Gainey looking forward to Lake Erie smallmouth in Rayovac Northern Division final
Nick Gainey has only been on Lake Erie one time before in his life and it was a disaster because of nasty weather, so he has no idea of what the fishing will be like in the third FLW Northern Rayovac Series tournament on the Great Lake next Thursday through Saturday.
Based on that one experience, however, he knows Lake Erie can be a dangerous place if the weather kicks up.
“We went out of Cleveland that time and there were 8- to 10 foot waves,” he said. “I don’t know anything about it, except from what I have heard from a couple of guys I’ve talked to. Guys tell me you have to go to Canada to win, from Sandusky Bay to Pelee Island.”
That could be a hairy experience in bad weather, Gainey knows. “It’s a dangerous place.”
With that in mind, Gainey said his mindset going into the tournament is to try to catch a small limit of smallmouth bass each day and earn enough points to go to the Rayovac Championship. Forty anglers from each of the five Rayovac divisions will qualify for the championship on the Ohio River at Paducah, Ky., the last week of October.
Somewhat ironically, Gainey, who hails from Charleston, down on the South Carolina coast, is ranked 12th in the Rayovac Northern Division points standings with just one tournament left to fish – on Lake Erie. It’s ironic because he has not fared nearly as well in the Rayovac Southeastern Division, finishing 59th due to a disastrous first tournament outing on Lake Okeechobee in January. In fact, he fairly consistently finishes higher in the Northern Division than the Southeastern Division.
That very likely is due to the fact that Gainey, who lives in the heart of largemouth bass country, dearly loves to fish for smallmouths.
“I’ve been up north, particularly on Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain, a number of times and once you figure out how to catch those smallies on a drop shot it is just a fun, fun thing. I went to Lake Champlain three weeks ago, fishing with 8-pound line and catching 3- to 3 ½-pound smallies,” he said.
“I’d rather catch a smallish than a largemouth. Besides, in June, July and August you don’t want to fish in the south anyway.”
Rainy will be on Lake Erie this weekend and practice right up to the tournament in hopes of finding some good smallmouth spots.
“I’ll go out and throw a drop shot and drag a tube and try to find some rock piles. If the wind is blowing 15 to 20 miles per hour, I will hang around the shore and try to catch a couple of largemouths.”
The goal will be to finish high enough to stay in the top 40 and make it to the Rayovac Championship. He followed that pathway to the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Murray in 2008, finishing in the top 10 as the top angler in the Northern Division in the Rayovac Championship on the Mobile Bay.
“If I don’t just bomb out completely at Lake Erie I’ve got a good shot at making the top 40 in the Northern Division,” he said.
FLW Northern Rayovac Series
Aug 27-29, 2015
Lake Erie
Shelby Street Public Boat Ramp
