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Detroit, Mich.—The final day at the Wal-Mart FLW Chevy Open was picture perfect. Sunshine and calm conditions greeted the ten remaining anglers as the backed down the ramp. Lake Erie had thrown it’s best at the anglers on Saturday and they all were ready for one more day of fishing.
With a local legend in the lead, it was sure to be exciting when the pros made their way on stage. Steve Clapper won the $1.5 million Chevy Open on the Detroit River by more than six pounds. The Lima, Ohio angler took the lead on day one of the final regular season event on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour and never looked back. Steve has won a ton of money off the water’s of Lake Erie, but Sunday’s $200,000.00 pay day was his biggest.
Steve caught more than 40 pounds of Michigan smallmouth to qualify for the finals in the top spot. Over the weekend, he boated 45-9 to run away with his first ever FWL Tour title.
Kevin Long from Berkley, Michigan finished the event in second place with a combined two day total of 39-7. He brought in 20-10 on Sunday and left the stage with a check for $75,000.00.
Finishing in third was Easton, Connecticut angler Terry
Baksay. Terry strained the waters of Lake St. Clair for a tournament catch of almost 80 pounds. His last day limit of 18-13 gave the Yamaha pro a two day total of 39-2.
In fourth was another angler making his tour debut. Thomas Moleski of Elkhart, Indiana weighed in 19-12 on the final day improving his total weight to 39-1. For the most part, Thomas threw a drop-shot into the waters of Lake Erie and pulled 79 pounds, 12 ounces of fish back over the four day event.
Fishing in his tenth year as a FLW pro, Shad Schenck notched his fourth top ten with a combined weight of 38-7. Shad also secured his fourth Tour Championship with his second consecutive top ten finish
Chris King amassed 38 pounds on the first two days of the tournament. He suffered through a busted bilge pump on Saturday and didn’t make the weigh-in. Chris came back strong on Sunday bringing 18-6 to the scales to finish the competition in ninth.
Clapper Wins Big
Steve Clapper left no doubt in the minds of his fellow competitors that he is the man on Lake Erie. During the four day event, Steve weighed in 88 pounds, 7 ounces of Lake Erie smallmouth. According to the Ranger team member, it was not as easy as it looked. “These guys are real good at finding fish,” he said. “In practice, most of the areas I fish had guys on them. I had to look for new areas.”
Steve found some new water and he fell back on an old reliable spot. “I’ve probably won $20,000.00 off this one spot and it worked again this week,” said the winner of the Chevy Open. “I was fishing in about 26 feet of water and there were some small rock piles scattered around.”
Like most of the field, Steve threw a drop shot rig, but his best fish came on goby colored tube. The tube was rigged on a ½ or ¾ ounce Big Dude, Bite-Me jig head. “The big jig head gives the bait a bulky look a lot like the gobies,” he revealed. “I caught a few fish on the drop shot, but when the water got rough, I went to the tube and pretty much stuck with it the rest of the tournament.”
He shared his area with fellow top-ten competitor Thomas
Moleski, but Steve was content to stay put. “The area tom was fishing seemed to hold bigger fish, but I was able to continually up-grade my catch,” Steve said.
Up-grade he did as the final two days of competition were Steve’s best days. He brought 23-3 to the scales Saturday and followed that with a 22-6 limit on the final day. Steve doesn’t have any plans to fish the tour on a regular basis but he will put his money up if the come back next year.
“I will fish the Stren Series and a couple of the bigger open tournaments, but I don’t have any desire to fish the tour. I will put my name in the hat again next year and see what happens.”
Moleski Makes the top Five
Thomas Moleski is a regular on the Stren Series and BFL tournaments. With the FLW Tour making a stop on one of his favorite ponds, Thomas decided to ante up and fish the Chevy Open. He averaged more than 19 pounds a day and finished the event in fourth.
“You would be amazed if you saw how small my area was,” Thomas said. “I had three or four rock piles that I stayed on all week.” The rock piles were six or seven feet tall and located in about 27 feet of water.
“I had to keep my bait vertical and as still as possible. If it was moving I would catch junk fish,” said Thomas. He used a drop shot rigged with the Berkley 3inch fry in green pumpkin. On the rough waters of Lake Erie, keeping the lure in the strike zone can be tough. “When the wind was blowing hard, I used a one ounce weight and would open my bail if I felt the bait coming off the rocks.”
Thomas has a real job as an ambulance maker. He owns and operates Medix Specialty Vehicles, Inc., out of Elkhart, Indiana. He will be back on Lake Erie in August when the Stren Series returns to the Detroit River.
Shad Off to the Championship
Shad Schenck needed another good finish to qualify for the upcoming Forrest L. Wood Cup. The A&W pro was 74th in the rankings before this week’s event and moved to 45th place with his fifth place finish on Lake Erie. “Today, I caught 23 bass over three pounds,” the Yamaha pro said. “It was incredible. Once I got the first one to bite, the whole school fired off.” Like most of the field, Shad used a drop shot for the majority of the tournament. His bait of choice this week was a black leach made by Berkley in the new Gulp Live formula. He also used an Abu Garcia 804 spinning reel, Fenwick rod and the new Berkley Fluorocarbon line.
“My area was just a small rise in the bottom with a few scattered rocks,” Schenck revealed. “I probably fished 50 spots exactly like it in practice and for some reason this place just kept getting better.” Shad put himself in the finals with 41-3overr the first two days. It was his day three performance of 16-1 that ultimately kept him from having a shot at the win.
“I couldn’t keep my bait in the right place long enough on Saturday. The wind was blowing two hard. I probably fished my area better in the first ten minutes today than I did all day on Saturday.”
Trevor Drives into 6th
Trevor Jancasz usually calls “shot gun” when entering a FLW Tour event, but at the Detroit River stop, Trevor jumped behind the wheel. “I was already qualified for the Championship as a co-angler and decided to fish out of my own boat.”
He made the right decision as his tournament catch of more than 75 pounds put him in the sixth position and earned the Michigan angler $29,000.00. “I was fishing a lot shallower than most of the guys,” he said. “The places I was catching them had grass, sand and rock mixed together.” Trevor used a drop shot rigged with the Berkley Fry and a Shad Pointer 100 for the majority of his catches. “I was sitting in about 6 feet of water and throwing out to 12. My bait would be about six inches off the bottom and I would pull it through what we call perch grass- grass that only grows a few inches tall.
FINAL
STANDINGS
| Pl. |
Pro
Angler |
Hometown,
State |
Winnings |
| 1 |
STEVE
CLAPPER |
LIMA,
OH |
5 |
23-03 |
5 |
22-06 |
10 |
45-09 |
$150,000 |
| 2 |
KEVIN
LONG |
BERKLEY,
MI |
5 |
18-13 |
5 |
20-10 |
10 |
39-07 |
$75,000 |
| 3 |
TERRY
BAKSAY |
EASTON,
CT |
5 |
20-05 |
5 |
18-13 |
10 |
39-02 |
$50,000 |
| 4 |
THOMAS
MOLESKI |
ELKHART,
IN |
5 |
19-05 |
5 |
19-12 |
10 |
39-01 |
$40,000 |
| 5 |
SHAD
SCHENCK |
WAYNETOWN,
IN |
5 |
16-01 |
5 |
22-06 |
10 |
38-07 |
$30,000 |
| 6 |
TREVOR
JANCASZ |
WHITE
PIGEON, MI |
5 |
19-06 |
5 |
18-07 |
10 |
37-13 |
$58,000 |
| 7 |
JOSH
MYERS |
CHATHAM,
ON |
5 |
17-03 |
5 |
18-07 |
10 |
35-10 |
$28,000 |
| 8 |
CLARK
WENDLANDT |
LEANDER,
TX |
5 |
15-07 |
5 |
12-15 |
10 |
28-06 |
$27,000 |
| 9 |
CHRISTOPHER
KING |
SOUTH
AMHERST, OH |
0 |
0-00 |
5 |
18-06 |
5 |
18-06 |
$26,000 |
| 10 |
CLIFFORD
PIRCH |
PAYSON,
AZ |
4 |
13-11 |
1 |
3-04 |
5 |
16-15 |
$25,000 |
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