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LAKE ST CLAIR PROVES TO BE THE FAVORITE, BUT LAKE ERIE WINS AGAIN.

Mike Trombly entered saturdays competition in 4th place, he also represented the lone competitor fishing Lake Erie. Mike weighed in over 21 pounds to edge Brian Hensley to take his 2nd Stren title on the Detroit River. David Hasty led entering day 4 but found his river area muddied from the winds and managed only 3 small fish. Most of the top anglers had been working shallow rocks and grass on lake St. Clair all week , but saturday's strong winds muddied the waters and made the bite difficult. While this tournament is normally a Lake Erie event, the recent tough fishing on Erie and the continued rise of St. Clair, was shown as more than 80 % of the field headed north on Days 2 and 3. Even legendary angler Steve Clapper abandoned Erie for St. Clair. St. Clair proved to have an abundance of quality smallmouth, with fish being caught on crankbaits,jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, dropshots, and tubes. Most were fishing in depths around 8 to 9 ft. The expected big fish St Clair river bite never materialized. While many predicted 25 pound stringers from the river, the added pressure and sharing of the fish made large stringers difficult. Todd Steele took big bass honors day 1 and 2 from the river , but never topped 20 pounds. The consistent big bags came from St. Clair on crankbaits and jerkbaits. Many co anglers did well with dropshot rigs using small worms. But it was Mike Trombly who improved daily and stayed in the top ten that finally cracked the Erie code. Mike caught several fish each morning at the mouth of Erie and then ventured out to Erie to top off his limit. On day 4 Mike's river spot only produced 1 fish and had to rely soley on Erie. Upon his arrival to his first spot, Mike found the fishing difficult as the fish seemed to move. After about an hour of adjustments, Mike finally located his school in 7 to 9 foot of water and quickly boated his limit. Mike caught most of his fish on a Mike's RX tube in smoke wtih purple flake . Mike found his fish keying in on the abundant shad in the area. While not catching a fish over 4 and 1/2 pounds all week, Mike caught quality fish weighing in over 19 pounds every day. Topped by his biggest bag on Day 4 of over 21 pounds. Mike earned over 70 thousand dollars in cash and prizes for his efforts.