PREVIEW: MLF meets the Great Lakes
A day on the 'big water' is an MLF first
Major League Fishing is good at the element of surprise: just when anglers think they’ve got some idea of where they might be fishing for the week, the tournament administrators throw them a curve ball. And that’s exactly what happened on day two of the 2017 Bass Pro Shops Challenge Select in Alpena, Mich.
Anglers were certainly in a state of surprise when they pulled up to the City Marina ramp on Lake Huron for the second day of the Qualification Round.
“Really?” Wesley Strader of Tennessee gasped as he exited the truck. “Lake Huron in an 18-foot boat? To say I’m surprised is an understatement. Now this is going to be interesting.”
“And to think I spent all that time watching those old Alpena shows they emailed us about,” Wesley laughed. “And they never even fished Huron in those shows. The old bait and switch, huh? I’m starting to get a better idea of how these MLF folks operate – you never know what to expect!”
In all fairness, the sudden decision to fish on Huron was not so much intentional as it was opportunistic. With light northwest winds in the forecast, Thunder Bay, on the west side of Huron, would be protected, providing the perfect opportunity for MLF to make their first appearance on the Great Lakes.
Thunder Bay would be one of the largest zones ever extended to anglers for an MLF event. At some 8 miles across at the eastern boundary, the zone encompasses 21,500 acres. In short, anglers would be allowed to run roughly 6 miles out into Thunder Bay in search of shoaly smallmouth water or run some 14 miles of shoreline, featuring little creeks, canals and inlets looking for largemouth.
Fred Roumbanis of Russellville, Ark., was perhaps the most fired up over the prospects of Huron.
“This is not just a surprise, it’s a great surprise,” Roumbanis said. “This could really be epic. If a guy gets out there and gets on a load of those big Great Lake smallmouth, he could crush the weight record for this deal by lunchtime. It looks like it’s going to be sunny with a light breeze – oh man I’ve got smallmouth fever already!”
Oklahoman Jason Christie, however, was casting considerable caveats to Roumbanis’ “smallmouth fever.”
“Yes, I agree that somewhere out there is pile of big smallmouth,” Christie said. “But they’re piled up on one little spot and for miles around them you won’t get a bite. So it’s entirely possible to go out there and not get a single bite looking for that deal.
“I’m fine with coming to Huron, but when we fish regular tournaments, we run right to the juice in competition because we spent three long days of practice finding the goods,” Christie said. “The bet here is, can a guy find a pile of smallmouths out there in 7 hours? And all I’m saying is, after the first period, watch how quickly everyone comes running right back here to this area (City Marina) just to start pecking out a few keepers to hang on because they know the chances of landing on the mother lode out there are pretty slim.”
Marty Robinson of South Carolina is in agreement with Christie: the novelty of fishing the Great Lakes with the MLF format is alluring, but the reality is, it’s a Great Lake and it takes some time to decipher. Fishing small, shallow farm ponds in Arkansas with no practice is one thing; dropping a guy on Lake Huron with a 40-square mile zone with zero practice is another.
“I almost think a guy is better off hedging his bets against the mother lode in the lake by starting right here at the marina just to get a head start with some keepers,” Robinson whispered with a grin. “But don’t tell anyone I said that!”