The Rayovac FLW Series is headed to Lake Erie August 27-29 for a tournament presented by Evinrude when as many as 300 pros and co-anglers will take to the water for the third and final regular-season stop of 2015 in the Northern Division.
“This time of year the water can be rough, but it should still be a very competitive tournament,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Dave Lefebre of Erie, Pennsylvania. . “At Sandusky there’s a lot of water to cover and pressure from other tournaments. Strategies for this event could get very interesting.
“The bass are well past the spawning phase so we’re going to primarily see summertime patterns,” continued Lefebre. “The anglers in this event are probably going to target four different areas – Pelee Island, the Bass Islands, and locations in the east near Lorain and Vermillion.
“The main factor for this tournament will be the main-lake smallmouth bite,” said Lefebre. “I think it’s going to be won along rocks, ridges, humps or drop-offs. Anything in the 14- to 35-foot depths will be popular.”
Lefebre said that fans can expect to see a lot of competitors focusing on choosing baits that imitate goby.
“Gobies are the name of the game this time of year,” said Lefebre. “Beige- or pumpkin-colored baits on drop-shot rigs and tubes will be a player. I could also see people reaching for smoky- and natural-colored baits as well. It’s really all about preference. Spinnerbaits and crankbaits could come in to mix things up, but it is a little early yet.”
Lefebre concluded by saying that a three-day cumulative weight between 60 and 67 pounds should be enough to win the tournament.
“22 pounds a day should be strong,” said Lefebre. “It’s gonna be a whackfest with a lot of 3½-pounders.”
Anglers will take off from the Shelby Street Public Boat Launch ramp located at 101 Shelby St. in Sandusky at 6:30 a.m. ET each day. Weigh-in on days one and two will be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Weigh-in on day three will take place at Walmart located at 5500 Milan Road in Sandusky at 3:30 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Pros will fish for a top award of $40,000 plus a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.
The Rayovac FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Rayovac FLW Series Championship. The 2015 Rayovac FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 29-31 on the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
