It took 82 pounds, 4 ounces for Chris Lane to win the Aug. 22-25, 2013 Elite Series event at Lake St. Clair. Several of the anglers polled yesterday think it will take a few more pounds than that to win it this year – more like 84 or 85.
Lane led on Day 1 in 2013 with a 22-pound, 9-ounce five-bass limit. Mark Davis was second with 22-11 and Aaron Martens was third with 21-14. There were 9 bags over 20 pounds. Davis led the tournament the next two days before Lane rallied to win.
If you're following the fish catches on Twitter today, you know that they're coming in quickly. Expect that to continue. Only seven of the 99 anglers in 2013 didn't weigh a limit on Day 1. It took an average of 18 pounds a day to make the Top 12 cut.
Lane's winning weight came from Lake Huron and the mouth of the St. Clair River, which is 40 miles long and connects Huron to Lake St. Clair.
"I'm not planning on going there this time unless Plan A doesn't work," Lane said yesterday. "I didn't get as many bites up there in practice as I did the last time I was here."
But Lane is hardly discouraged about the fishing around Detroit, saying, "Whether it's St. Clair, Huron on in the river, it's just fun. This place has so many fish in it, and it has got really big smallmouth in it. This year the smallmouth in St. Clair are real fat and healthy. The last time we were here, the smallmouth in St. Clair were kind of skinny. Five fish that weighed 15 pounds two years ago will weigh about 17 1/2 or 18 pounds now."