Day 3 with Stephens - Bassmaster

Take a ride with Whitney Stephens and Mike England as they battle for a chance at respective wins on both the pro and co-angler side of the final Northern Open on Lake Erie.
Stephens started the day 1-14 behind Day 2 leader Derek Remitz while co-angler Mike England started the day 2-11 behind Mark Shopene.

As soon as we found the two anglers, co-angler Mike England was hooked up and ready to boat his fish.

A solid keeper for England.

Before England could put it in the livewell, Stephens was hooked up.

This one tested Stephens and jumped near the boat.

An acrobatic smallmouth.

It pulled and fought everywhereâ¦

Taking Whitney Stephens from one side of the trolling motor, to the other, and back again.

Then it made a jump at the boatâ¦

Before he reached his lineâ¦

And eventually grabbed the smallmouth.

Bringing it aboard safely.

But it still wouldnât give up.

A good keeper in the boatâ¦

And he is back to fishing.

England hooks upâ¦

And then Stephens does. Once one of them hooked up, the other normally would follow.

Bam! Giant for Mike England.

Whitney stays in fight modeâ¦

As it makes a run down the boat.

And jumpsâ¦

And thrashesâ¦

But Whitney stays calm during the fight and reaches into the Lake Erie water.

He grabs the smallmouthâ¦.

And scoops it into the boat.

Thatâs a good one and Stephens knows it.

He shows it off before he heads to cull.

Then he hooks up moments after.

There werenât many empty casts for Stephens during this 45-minute flurry.

This one is a fighter, too.

But he manages to keep it onâ¦

And then he corrals it in the boat. Stephens said he didnât lose a single fish this week once he sat in the driver seat. Every fish he touchedâ¦he boated.

It looks as if Stephens was talking to this smallmouth, and if he was the conversation probably went like âI got you, I got you smallie.â

England hooks up and hopes to add to his three-fish co-angler limit.

Scoopâ¦

And Score!

Thirty seconds later Stephens was hooked up.

He tried to keep this one from jumpingâ¦

But itâs hard to make these smallmouth do what you want.

Then it makes a dig for deeper waterâ¦

But Stephens grabs it and lands it just before it tried to get away.

…

Check this one out Mike!

Itâs a good one, but it wonât help Stephens bag right now.

Hooked up!

This one looks like itâll help.

If at first you donât succeedâ¦

Try, try again.

Success! Stephens gets it in the boat.

Thatâll cull!

Stephens couldnât get the five pounder that he thought he needed today, but every ounce counted for him on this final day.

Stephens flips out his dropshotâ¦

And, of course, hooks up.

He patiently coaxes this smallmouth to the boat.

But it has other plans to fight.

This is the scariest part of fighting a smallmouth on light line.

But Whitney Stephens corrals it.

Then he gets back to setting the hook.

Stephens keeps this one downâ¦but it pulls free.

So he sits down and re-ties.

Then he drives back up to his spot.

And checks his electronics.

Then Steve Clapper stopped by to see how he was doing.

Clapper is a Lake Erie legend and he gave Stephens some baits because he was running low after his morning frenzy.

So Stephens invites Clapper to fish the spot with him.

They fish around each other for a couple minutesâ¦

And then England hooks up.

He lays down to get a better angle.

Then he brings the fish aboard.

Clapper fishes along. He had a tough final day and only caught one keeper, which was a shock to many. Clapper said âIf itâs your day then it will happen. Today wasnât my day.â

Stephens battles waves so he can stay on his waypoint.

And hooks up as he battles the conditons.

This one wasnât hardly the fight as the others and it probably wonât help his bagâ¦

So he swings it aboard.

Stephens is back to fighting the wavesâ¦

And back to catching fish.

He swings a small one aboardâ¦

But after two small fish in a row, itâs time to change areas.

Lake Erie offers plenty of water to fishâ¦

But Stephens certainly has it dialed in, and his co-angler Mike England shows it by hooking up again.

He keeps his rod in the water to keep it from jumpingâ¦

But that isnât happening today as this smallmouth takes flight.

Come here!

Got it!

Whitney Stephens hooks up again.

He was targeting deeper water than most anglers we saw this week.

…

Whitney almost has this one in his handâ¦

And after one more jumpâ¦

Stephens boats the keeper. That should cull.

Time to show it off before making a move.

Stephens noticed that the shift in wind direction would position these fish differently on each spot.

So he would scan with his electronics on spots he hadnât fished today.

Then he would pinpoint the fishâ¦and attack.

Stephens successfully keeps this fish from jumpingâ¦

And then reaches deep in the water.

He guides the smallmouth close to himâ¦

Then he scoops and scores!

That is a better than average one.

But it didnât cull for him. He definitely has a good bag today.

So he movesâ¦

And with every location change, the waves got bigger and bigger.

England hooks up in the rough wavesâ¦

And itâs another good fish.

He is working his way to a very good co-angler limit.

While Stephens battles the wavesâ¦

Almost taking some over the bow.

And then he goes high enough to show the trolling motor blades.

But that doesnât stop him from hooking up again.

He keeps his trolling motor on high to keep him on his spot.

…

It was just a small one.

Then Stephens notices a surge in his electronics and so he checks his batteries. A quick jump and he is back under power and ready to go.

Hooked up!

The waves build near the boat as he tries to land this fish.

This one shows itâs face.

And Stephens grabs him.

He hooks up again and I tell my boat driver Don that we have to go after this fish catch if we want to make it back in time.

Stephens makes quick work of the fish.

Then he hauls it in.

Thatâs a great way to send off your cameraman. Stephens eventually brought 20 pounds, 5 ounces to the Bass Pro Shops in Rossford, Ohio and claimed the Northern Open title on Lake Erie by nine ounces. Stephens punched his ticket to the Bassmaster Classic after holding off 150 of the best northern boaters.