Michigan's Michael Sitko caught a 21-06 sack today to rise from 7th place and claim the victory at the Detroit River Central EverStart. He finished with a 3-day total of 61-15.
“This is unbelievable,” he said. “It still seems surreal. We faced extremely rough conditions today, and the key to my win was my Ranger 621VS.”
Strong winds forced most of the top-10 anglers to leave Lake Erie for Lake St. Clair after spending the first 2 days of competition there. Sitko’s larger boat was able to weather the conditions and allowed him to remain in Erie.
“I was making a 30-mile run and fished Erie for the entire week,” Sitko said. “I was fishing six different areas. They were isolated rock patches, from 12 to 25 feet of water. I just made a milk run to those six spots each day.
“I’d known about these areas for years. But when I checked them in practice, they weren’t anything special. I had a pretty miserable practice altogether. I hit them again during the tournament, though, and they had turned on.”
Sitko said his baits this week consisted of tubes and dropshot rigs. Full details of his winning pattern will be published soon.
Here are the final totals for the Top 10:
1. Michael Sitko: 61-15
2. Rick Taylor: 57-04
3. Heath Wagner: 56-13
4. Trevor Jancasz: 55-07
5. Ryan Said: 51-10
6. Jeff Vizachero: 51-06
7. Matt Belletini: 49-09
8. Jared Rhode: 49-00
9. Skip Johnson: 47-14
10. Gary Greenwood: 47-05
