TRENTON, Mich. – Though many are saying this week’s EverStart Series Northern opener will be won on Lake Erie, it didn’t deter a solid portion of the field from heading north up the Detroit River toward Lake St. Clair Thursday at takeoff.
Though a majority of yesterday’s top-10 finishers did indeed mine the large smallmouth bite on Erie, there were some at the top who had made the longer trek to St. Clair. Pro Mike Desforges of Burlington, Ontario, landed the top slot with a 22-pound, 4-ounce catch of Erie bass, while Northern Division standout and St. Clair Shores, Mich., native Art Ferguson III pulled his 19-7 sack from Lake St. Clair.
Those at the top will undoubtedly push hard today to retain their elite top-10 status, the only way to survive past today’s weigh-in to fish in the two-day finals for a chance at a prize package worth as much as $60,000 for the pros and $35,000 for the co-anglers. The rest of the 167 pros and 167 co-anglers competing will likely make en even harder run for the money today.
Northern fishery maestro Steve Clapper of Lima, Ohio, was one pro who was a little disappointed with Erie’s offering yesterday, which leveraged him 23rd place. But Clapper – who recently won his fourth Wal-Mart BFL tournament on the Detroit and has myriad BFL or EverStart wins and top-10s there as 
well as on Erie and St. Clair — currently sits about 2 pounds behind yesterday’s top-10 cutoff. But if weights are as strong and tightly grouped today as Wednesday, 2 pounds will feel much heavier than normal.
“I’m going to have to catch them today,” Clapper said.
But many – Clapper included – caught them well on the opening day. Of the 167 pros, almost 53 percent caught five-bass limits and a total of 1,786 pounds and 14 ounces of fish were weighed in Wednesday. Almost 26 percent of the same number of co-anglers caught limits for a total of 1,227-15.
Calm conditions will again provide still waters – a key commodity for the Erie-bound – for anglers competing Thursday in this four-day event. However, forecasts call for scattered thunderstorms this morning with a 40-percent chance of rain throughout the day, and visibility was down to less than three miles at the 6:30 a.m. takeoff due to considerable humidity.
And how overnight rain showers will have affected today’s bite, if at all, remains to be seen. Fishing fans can find out by attending today’s weigh-in at 2:30 p.m. Eastern, taking place at Elizabeth Park Marina – also the takeoff site – at 202 Grosse Ile Parkway in Trenton.
Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 7555 Telegraph Road in Taylor beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Thursday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:15 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 73 degrees
Water temperature at launch: 77 degrees
Wind: forecasted WSW at 5 mph
Maximum relative humidity: 68 percent
Day’s outlook: Scattered thunderstorms early, with skies becoming mostly sunny this afternoon; hot and humid conditions with an expected high of 92 degrees and a 40-percent chance of rain