By BassFan Staff
Larry Nixon had resigned himself to the possibility that his ledger of tour-level victories might never grow longer than 17. But now that No. 18 is in the books, he's not content to stop there.
"Before I won this one, I didn't think I'd ever win another one," the 61-year-old said in the wake of his triumph at the Detroit River FLW Tour Open. "Now I'm thinking I may have another one in me after this. This one is pretty special, and that lake (St. Clair) has been awful good to me."
His 20-04 final-day sack – his third straight that exceeded the 20-pound mark – gave him an 84-11 total and a victory margin of slightly more than 6 pounds over runner-up Bill McDonald, with whom he shared water throughout the event. McDonald managed just 14-08, which was easily his lightest stringer of the event, but it was enough to hold on to the No. 2 slot with a 78-10 total.
Chad Pipkens won the battle of the Lake Erie competitors as he finished 3rd with 77-14 after catching 19-03 today. Spencer Shuffield's bag (14-13) was more than 6 pounds off his previous daily average, but he still locked down the 4th position he began the day with as his aggregate ended up at 77-12.
Shinichi Fukae, who cozied up with Nixon and McDonald on a single flat in St. Clair, rounded out the Top 5 to conclude his dramatic ascent up the standings sheet. He boxed 19-03 today for a 76-02 total.
Here's a look at the final numbers for the 10 anglers who fished today:
1. Larry Nixon: 84-11
2. Bill McDonald: 78-10
3. Chad Pipkens: 77-14
4. Spencer Shuffield: 77-12
5. Shinichi Fukae: 76-02
6. Chris McCall: 75-13
7. Tim Wilson: 75-10
8. Cory Johnston: 72-14
9. Joe Balog: 70-07
10. John Cox: 69-10
The event was the second of four Opens on the 2012 schedule and the first since the Okeechobee derby in January. The slate will conclude with stops at Wheeler next month and Sam Rayburn in October.
The Top 5 in the Open points will gain early berths for next year's Forrest Wood Cup at the Red River. Cox currently tops that list, followed by McDonald, Nixon, Bryan Thrift and Dave Lefebre.
Bill McDonald's 2nd-place finish was his career-best at the tour level.
After a phenomenally mild week, the dreaded double-digit wind kicked up today, reaching 15 mph at times. It most hindered the Erie competitors (other than Pipkens) as Balog managed just three fish and Johnston opted to bail out and fish St. Clair.
Nixon Stunned
> Day 4: 5, 20-04 (20, 84-11)
Few would've imagined that Nixon would eventually claim the trophy after day 1, when he was in 37th place.
“I’m in total shock,” he said. “I’ve been fishing in competitions for 36 years. A lot of my body parts are worn out, I’ll tell you right now. I’m not a spring chicken anymore.
"That rough water today by the Chevy building coming down the Detroit River … I’m glad I left an hour and a half early, because it took every single bit of it to get through the ‘Miracle Mile.’ You know why they call it that? It’s a miracle if you get through it in a bass boat.”
He was as amazed as everybody else that half of the final Top 10 fished the same small portion of St. Clair throughout the event and that the area had enough quality smallmouths to sustain all of them. He went through about 20 keepers today – one was nearly 6 pounds and the others were all in the 3 1/2 range.
"That was an exceptional bunch of fish, and what surprised me the most was that Shin and Bill both found them, too. It was definitely loaded."
He employed a dropshot rig primarily featuring a Berkley Gulp! Goby or a Berkley Gulp! Alive! Jerk Shad and also threw a Berkley Havoc Sick Fish swimbait. Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published soon.
2nd: McDonald Happy
> Day 4: 5, 14-08 (20, 78-10)
McDonald's runner-up showing was the best of his career at the tour level.
Chad Pipkens caught a stout 19-pound sack today from the roiled waters of Lake Erie.
"I'm tickled to death," he said. "If you're going to get beat, you might as well get beat by the best. Everybody would like to win one, and that includes me, but I caught what I was supposed to catch and it was a fantastic week."
He caught seven keepers today – he broke one off and lost two. His sack held nothing that exceeded 3 1/2 pounds.
"Those three I didn't catch, I could've culled with, anyway, but they wouldn't have given me enough to catch Larry. It was brutal fishing out there. You'd go up (a wave) and the trolling motor would come out of the water, and then you'd come down and water would spill over the front deck."
3rd: Pipkens Feels Good
> Day 4: 5, 19-03 (20, 77-14)
It's been quite a month for Pipkens, who wrapped up the Bassmaster Northern Open points title the previous week. He'll spend the next few weeks deciding whether to fish the Elite Series or the FLW Tour next year.
"(The finish) feels really good," he said. "It was good fishing, but it was tough. I made good decisions, but I didn't fish real clean. I'm very happy with the way it turned out, though."
He boated just six keepers today (including a near-6-pounder) after handling five on day 3.
"I was getting seven or eight big bites a day; I lost one today and on all the other days I lost two."
It took him about an hour and 20 minutes to get to his North Shore locale today in the face of the much-stiffer southeast wind.
"I fished around slowly and hit about a dozen places, and I just caught one here and one there."
4th: Shuffield Satisfied
> Day 4: 5, 14-13 (20, 77-12)
Shuffield failed to move up the leaderboard on the final day, but at least his much-smaller sack didn't cost him any ground.
Spencer Shuffield lost no ground in the standings today despite a bag that was more than 6 pounds lighter than his previous tournament average.
"I'll take it, I guess," he said. "I don't have any qualms about it. That wind was kind of a killer today – I was kind of excited when I saw it, but it ended up being more of a hindrance than a help.
"The fish I was on, I had to make a precise cast. If you were off a few feet either way you could hardly get a bite."
He boated approximately a dozen keepers, which was only about one-third the number he'd caught on his best day.
"I lost a couple of good ones. I still wouldn't have won, but I could've finished 2nd."
5th: Fukae Excited
> Day 4: 5, 19-03 (20, 76-02)
Fukae completed a remarkable climb up the leaderboard after a 60th-place start.
"I'm excited about the finish because it's my first Top 10 this year," he said through his wife, Miyu, who acted as an interpreter. "The only disappointing thing was the first day. But I moved all the way up to 5th, so I'll take it."
His bag included a pair of 4 1/2-pounders.
"The wind didn't affect anything at all for me. I got lucky, because most guys struggled."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 9 limits, 1 three.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Larry Nixon -- Bee Branch, Ar -- 17-13 (5) -- 22-15 (5) -- 23-11 (5) -- 20-04 (5) -- 84-11 (20) -- $100,000
2. Bill McDonald -- Greenwood, In -- 21-09 (5) -- 25-02 (5) -- 17-07 (5) -- 14-08 (5) -- 78-10 (20) -- $31,574
3. Chad Pipkens -- Holt, Mi -- 21-11 (5) -- 17-06 (5) -- 19-10 (5) -- 19-03 (5) -- 77-14 (20) -- $27,040
4. Spencer Shuffield -- Bismarck, Ar -- 21-08 (5) -- 20-07 (5) -- 21-00 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 77-12 (20) -- $22,507
5. Shinichi Fukae -- Palestine, Tx -- 16-01 (5) -- 21-01 (5) -- 19-13 (5) -- 19-03 (5) -- 76-02 (20) -- $17,974
6. Chris McCall -- Brookeland, Tx -- 21-06 (5) -- 21-06 (5) -- 14-02 (5) -- 18-15 (5) -- 75-13 (20) -- $15,254
7. Tim Wilson -- Gas City, In -- 21-04 (5) -- 18-07 (5) -- 20-15 (5) -- 15-00 (5) -- 75-10 (20) -- $14,347
8. Cory Johnston -- Peterborough, On -- 20-11 (5) -- 20-03 (5) -- 20-13 (5) -- 11-03 (5) -- 72-14 (20) -- $13,440
9. Joe Balog -- Harrison Township, Mi -- 22-13 (5) -- 21-00 (5) -- 16-14 (5) -- 9-12 (3) -- 70-07 (18) -- $12,534
10. John Cox -- Debary, Fl -- 18-11 (5) -- 19-00 (5) -- 20-00 (5) -- 11-15 (5) -- 69-10 (20) -- $11,627
