| HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Just hours into the first day of the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship tournament, Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Tyler Rivet had his finger on the “man overboard” button of his Lowrance units, scared his boat might sink 20 miles from the Metro Park ramp on Lake St. Clair. Rivet was on St. Clair trying to earn his first trip to the Bassmaster Classic when three big waves rolled over his back deck and filled his battery compartment with water. Nothing happened when Rivet engaged the manual bilge pump, and within seconds, at least four inches of water flooded the floor of his boat. “I tried to leave and realized I had so much water weight in the boat that I couldn’t get it on pad,” said Rivet. Rivet instructed his ride-along marshal to sit on the front deck, shifting enough weight forward to limp 20 miles back to Metro Park. Once safely on the trailer, Rivet said water drained from the boat for more than an hour. Rivet certainly is not the only first-timer to take on the big waves of St. Clair in search of world-class smallmouth. The Louisiana native offers the following advice to help others first-timers avoid a rookie catastrophe. Buy An Extra Bilge Obviously, make sure your automatic bilge pumps are working before you head to St. Clair. Make sure you take an extra step and carry an additional portable bilge easily purchased from your local marine dealer. Most experienced big water anglers simply lay the additional bilge on the floor behind their feet at the driver’s console. They run the corrugated pump-out hose over the gunwale on the driver’s side, and zip tie the hose to a cleat to keep it in place. It is also necessary to add alligator clamps to a few feet of additional wire you’ll want to tie-on to the wires that come rigged on it out of the package. That way, you will have plenty of wire length to quickly clamp the portable bilge power wires to your battery posts in a time of need, without worrying that it is a drain on your batteries when things are dry. Don’t Go Alone No one should fish huge waters like Lake St. Clair alone if possible, and certainly not rookies. The best idea is to take on such waters with another boat of fishing buddies nearby. “Don’t go to a place like Lake St. Clair alone,” Rivet said. “Run in packs. Form a small armada.“The expansive flats and open water allow you to drift within sight of one another easily without crowding. In practice, (Bassmaster Elite Series anglers) Brock Mosley, Luke Palmer and I all sort of raked an area together. It will help you find fish faster, and it’s a whole lot safer than being out there alone.” Know What To Throw Preparing your boat for safety is more important than stressing about tackle. Mother nature can be uncertain and cruel, but the fishing on St. Clair is actually relatively simple. Three or four lures will help you catch a huge percentage of the super-sized smallmouth that swim there.“You need a tube, a jerkbait, a drop shot and a crankbait that will run about 16 feet deep,” said Rivet. “I like a 1/2-ounce weight in my tubes most days, but a 3/4 if it’s super windy. I throw 1/4- and 3/8-ounce weights on my dropshots. A lot of guys throw a Strike King 6XD or a Rapala DT10, but my favorite is a deep diver from Blackjack Lures.”“I can’t stress enough how you need to take a little extra time to add a bilge pump, and make sure your auto bilge pumps are working,” said River. “I missed my chance to fish in my first Bassmaster Classic. An extra bilge pump may have saved that chance, but mostly, I just feel so fortunate that I lived to fish another day.” About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 510,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2 and The Pursuit Channel), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing. The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Classic. |
