HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (July 16, 2018) – Boater Heath Wagner of Angola, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 28 pounds, 15 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Michigan Division tournament on Lake St. Clair. For his efforts, Wagner earned $5,731.
“I fished the Belle River hump area of Lake St. Clair. It’s close to the same area where some of the FLW Tour event leaders fished,” said Wagner, who earned his fifth career win in BFL competition. “The area was about one square mile in size, and had a mega school of fish.
“A couple of the spots in the area attracted around 50 other competitors, but I didn’t start near any of them,” Wagner continued. “When I started, the closest person to me was about a half-mile away. I was between fish that were on the outskirts of the school and the school itself. I roamed the flat looking for a certain type of bottom – a big sandy spot with shells. I could see down there, even in 18 feet of water. As soon as I found where I needed to be, I hit the Spot Lock [on my Minnkota Ultrex trolling motor].”
Wagner said every fish he weighed came from some type of Z-Man ElaZtech lures on a drop-shot rig. He noted that green-pumpkin-goby colors did well.
“I had four areas that were similar and I basically just circled them. I’d catch three to 20 fish in a location and kind of wear it out before moving on to the next one. There was a stretch where I caught 20 fish in a row between 4½ and 5 pounds, but didn’t even weigh any of them – it was pretty ridiculous.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Heath Wagner, Angola, Ind., five bass, 28-15, $5,731
2nd: Dan Mittlestat, Woodhaven, Mich., five bass, 24-9, $2,403
3rd: Kyle Greene, Ortonville, Mich., five bass, 24-6, $1,705
4th: David Reault, Livonia, Mich., five bass, 23-4, $1,121
5th: John Devries, Fishers, Ind., five bass, 23-2, $961
6th: Joshua Barr, Stow, Ohio, five bass, 22-13, $881
7th: Codea McCathran, Mansfield, Ohio, five bass, 22-9, $801
8th: Clayton Reitz, Morton, Ill., five bass, 22-8, $721
9th: Alex Newman, Wapakoneta, Ohio, five bass, 21-12, $641
10th: Ronald Nutter, Saint Louisville, Ohio, five bass, 21-10, $561
Wagner also brought a 6-pound, 3-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $725. Tony Mitchell of Plainwell, Michigan, won the Co-angler Division and $2,816 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 22 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Tony Mitchell, Plainwell, Mich., five bass, 22-15, $2,816
2nd: Ken Ramsey, Cassopolis, Mich., five bass, 22-5, $1,182
3rd: Andrew Vadnais, Saint Clair Shores, Mich., five bass, 21-11, $788
4th: Matthew Esparza, Green Springs, Ohio, five bass, 21-9, $552
5th: Arthur Teper, Lake Orion, Mich., five bass, 21-7, $473
6th: Steven Rowswell, Saint Thomas, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 20-9, $433
7th: Randy Westerfield, Constantine, Mich., five bass, 20-2, $394
8th: Harbor Lovin, Fayetteville, Ohio, five bass, 20-1, $405
9th: Jorji Itoh, Beverly Hills, Mich., five bass, 19-11, $315
10th: Robert Hernandez, Canton, Mich., five bass, 19-10, $276
Mitchell also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $352. https://www.bassresource.com