The Detroit River varies from many tournament venues around the country in that the abundant smallmouth bass in Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and the river itself aren't overly difficult to catch. The whole key to winning is finding the right fish.
And on Erie, you'd better hope the weather allows you to keep going back to them for 4 straight days.
After decades of fishing – and winning – tournaments on Erie, Steve Clapper is more adept at pinning down groups of big bronzebacks than just about anybody. He proved that during the recent Detroit River FLW Tour, when he averaged more than 22 pounds a day en route to a wire-to-wire victory in his tour-level debut.
The 59-year-old retired construction supervisor from Lima, Ohio caught 45-09 over the final 2 days to log the biggest win of his long competitive career. His margin of victory was more than 6 pounds.
Here's how he did it.
Practice
Clapper knew precisely where he wanted to fish during the tournament – a small collection of humps about a mile and a half offshore that quality smallmouth annually use during their transition from their post-spawn to their summer modes. It was a place that had surrendered his winning fish in more than one of his five Detroit River BFL victories.
But he stayed away during practice because he didn't want to be seen there. During the days leading up to the event, he spent most of his time cruising the lake to determine what the Tour regulars had discovered and trying to find a new, out-of-the-way honey hole that nobody else was on.
He figured there was at least a decent chance that somebody else would locate his best spot.
"We had 3 really slick days of practice, and on 1 of those my wife and I made a monumental run around the lake," he said. "It was unbelievable to me all of the places these guys had found.
"These aren't just your average Joe Blows. They're great fishermen, and with the electronics and the mapping systems we have today, they can drive right up on stuff that used to take 30 years to find.
"It was pretty scary," he added, "because when you get these people around (the fish), they're going to catch them. It's not rocket science. It's just a matter of being around the right ones."
Competition
> Day 1: 5, 22-00
> Day 2: 5, 20-14 (10, 42-14)
> Day 3: 5, 23-03
> Day 4: 5, 22-06 (10, 45-09)
Clapper went out as boat No. 180 on day 1, and he was relieved to find that nobody had beaten him to his best spot. Another Erie ace and longtime friendly rival, Indiana's Thomas Moleski, was in the same vicinity, but was targeting another hump.
"Tom (who ended up finishing 4th) was on the biggest, best one that holds the most fish," he said. "I was on a smaller one where there's sometimes a little more quality, but I'm not too sure about that because one of his co-anglers caught a 7-pounder."
Opening day was 1 of 2 that featured winds that reached or topped 25 mph (day 3 was the other). Giant, deep Erie was roiling, but it was nothing he hadn't seen many times before.
Clapper eventually got into some good-size fish on day 4.
He alternated between a tube and a dropshot rig to catch a 22-00 sack that was the best of day 1.
He caught a quick 18 pounds on much-calmer day 2, and then practiced some more on his way back to the launch. His last stop produced a pair of 5-pounders that pushed his bag to nearly 20 pounds, and he led the cut by 1-11.
Day 3 featured the nastiest weather of the tournament, but he was more than equal to the challenge. Even in the midst of 5-foot waves, he was able to use the trolling motor to keep himself in position to cast. When it got really bad, he'd ask his co-angler to stand in the center of the boat instead of on the back deck for ballast.
His 23-03 stringer gave him a lead of nearly 3 pounds with just 1 day to go. And that day would be the calmest of the 4.
He felt a little bit of trepidation early on the final day. He had some mechanical issues before leaving the launch, and his first fish was only a 2 1/2-pounder.
Then he caught a couple of decent ones, but he had to measure No. 5 to make sure it exceeded the 14-inch minimum.
"I hadn't been catching fish of that size – the bulk of them in that area were 3 1/2 pounds and up. I looked at them and said, 'What are you doing here.'''
He eventually replaced that undersized pair with much larger specimens, and his 22-06 bag more than doubled his advantage from the previous day.
He had quite a few spectator boats tagging along on the final day, including a few owned by anglers he competes against regularly. Because of that, it's likely that he'll never have that hump to himself again.
"It's one of those places that's hard to come by – maybe once every 3 years you find one of these phenomenal deals that's kind of out of the way. I'm due to find another one, because I think it's been about 4 years.
"I hate to lose that place. But for $200,000, they can have it."
Winning Gear Notes
> Tube gear: 7'6" medium-heavy custom-made rod with a G. Loomis 842 GLX blank, Shimano Stradic 4000 spinning real, 10-pound Seaguar Inviz-X fluorocarbon line, 1/2-ounce Bite-Me Big Dude jighead, 4" ISG Intimidator tube (goby).
The Berkley Gulp! Goby in green-pumpkin/gold-flake was a key dropshot bait for Clapper.
> Dropshot gear: 6'10" G. Loomis DSR 822S dropshot rod, Shimano Stradic 2500 spinning reel, 8-pound Inviz-X fluorocarbon, 1/4- to 5/8-ounce homemade cylindrical weight, No. 2 or 1/0 Gamakatsu dropshot hook, Berkley Gulp! 4" Goby (green-pumpkin/gold flake), Berkley 3" Gulp! Fry (green-pumpkin) or Poor Boys Goby Jr. (goby).
> He fished the Poor Boys Goby Jr. at times when he wanted a smaller-profile bait. He kept them in Gulp! bags so they'd absorb the scent.
The Bottom Line
> Main factor in his success – "Faith in an area, and the ability to hold the boat in rough water and cast to the structure instead of drifting by. You had to be able to present the bait right into their face."
> Performance edge – "The Lowrance 104 GPS on the console with the big (10-inch) screen. It's probably 4 years old, and we call it the 'old man's version.' With the 7-inch screens, I have to stop and get my glasses out."
Notable
> Clapper has no desire to fish the Tour full-time. "It all sounds good and I love fishing, but I've got four grandkids playing ball, and one who just turned 14 is quite an athlete. I couldn't stand to go off and miss all of that."
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