Lake Erie ESPN $300,000 Bassmaster Open. (6-2004) Lake Erie is phenomenal and indeed challenging!!! Even though I placed 65th overall I still caught over 60 fish the first day and 45 fish the second day of the event. On day one, I opted for the calmer waters of the Niagra River. Winds blew 30-35 mph. For those of you not familiar with Lake Erie, it's huge! An ocean. And when the wind blows the waves get obscene. Waves exceeded 8 feet on Thursday and any sane angler would not choose to fish in that. In previous days of practice I had located fish all over the River in different spots up to 4 pounds and knew I could duplicate or better that catch each day. Day one started and I drove my Skeeter ZX225 with 225 Yamaha HPDI up the river. Navigation is very difficult due to the large boulders and shallow water that is not marked. To get into the river you must go out into the 8 foot waves to enter the river but once in there, you're pretty well protected. On Day one, Thursday, I had a limit by 7:15am and started culling for bigger fish by 7:30. At about 7:40am I looked up to see what competition I had in the near area and noticed I had four spectator boats with bassmaster fans watching me. I felt as if I was shooting free throws in a NCAA tournament basketball game. I then noticed one boat with the ESPN camera crew easing it's way in to take pictures. I was sort of thrown off my game for a minute but was quickly able to regain my concentration and remain catching fish. The bite stopped there and I moved to another spot I had found in practice less than a mile away. The camera crew followed and as I pulled up, I caught one on my first cast. I proceeded to get bit or catch a fish on almost every cast for the next hour and a half. The bass ranged from 1.5 to 2 lbs and I just couldn't get the bigger bite. After about my tenth fish, my amateur partner for the day tied on the same bait I was using and caught one of the four pounders I desperately needed. Oh well, that's the way this sport works. I culled for ounces all day and tried to better my five fish limit. The bass were both largemouth and smallmouth. I weighed the best five at 2:30 and my weight for the day was 11.8 lbs and placed me in 66th place. I used so little gas with my Yamaha 225 HPDI that I didn't even need to fill up for day 2. On the way back in I crashed though the 8-9 foot waves at an idle speed but still managed to break my trolling motor bracket. After repairing my trolling motor I was all set for the next day and went into my hotel room. I turned on the television and I was all over the local news in my Skeeter boat, blasting those bass on the river. On day two I planned to change up and fish in the lake because it was calmer and the winds were less than 5 mph. Just to be safe I ran out to the river early and again had a limit before 7:30 am. I then shot into the lake about 14 miles out and was able to run at full speed. Approx 77 blistering mph. As soon as I pulled up on my spot, a drop from 27 feet to 33 feet of water, I started catching smallmouth and culling the largemouth I had in my livewells. Thank God for my Oxy-Max livewell system on my Skeeter boat that kept the smallmouth bass alive. For those of you that don't know, a bass pulled out of water that deep will have a full air blatter. Bass become very fragile and the live release boats at the weigh in perform a technique called fizzing. This is where a needle is inserted into the fish's air bladder and relieves the pressure. Anyway the bass float in the livewell due to the full airbladders yet are still alive, and need as much oxygen as possible. This is where the Skeeter's Oxy-Max livewell system in crucial. The weigh-in on day two wasn't until 4:45pm so I left myself with plenty of time to run back into the river one last time and hit those money spots for big largemouth. On one spot in the river I started culling immediately and was doing it by sight fishing. Sight fishing is as it's implied; where the angler uses polarized glasses to see the fish and then quietly cast to them. Once again I was able to cull and then I saw the fish I really needed. A 4 pounder! I slowly backed off and proceed to work the area thoroughly. Time was of the essence and I had to move on because I couldn't get her to bite. I slowly eased on and my amateur angler yelled, "Get the net!" He caught the fish and yes, it weighed four pounds. Two days in a row the ameteur caught the fish I needed to continue. My weight for the second day was 12.13 pounds and I only needed 14 pounds to make the top fifty cut. I ended up tying Woo Daves, former Bassmaster Classic Champion, in 65th place. Lake Erie was absolutely a huge learning experience and I will definitely be more prepared for the next event. Thank you for following my success and please continue to do so at www.espnoutdoors.com or www.bassmaster.com . I'd like to thank my sponsors in Team Skeeter, Team Yamaha, Silver buddy lures, Under Armour performance apparel, and Sonny's Marine in Orlando Florida.