WAGNER WINS WALMART BASS FISHING LEAGUE MICHIGAN DIVISION EVENT ON DETROIT RIVER PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS

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TRENTON, Mich. (July 13, 2015) – Heath Wagner of Angola, Indiana, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win the second Walmart Bass Fishing League Michigan Division tournament on the Detroit River presented by Navionics. For his victory, Wagner earned $3,592.

“We ran to a mid-lake area on Lake St. Clair that was holding a lot of fish in 19 feet of water,” said Wagner. “We pulled up to a spot and quickly caught a 4½-pounder. That’s the location I ended up focusing on the entire tournament.

“The bass were roaming along the grass edge in the sand,” Wagner continued. “The water was so clear you could see them relating to the cabbage weeds. I used a Smallmouth Magic-colored 4.8-inch Keitech Swing Impact FAT swimbait and caught two more good ones within the hour.

Wagner said he ended up catching his two heaviest fish using a DUO Realis Spinbait.

“Earlier in the day I used a drop-shot rig, but was able to cull those fish using the swimbait,” Wagner said. “When paired with the DUO Spinbait, I had a great combination of lures.

“What’s interesting is that I have around 2,400 waypoints on Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, but I decided to ditch them and go with my instincts,” concluded Wagner. “I didn’t have a waypoint for the area that produced my winning stringer within three miles.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:          Heath Wagner, Angola, Ind., five bass, 21-11, $3,592

2nd:         Pat Upthagrove, Monroe, Mich., five bass, 20-11, $1,796

3rd:          Cliff Blackford, Grass Lake, Mich., five bass, 20-5, $1,201

4th:          Jared Rhode, Port Clinton, Ohio, five bass, 19-9, $838

5th:          Wayne Macklin, Fenton, Mich., five bass, 18-11, $718

6th:          John Devries, Fishers, Ind., five bass, 18-9, $629

6th:          Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., five bass, 18-9, $629

8th:          Derrick Soulliere, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 17-15, $539

9th:          Joshua Kolodzaike, Toledo, Ohio, five bass, 17-11, $479

10th:        Todd Schmitz, Goshen, Ind., five bass, 17-6, $419

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Brett Haake of Shorewood, Illinois, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $460.

Erik Jacques of Harrison Township, Michigan, weighed in five bass totaling 19 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win $1,796 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1st:          Erik Jacques, Harrison Township, Mich., five bass, 19-11, $1,796

2nd:         Jon Witt, Kalamazoo, Mich., five bass, 18-9, $898

3rd:          Justin Sawyer, Dearborn Heights, Mich., five bass, 17-4, $598

4th:          Garry Collins, Russell Springs, Ky., five bass, 17-3, $419

5th:          Mark Brooks, Dayton, Ohio, five bass, 16-4, $359

6th:          Bret Holling, Lansing, Mich., five bass, 16-2, $329

7th:          Kevin Webb, Ladson, S.C., five bass, 15-13, $299

8th:          Austin Klotz, Westland, Mich., five bass, 15-2, $269

9th:          Tom Cooley, Novi, Mich., five bass, 15-0, $239

10th:        Brian Clark, Findlay, Ohio, five bass, 14-7, $210

Witt caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $230.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

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