TRENTON, Mich. – Large limits of bass seemed to be the name of the game for many anglers during the second day of bass fishing competition at the FLW Tour on the Detroit River. Pro Bill McDonald of Greenwood, Ind., caught the heaviest sack of the day, a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds, 2 ounces Friday to take the lead in a field of the best bass pros in the world. McDonald’s two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 46 pounds, 11 ounces gives him a 2-pound, 14-ounce lead heading into the third day of the tournament.
“I pulled up and on my first cast caught one that weighed 5-10,” said McDonald, who has 16 top-10 finishes in FLW competition. “And I just started catching them. I was done by 10:30. So I just stuck around the area and tried to halfway guard the area for the rest of the day.”
McDonald said he caught “10 or 12” keepers during the course of the day on a drop-shot rig in an area he fished on the first day of competition. He said he ran around searching for fish a bit more on Thursday, but fine-tuned his attack on Friday. He added that he has other areas in case he needs a backup plan, but plans to stick to the area that pushed him into the lead.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” McDonald said. “I’m not catching numbers, but the quality is phenomenal.”
Joe Balog of Harrison Township, Mich., is in the No. 2 spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 43-13.
The top 20 pros that made the cut and will fish Saturday on the Detroit River are:
1st: Bill McDonald, Greenwood, Ind., 10 bass, 46-11
2nd: Joe Balog, Harrison Township, Mich., 10 bass, 43-13
3rd: Chris McCall, Brookeland, Texas, 10 bass, 42-12
4th: Spencer Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., 10 bass, 41-15
5th: Jeff Vizachero, Grosse Ile, Mich., 10 bass, 41-6
6th: Cory Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, 10 bass, 40-14
7th: Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 10 bass, 40-12
8th: Tim Wilson, Gas City, Ind., 10 bass, 39-11
9th: Chad Pipkens, Holt, Mich., 10 bass, 39-1
10th: Skip Johnson, Goodells, Mich., 10 bass, 38-10
11th: David McCrone, Minnetonka, Minn., 10 bass, 38-7
12th: Todd Schmitz, Goshen, Ind., 10 bass, 38-3
13th: Ryan Chandler, Hobart, Ind., 10 bass, 38-2
14th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 37-14
15th: John Cox, Debary, Fla., 10 bass, 37-11
16th: Kevin Vida, Clare, Mich., 10 bass, 37-8
17th: Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., 10 bass, 37-7
18th: Koby Kreiger, Okeechobee, Fla., 10 bass, 37-4
19th: Jon Bondy, South Woodslee, Ontario, 10 bass, 37-3
20th: Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 10 bass, 37-2
McDonald and Shields split the day’s big bass award with fish weighing 5-10 on the pro side. Each won $250.
Overall there were 613 bass weighing 2,041 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 136 pros Friday. The catch included 112 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup. The top five anglers in the point standings from the four Walmart FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.
Dave Hasty of Toledo, Ohio, leads the co-angler division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 38 pounds, 10 ounces, followed by Mark Horton of Nicholasville, Ky., in second place with 10 bass weighing 36-11.
The top 20 co-anglers are:
1st: Dave Hasty, Toledo, Ohio, 10 bass, 38-10
2nd: Mark Horton, Nicholasville, Ky., 10 bass, 36-11
3rd: Tom Spangler, Corryton, Tenn., 10 bass, 36-9
4th: Scott Noel, Loveland, Ohio, 10 bass, 36-2
5th: Bill Valberg, London, Ontario, 10 bass, 35-6
6th: Craig Kopczyk, Milford, Mich., 10 bass, 34-13
7th: Dave Shively, Butler, Pa., 10 bass, 34-12
8th: Jim Hippensteel, Rochester, Ind., 10 bass, 34-10
9th: Kenneth Taylor, Shelby Township, Mich., nine bass, 34-6
10th: Dewayne Eck, Butler, Ind., 10 bass, 33-12
11th: Philip Borsa, Redford, Mich., 10 bass, 33-8
12th: Marty Hottot, Chatham, Ontario, nine bass, 33-7
13th: Clayton Batts, Macon, Ga., 10 bass, 33-4
14th: Dennis Mitchell, Malvern, Ark., 10 bass, 33-2
15th: Jason Kopczyk, Commerce Township, Mich., 10 bass, 32-14
16th: Jeff Harris, Grand Blanc, Mich., 10 bass, 32-6
17th: Roger Walters, Madisonville, Ky., 10 bass, 32-5
18th: Todd Steele, Port Huron, Mich., 10 bass, 32-2
19th: Adam Thiede, Ashland, Ohio, 10 bass, 31-15
20th: Doug Caldwell, Kane, Pa., 10 bass, 31-10
Spangler won the day’s big bass award with a fish weighing 6-7 in the co-angler division. He received $250.
Overall there were 512 bass weighing 1,541 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 136 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 75 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup. The top five co-anglers in the point standings from the four Walmart FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.
Anglers will take off from Elizabeth Park Marina located at 202 Grosse Ile Parkway in Trenton, Mich., at 6:30 a.m. daily. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-ins will be held at the Walmart located at 23800 Allen Road in Woodhaven, Mich., beginning at 4 p.m.