Top 10 enter Detroit River finals

All but one boat Erie-bound on first day of EverStart Northern finals

TRENTON, Mich. – The picture at Elizabeth Park Marina Friday morning was like a negative image of the opening round: Instead of a vast majority of boats heading toward Lake St. Clair, all but one of the 10 boats fishing the first day of the final round were Erie-bound.

But this reversal is more logical than it appears on the surface. Decent catches came out of Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River over the first two days of the 2005 EverStart Series Northern Division opener. However, “decent” doesn’t win tournaments, and it was large Lake Erie that was yielding the big smallmouth bite.

Only Art Ferguson III of St. Clair Shores, Mich., and his co-angler partner, Kenneth Taylor of Shelby Township, Mich., were headed north as the finalists took off shortly after 6:30 a.m. Friday. Ferguson has managed to do well on St. Clair – his home water – running with a much larger crowd, so it may be to his advantage to have the lake essentially to himself today.

It could take lots of advantages, however, for any of the 20 premier anglers competing in the two-day final round to stop the momentum of the team on today’s No. 1 boat. Pro Dick Shaffer of Rockford, Ohio, and co-angler Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon, Mich., are both big sticks on the Detroit River. When fishing together on the final day of the EverStart Detroit River event last year, Shaffer took second and Jancasz won in their respective divisions.

It was stated this morning by tournament officials calling out the start, however, that “each boat competing is now tied for first place” since weights have been zeroed for the final round. So it’s truly anyone’s game at this point.

The winner in each division will be determined by heaviest accumulated weight over the two-day final round ending Saturday. Pros are competing for a Ranger 519VX powered by a Yamaha or Evinrude outboard, Minn Kota trolling motor, Garmin electronics and EverStart Batteries plus $10,000 cash. Ranger also awards an additional $10,000 to the winner if he is a qualified Ranger owner for a total award of $69,000 in cash and prizes. The winning co-angler receives $5,000 cash, and if the winner is a Ranger boat owner, Ranger will award a new Ranger 519VX for a total prize package worth $35,000.

Pundits predicted this tournament would be won on Lake Erie, and unless Ferguson ends up on top or patterns change drastically tomorrow, that prediction will come to pass. Calm conditions will help the finalists fishing big water today.

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. Eastern time. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public, and families are invited to come to the final weigh-ins early so children can fish in the trout pond beginning at 2:30 p.m.

Friday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 6:16 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 75 degrees

Water temperature at launch: 78 degrees

Wind: NNW at 3 mph

Maximum relative humidity: 71 percent

Day’s outlook: Partly cloudy with a 20-percent chance of rain and a high of 86 degrees; wind forecasted from the NNE at 10 to 15 mph