Marine City’s Jacques Grabs Co-Angler Win

TRENTON, Mich. (Aug. 26, 2019) – Boater Mike Trombly of Belleville, Michigan, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Michigan Division tournament on the Detroit River Saturday after catching five bass weighing 24 pounds, 13 ounces. For his day on the water, Trombly took home $4,545.

“I fished the north shore of Lake Erie – everything came from 24 to 28 feet,” said Trombly, who earned his eighth career win in FLW competition – all launching out of the Detroit River. “I used shad-style baits – all of the fish that I weighed in came from drop-shot rigs.”

Trombly said he used a few different baits on his drop-shot rigs – a Zoom Fluke, a Strike King 3X ElazTech Z Too Soft Jerkbait and a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flatnose Minnow. He also rotated in a Lure Craft Big D darter-style bait, adding that everything he used was in shad-style colors.

“I had to soak it through the rock piles and breaks I was fishing to get the fish to bite,” said Trombly. “They were finicky – we had a strong northeast wind and the current ran the opposite, moving from west to east. You had to play the current to get them to strike. It was all about presentation.”

Trombly said he caught around 10 keepers throughout the day – all smallmouth. He credited his G. Loomis [IMX822S DSR IMX] Dropshot Spinning Rod and Shimano STRADIC CI4+ reel as being key components of his day.

“With the amount of current I was fishing, at those depths, the sensitivity really made an impact on my catch – I could feel the bites.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Mike Trombly, Belleville, Mich., five bass, 24-13, $4,545

2^nd:         Brett Haake, Shorewood, Ill., five bass, 24-11, $1,973

3^rd:          Jim Vitaro, Wooster, Ohio, five bass, 24-1, $1,731

4^th:          John Devries, Fishers, Ind., five bass, 21-7, $1,077

5^th:          Pat Upthagrove, Monroe, Mich., five bass, 21-6, $709

6^th:          Andrew Gaul, Saint Clair Shores, Mich., five bass, 20-7, $650

7^th:          Ross Parsons, Williamston, Mich., five bass, 20-1, $591

8^th:          David Reault, Livonia, Mich., five bass, 20-0, $532

9^th:          Troy Stokes, Brownstown, Mich., five bass, 19-14, $443

9^th:          Heath Wagner, Angola, Ind., five bass, 19-14, $443

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Gary Solomon of Clinton Township, Michigan, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $445.

Erik Jacques of Marine City, Michigan, won the Co-angler Division and $1,973 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 25 pounds, 9 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Erik Jacques, Marine City, Mich., five bass, 25-9, $1,973

2^nd:         Brian Kich, Berea, Ohio, five bass, 18-13, $936

3^rd:          Zach Laupp, Plainwell, Mich., five bass, 18-12, $591

4^th:          Jeffrey Thomson, Birmingham, Mich., five bass, 18-8, $414

5^th:          Darwin Griva, Hamilton, Ind., five bass, 18-3, $355

6^th:          Mike Eldridge, Blairsville, Pa., five bass, 17-2, $325

7^th:          Craig Fanning, Elwood, Ill., five bass, 16-8, $295

8^th:          Bill Dodge, Laingsburg, Mich., five bass, 16-7, $266

9^th:          Robert Busby, Fenton, Mich., five bass, 16-6, $236

10^th:        Andy Fryer, Westerville, Ohio, five bass, 16-3, $357

Neil Heisler of Plymouth, Michigan, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $222.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Buchanan, Tennessee, presented by Evinrude. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.