Britt Myers appeared headed for a bottom-of-the-pack finish at the Lake St. Clair Bassmaster Elite Series after weighing a 12 1/2-pound bag on day 1. However, once he got a handle on all the details of his daily journey to Lake Erie and back, he became a serious climber.
He bumped up his weight by exactly 9 pounds on day 2 (21-09), then caught 19-07 on day 3 to finish less than a pound out of the 12-cut. His meteoric 64-place improvement in the standings on the second day was tops for the event.
"I practiced on Erie for two 12-hour days and I caught fish in several places, but I had one really good spot," he said. "Weather permitting, I thought it might be the winning spot.
"When I got there on (day 1 of the tournament), there were 6-foot waves, and trying to drop straight down to those fish like I'd been doing wasn't working. Later in the day, once I started controlling my drift and moving across the sweet spot, I started catching them. I lost one that was in the upper 4-pound range and that was the difference in not making the Top 12."
His day-2 stringer might've been even heavier, but he had to pull out early because his engine was out of oil and he didn't have an extra quart on board. He was 80 miles from the launch and 40 from the nearest marina when he realized his mistake.
"That was a really dumb thing on my part. When I got to the marina the motor was in 'guardian' mode and I asked the lady at the gas station if they sold 2-stroke oil. She said they did and that it was 'up there on the hill.'
"I ran up the hill to this little shack and there wasn't even a door on it. I ran back down and asked her again, and she said it was up on the hill, and then two blocks right to the stop sign. So, still in my Simms rainsuit, I grabbed my wallet it and ran those two blocks as fast as I could. I ended up barely making it back (to the launch) on time."
A late penalty on that day could've been disastrous, as it might've cost him a paycheck for the event and a share of the Angler of the Year prize purse (he ended up 50th in the points).
"That turned out to be about a $15,000 sack," he said.
The Sunline Strong Performer, which focuses on the angler who makes the most significant single-day move in the standings at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great people at Sunline.
