2009 Northern Open #3: Day Three, Behind the Scenes

Marvin Stith holds up a nice Lake Erie smallmouth as he waits at the tanks for the weigh-in to begin.

As boats come in from Lake Erie, they return their boat number to the BASS official on duty. This is how BASS determines if a boat is late.

The first flight of anglers wait at the tanks as the final Northern Open weigh-in gets underway.

There was a great crowd on hand at the shelby ramp for the final weigh-in.

J. Todd Tucker holds up a largemouth bass, a species that very few anglers targeted this week on Lake Erie. The anglers that did would get a limit of green bass and head for the bronze-backs to upgrade.

“Team Scalish” watches as Frank Scalish comes to the dock. He came into this event with a commanding lead in the points standing that will carry him to the Bassmaster Classic.

Many of the competitors stood on stage and thanked the crowd for coming out and sitting through the drizzling rain.

Tournament Director Chris Bowes thanks the Bassmaster Opens sponsors while he waits for the soak-tanks to reload with anglers.

Pro Frank Scalish (left) and co-angler Terry Ford sat in “hot seats” on opposite sides of the stage, anxiously waiting to see if their respective weights would hold.

Pro Jonathon VanDam celebrates as soon as he hears his weight, knowing he had knocked Scalish from the “hot seat”.

Jonathon VanDam sits on the “hot seat” and watched intently as other pros bring their bags of bass to the stage for an official weight.

Co-angler Terry Ford smiles as Tournament Director Chris Bowes reaches for the trophy. Ford sold his boat early in the year so his wife could have surgery. That goodwill paid off in spades as he won a Triton/Mercury rig.

Pro Jonathon VanDam lets out a howl as he lifts the trophy over his head. He was so emotional he was practically speechless.