Michael Sitko of Farmington, Mich., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Central Division event on the Detroit River presented by Mercury. Sitko jumped into the top spot after starting the day in seventh place. Sitko’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 61 pounds, 15 ounces earned him $32,841 and a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor.
“This is unbelievable,” said Sitko, who earned his first career victory after posting three previous top-10 finishes on the Detroit River in BFL competition. “It still seems surreal. We faced extremely rough conditions today, and the key to my win was my Ranger 621VS.”
Strong winds forced most of the top-10 anglers to leave Lake Erie for Lake St. Clair after spending the first two days of competition there. Sitko’s larger boat was able to weather the conditions and allowed him to remain in Erie.
“I was making a 30-mile run and fished Erie for the entire week,” Sitko said. “I was fishing six different areas. They were isolated rock patches, from 12 to 25 feet of water. I just made a milk run to those six spots each day.
“I’d known about these areas for years,” Sitko continued. “But when I checked them in practice, they weren’t anything special. I had a pretty miserable practice altogether. I hit them again during the tournament, though, and they had turned on.”
Sitko said his baits this week consisted of tubes and drop-shot rigs.
“I mainly used minnow-colored baits all week,” Sitko said “There was a lot of fry in the water, and I feel like that color was producing more for me.”
Along with the larger boat, Sitko credited his experience on Lake Erie as being a key to his win.
“I only live 45 minutes from the lake,” he said. “When it got rough today, my experience on the lake was a key. Knowing that I could handle the conditions won me the tournament.”
The top 10 pros on the Detroit River were:
| 1st: | Michael Sitko | Farmington Hills, Mich. | 15 bass | 61-15 | $32,841 + Ranger Z518 with 200-horsepower outboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd: | Rick Taylor | West Olive, Mich. | 15 bass | 57-4 | $12,315 |
| 3rd: | Heath Wagner | Angola, Ind. | 15 bass | 56-13 | $8,210 |
| 4th: | Trevor Jancasz | White Pigeon, Mich. | 15 bass | 55-7 | $7,389 |
| 5th: | Ryan Said | Wixom, Mich. | 14 bass | 51-10 | $6,568 |
| 6th: | Jeff Vizachero | Grosse Ile, Mich. | 15 bass | 51-6 | $5,747 |
| 7th: | Matt Belletini | Birmingham, Mich. | 15 bass | 49-9 | $4,926 |
| 8th: | Jared Rhode | Port Clinton, Ohio | 14 bass | 49-0 | $4,105 |
| 9th: | Skip Johnson | Goodells, Mich. | 15 bass | 47-14 | $3,284 |
| 10th: | Gary Greenwood | Irwin, Pa. | 12 bass | 47-5 | $2,463 |
Sitko also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division on Friday – a 6-pound, 2-ounce – bass that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $230.
Jeff Hippensteel of Rochester, Ind. won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 49 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on the Detroit River were:
| 1st: | Jeff Hippensteel | Rochester, Ind. | 15 bass | 49-15 | Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower outboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd: | Bryan Doyle | Holland, Ohio | 15 bass | 48-14 | $4,309 |
| 3rd: | Donald Sibley | Strasburg, Ohio | 12 bass | 41-2 | $3,447 |
| 4th: | Ed Shannon | Milford, Ohio | 12 bass | 39-12 | $3,016 |
| 5th: | Chad Wright | Clarklake, Mich. | 12 bass | 37-12 | $2,585 |
| 6th: | Tony Grindstaff | Toledo, Ohio | 11 bass | 37-9 | $2,154 |
| 7th: | Philip Borsa | Redford, Mich. | 11 bass | 37-0 | $1,723 |
| 8th: | Derek Raider | Lexington, Ky. | 11 bass | 36-5 | $1,293 |
| 9th: | Steve Sorrell | Beavercreek, Ky. | nine bass | 34-2 | $862 |
| 10th: | Zac Zernec | Ortonville, Mich. | 10 bass | 33-13 | $689 |
Joseph Stois Sr. of Fairview Park, Ohio, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Thursday – a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $153.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title, which allows them to fish the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
For complete details and updated information visit the FLWOutdoors website. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the EverStart Series on Facebook at Facebook/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter/FLWFishing.
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 2013 over the course of 220 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. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit the FLWOutdoors website and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.By: Joe Opager, Communications Specialist
