comment he made to his day-one partner, Darrell Stevens, after a rough ride on the big waves.
“I’m just glad to get back and kiss the asphalt.” – Pro Koby Kreiger, also in reference to a rough boat ride.
Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 6:30 a.m. Eastern time at Elizabeth Park Marina, located at 202 Grosse Isle Parkway in Trenton.