HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Aug. 5, 2019) – Boater Kyle Greene of Ortonville, Michigan, took top honors at Saturday’s Bass Fishing League (BFL) Michigan Division tournament on Lake St. Clair after catching five bass weighing 23 pounds, 7 ounces. Greene took home $5,753 for his win.
“I was fishing the Canadian side of the lake in 16 to 22 feet of water, throwing a tube and a drop-shot rig and I caught over 50 keepers,” said Greene, who earned his third career victory in BFL competition on Lake St. Clair – second in 2019. “I had a 2-mile radius that had little sweet spots here and there, with a mixture of sand and grass.”
Greene said he used a 4-inch, Fiesta Melon-colored Provider Tackle Tube – the same bait that helped him win the BFL tournament on Lake St. Clair in June – and various 3-inch Berkley Gulp! Minnow Baits on a drop-shot rig, adding that he weighed all smallmouth. He rigged the baits on Lew’s CXP40 Spinning reels and Dobyns DX 743SF Spinning rods.
“There was no rhyme or reason [to my drop-shots] – I’d catch one on one kind of [Gulp!] bait and one on another,” said Greene. “I rotated between the tube and drop-shot to change it up when they weren’t biting. It was a little slow at first, but it picked up from 9:30 [a.m.] to 1 [p.m.]. It was a great day out there.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Kyle Greene, Ortonville, Mich., five bass, 23-7, $3,753 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., five bass, 22-8, $2,632
3rd: William Cisler, Delton, Mich., five bass, 22-6, $1,007
3rd: Gary Solomon, Clinton Township, Mich., five bass, 22-6, $1,007
5th: Troy Stokes, Brownstown, Mich., five bass, 22-3, $711
6th: Pat Upthagrove, Monroe, Mich., five bass, 21-15, $651
7th: Cameron Moore, Howe, Ind., five bass, 21-3, $592
8th: Amon Jay Troyer, Millersburg, Ind., five bass, 20-14, $533
9th: Jeremy Antrup, Fremont, Ind., five bass, 20-13, $474
10th: Brad Ballew, Macomb Township, Mich., five bass, 20-8, $415
Dobson caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $455. Jeremy Pinkowski of Oak Forest, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $2,127 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 21 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Jeremy Pinkowski, Oak Forest, Ill., five bass, 21-15, $2,127
2nd: Austin Freed, Wolcottville, Ind., five bass, 21-7, $888
3rd: Larry Salisbury, Oxford, Mich., five bass, 21-4, $742
4th: Aaron Stahley, Batavia, Ohio, five bass, 21-0, $385
4th: Jim Stone, Greenwood, Ind., five bass, 21-0, $385
6th: Mark Saunders, Valley City, Ohio, five bass, 20-12, $326
7th: Tom Stark, Angola, Ind., five bass, 20-8, $281
7th: Gordon Reilly, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 20-8, $281
9th: Kendra Mueller, Pinckney, Mich., five bass, 19-15, $222
9th: Alex Redwine, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 19-15, $222
Bill Deverny of Wellston, Michigan, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $227.