A change of lakes was the key to Skip Johnson's major move up the standings list on day 2 of the recent Detroit River FLW Tour Open.
The Goodells, Mich. resident went to Lake St. Clair on day 1 and caught a run-of-the-mill 16 1/2-pound bag of smallmouths that left him in 56th place. Just a day later, he found himself in the Top 10 following an excursion to Lake Erie.
"I needed a little bit of wind on my spots on St. Clair and it was just flat-calm on day 1," he said. "The bigger fish just didn't cooperate. I was only about 700 feet away from (eventual winner Larry) Nixon and I caught them real good there in practice.
"The next day I went to Erie and just fished old stuff. I only got five bites, but they were the right ones."
He threw a Nemesis Baits goby imitation on a dropshot rig that day. His 22-03 stringer was topped by a 5 1/2-pounder and the smallest fish he weighed was a 4.
"It was a 'go big or go home' kind of thing where I tried to get myself back into range for a good check. I got real lucky, I guess."
His fortunes took a hard turn in the other direction the following day, though, as he weighed just one fish for 3-11 and ended up with a 20th-place finish.
"I should've gone to St. Clair that day. My Erie fish had totally moved out and a bunch of catfish, walleye and drum had moved in.
"I went fun-fishing with my kids on St. Clair (Sunday) and caught 21 pounds. I just shot myself in the foot."
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.
