Pappas pops them

Michigan pro leads Erie EverStart by 2 ½ pounds heading into Saturday

HAMBURG, N.Y. – Joseph Pappas wears his hat backwards, but it was the rest of the Pro Division whose heads were spinning after Friday’s round of EverStart Series Northern Division competition at Lake Erie.

After a relatively tougher day on the big lake, Pappas was the only angler to catch a limit approaching the vaunted 20-pound mark. He took a nearly 2 1/2-pound lead on his nearest competitor heading into the second half of the big-money final round.

The pro from Southgate, Mich., caught five bass Friday that weighed 19 pounds, 15 ounces. That set him 2-6 in front of second-place Jeffrey Thomas of Broadway, N.C., who weighed in 17-9, with one day of fishing left.

“It feels pretty good,” Pappas said. “I’m just not trying to put too much pressure on myself. You know, some of these guys have already shown that they can 20 or 21 pounds. I just have to take the same approach (tomorrow) as I did today. I’m just going to go out, have fun and try to put some fish in the boat.”

The leader said that he didn’t do anything special Friday. He caught his nice sack of smallmouths, which included a 5-pound kicker, in deep water using a drop-shot and dragging a tube. While he hooked his best bass anywhere from 30 to 44 feet deep, like many anglers here, Pappas said the difference might have been his bait.

“I’m using a little different bait that seems to be producing,” he said, adding that he didn’t want to divulge exactly what it was until after Saturday’s fishing. “I seem to be able to get a little better fish with it.”

A little better was all he was going for, but he got a lot better than the rest – in relative terms – Friday. While Pappas is carrying a 2-pound, 6-ounce lead into Saturday, that’s 6 ounces more than the weight difference separating the rest of the top 10 final-round qualifiers. Second-place Thomas, at 17-9, is just 2 pounds ahead of 10th-place Ron Fabiszak, at 15-9, with seven other pros crammed in between them.

In short, this final round is as tight as they come.

One of the reasons for the close, if lesser, weights Friday was the wind. It died. Many anglers, while cursing the roiling effects even a slight wind has on the big lake, actually prefer a slight breeze because it causes the smallies to bite better. Today, a number of pros found their water to be slack and the bite was off.

But Pappas thought today’s weather was more than adequate for his needs.

“I fished one area with about five different locations in it,” he said. “The weather worked out great today. There was a little bit of a chop, and that was just enough for the fish to be active enough for me to get a few.”

As for Pappas’ backwards hat, chalk that up to good, old-fashioned fisherman’s superstition. He’s made the all the cuts so far wearing it backwards, and he said that’s the way it would stay. After checking back into his hotel Thursday upon making the first cut, Pappas even insisted on staying in the same room.

“I’m a little superstitious like that,” he said.

Thomas learning the smallmouth ropes

Thomas said the key to his success Friday was “just covering a lot of water and hitting a lot of spots.”

The North Carolina native is acclimating himself well to the Northern-style, deep-water, smallmouth fishing techniques that are dominating this event.

“I’m not used to getting out there and dragging those tubes all day, but that’s just what I came up here for,” he said.

Lavictoire third

Sliding into third place just behind Thomas was another Thomas. Tom Lavictoire of West Rutland, Vt., caught a limit weighing 17 pounds, 6 ounces.

“I think they bit really tough today,” he said, pointing to the lack of wind. “And I think it’s reflected in the weights today. But I’m fishing an area that’s got some giants in it. So, if they turn on tomorrow, look out.”

Trautman fourth

On the other side of the wind debate is pro David Trautman of Kent, Ohio, who placed fourth with a limit weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces.

“I don’t want the wind to blow,” he said. “If the wind lays down, I can sit on top and get my bait down to them.”

Local fifth

One of the local favorites, Brad Brodnicki of Amherst, N.Y., placed fifth with a limit weighing 16 pounds, 3 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros to qualify for Saturday’s finals at Lake Erie are Kevin Bartsch of Spooner, Wis., with 15 pounds, 12 ounces (6th place); Kevin Bishop of Hilton, N.Y., also with 15-12 (7th); day-one leader Mike Desforges of Burlington, Ontario, with 15-10 (8th); Joe Balog of Harrison Township, Mich., also with 15-10 (9th); and Fabiszak, of South Bend, Ind., with 15-9 (10th).

All of the top 10 pros caught five-bass limits.

Names drop out

One item of note on the pro side: Several anglers of distinction made the cut into Friday’s semifinals but failed to make the cut into Saturday’s finals. Three of them – Pete Thliveros, Wesley Strader and Jim Moynagh – have each won an FLW Tour event, among various other achievements. A former FLW runner-up, Jimmi Leuthner also missed the cut, as did 2004 Forrest Wood Open finalist Charlie Hartley and 2001 Northern Division points champion Butch Dobransky.

Richardson tops co-anglers – barely

James Richardson Jr. of Cincinnati, Ohio, led the Co-angler Division Friday, but not by much. His limit weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces topped second-place Jeff Harris of Grand Blanc, Mich., by just 2 ounces, and the next two co-anglers are just 5 ounces behind Richardson.

“I thought I would just barely squeak in(to the finals) with 14-9, but the weights were down today, I guess,” Richardson said. “It’s a big surprise.”

Fishing with pro David Trautman, Richardson caught his limit Friday on tubes – a switch from the previous two days when he limited out on a drop-shot.

Harris caught a limit weighing 14 pounds, 7 ounces.

“I’ve got a little bait out there that nobody else is using, I think,” he said.

Local co-angler Mike Kozell of Depew, N.Y., caught a limit weighing 14 pounds, 4 ounces for third place and tied with fourth-place Dave Goodwin of Batavia, Ill., who also caught 14-4.

Two-time EverStart winner Mark McNeil of Ledyard, Conn., placed fifth with a limit weighing 13 pounds, 10 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers to qualify for Saturday’s finals are Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon, Mich., with 12 pounds, 15 ounces (6th place); Jess Caraballo of Danbury, Conn., with 12-14 (7th); Lou Zahra of Warrensburg, N.Y., with 12-5 (8th); Jeff Zeisner of Arva, Ontario, with 11-11 (9th); and Andrew Bray of Clinton Township, Mich., with 11-3 (10th).

All of the top 10 co-anglers also caught five-bass limits Friday.

Final round Saturday

Day four of Northern Division competition at Lake Erie begins as the final-round field of 10 boats takes off from NFTA Boat Harbor at 7 a.m. Eastern time Saturday. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and each division’s winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.

The winning pro is guaranteed $10,000 cash plus an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519 VS equipped with Garmin electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he will receive a $10,000 bonus from Ranger for a top pro award worth $61,900. If he is a qualifying participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, Ranger will award another $3,000 cash (or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant if not the winner), and Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup winnings if the angler’s boat is powered by a Yamaha outboard. Garmin will award the winning pro $1,000 if he uses only Garmin electronics and at least one unit is a qualifying unit.

The winning co-angler is guaranteed $5,000 cash, and if he is a Ranger boat owner, Ranger will award him a new Ranger 519 VS for a total prize package worth $35,000. Co-anglers who make the final round of each regular-season EverStart Series event and wear an EverStart/Evinrude shirt and cap on stage are awarded points toward the EverStart Batteries and Evinrude Outboard Engines Co-angler Award. The co-angler receiving the most points by the end of the season receives a 2004 Evinrude 225HO Direct Injection outboard engine rigged on a Ranger boat equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries.