TRENTON, Mich. (Aug. 31, 2009) - Michael Trombly of Perrysburg, Ohio, won the Bass Fishing League Michigan Division bass fishing tournament on the Detroit River Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 23 pounds, 11 ounces. The victory earned Trombly $3,553 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Mississippi River Regional Championship in Fort Madison, Iowa, Oct. 1-3, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Trombly said he caught his bass snapping a tube on the rough waters of Lake Erie.
Rounding out the top five boaters are John Devries of Fishers, Ind. (five bass, 22-12, $1,777); Frank Novock of Rockwood, Mich. (five bass, 21-2, $1,185); Heath Wagner of Angola, Ind. (five bass, 20-8, $829) and Brian Jackson of Dyer, Ind. (five bass, 19-8, $711).
Robert Barta of Deerfield, Mich., took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $455 for a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass he caught.
William Schwartz of Avon Lake, Ohio, earned $1,777 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to a catch of five bass weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces that he caught on a Gulp! Minnow fished on a drop-shot rig on shallow rock piles.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brad Craft of New Bremen, Ohio (five bass, 20-1, $740); Mark Keller of Saint Clair Shores, Mich. (five bass, 20-1, $740); Andrew Smith of Clinton Township, Mich. (five bass, 19-1, $415); and Joe Wong of Hartford City, Ind. (five bass, 18-12, $355).
Schwartz earned $227 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass.
The final regular-season Michigan Division event, a two-day Super Tournament, will be held on the Detroit River in Trenton, Mich., Sept. 19-20.