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Sunline Strong Performer: Lake Michigan

<b><font color=green>Sunline Strong Performer: Lake Michigan</font color></b>

While his tournament may have ended prematurely with a mechanical issue on day 4, Russ Lane was more than happy about his result at the Lake Michigan Elite Series.

The Alabama pro opened in a tie for 44th with Alton Jones after catching 12-12 on day 1. He made a strong move on day 2 behind a 17-04 stringer that pushed him into 15th with 30-00. While his day-3 weight tailed off (12-09) he surged into 11th, clinching his first 12-cut of the season. He had to take a zero on day 4 and finished 12th, but his jump of 32 places was the biggest of any competitor in the field.

“I had a great week. I caught a lot of fish,” he said. “It didn’t fall how I’d have liked it to at the end, but I’ll take as many Top-12s as I can get.”

The key to his improvement on day 2 was reading the wind, which many anglers said dictated how the fish would set up.

“Definitely, it was recognizing the wind and how it affected the fish,” he said. “It created some current on day 2 and I figured out how the current had the smallmouths positioned.”

Once he got locked in on them, he served up a Spro Fat Papa crankbait on 12-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line when there were some ripples in the water. When it slicked off, he caught most of his fish dropshotting a 4 3/4-inch Big Bite Baits Coontail Worm (green-pumpkin) on 7-pound Shooter.

“I wouldn’t get many bites on the crankbait, but I’d get the right ones,” he noted.

Another key for him was having three separate areas to himself, a rarity in a tournament that featured so much crowding and spot-sharing. He fished mainly flats that had some rock features on them.

“Not real obvious stuff,” he added.

Fishing vast, open water wasn’t a big departure from his comfort zone, but this was easily his best finish at any of the Great Lakes.

“I’m pretty comfortable with just about anything,” he said. “I feel like I’m a pretty versatile angler. I’m good at many things, but maybe not a master at one. I love fishing super clear water because the fish are always looking for shade or bait and it’s a little easier to figure out how they’re going to set up.”

He’s currently 28th in the Toyota Tundra B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year (AOY) standings, meaning he’ll likely need to make the 49-cut at Oneida Lake to have shot at making the Bassmaster Classic next year.

“I’m not going to have any different mindset than I usually do,” he said. “I’ve done okay in the past at Oneida. I’m just going to go and fish hard and fish to win.”

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.

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