East Wind On Lake Erie Affecting Fish And Fishermen In B.a.s.s. Northern Open
The weather is always a factor for tournaments on Lake Erie and it’s no different for the Bassmaster Northern Open which begins Thursday.
In fact, on the surface, the weather looks pretty nice for the tournament. Even on a normal day winds can kick up 3- to 4-foot waves and on a windy day they could be rolling 8 or 9 feet high. But the forecast for this weekend is for a mild East wind creating waves no more than 1 to 2 feet high.
The problem, said veteran Lake Erie bass angler Dave Lefebre, is not the velocity. It’s the direction.
“The prevailing wind on Lake Erie is West and there is tons of current in Lake Erie, so this just throws everything off a little bit. It makes the current not work right and everything about it is just unnatural.”
Not to mention, Lefebre said, with a West wind all the places everybody fishes – on the East sides of the islands – all the community areas, are all better off.
“But this East wind throws a monkey wrench into the fishermen and the fish.”
After two days of practice, Lefebre, who is leading the Angler of the Year standings in the Bassmaster Northern Opens, said fishing is a lot different than it was three weeks ago in the FLW Fishing Northern Rayovac tournament on Lake Erie. He finished “a disappointing 3rd” in that tournament, a scant half-pound under the winner, and ended up 2nd in the Northern Rayovac AOY race.
“The fish were just starting to flirt with the fall deal in that tournament and I figured they would be in full-blown fall phase by now, but the fishing is pretty tough right now,” he said. “I still think the weights will be up there because we are fishing on Lake Erie, but if we had a West wind it would definitely be better.”
The key to winning the tournament, said Lefebre who lives on the lake at Erie, Pa., will be to catch “bigger fish.”
“There are a zillion 3-pounders in the lake and they don’t do you any good at all here. The key is finding fish bigger than 3 pounds.”
Lefebre fished B.A.S.S. early on in his career, making six top 20s from 2001 to 2003. His high was 7th place twice – the 2002 Maryland Eastern Open on the Potomac River and the 2002 Northern Open on the St. Lawrence River. He also finished 22nd in the 2003 Bassmaster Classic on the Louisiana Delta.
Starting in 2003 he has won 6 tournaments and has 51 top 10 finishes in FLW competitions, earning more than $1.8 million, with two Northern Rayovac Series AOY titles, one FLW Series title, seven top 15s in FLW Tour standings and five top 15s in the Forrest Wood Cup, finishing as high as 2nd place in 2008.
From 2011 to 2015 he scored four top 10s in B.A.S.S. Northern Open tournaments, including 8th on the James River in July and 6th on Oneida Lake in August, which has him leading the points going into the final this weekend on Lake Erie.
A first place finish would mean an automatic bid to the 2016 Bassmaster Classic, but Lefebre said he will not go for broke to earn that invitation.
“I am known for making really long, crazy runs and I am worried about doing that in this tournament. If I were to break down it would mess up my chances to finish in the top five in the points and qualify for the Elite Series next year,” he said.
“My mentality going into this tournament is just don’t do anything stupid, catch 17 ½ pounds a day, finish in the top five in the AOY race – and go to the Elites next year.”
Bassmaster Northern Open
Sep 24-26, 2015
Lake Erie
Shelby Street Public Boat Ramp
Sandusky, OH
