GRAND HAVEN, Mich. – John Torsch of Battle Creek, Mich., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League Michigan Division tournament on the Grand River. For his victory, Torsch earned $2,748.
“The morning started out pretty slow,” said Torsch. “During my practice for this tournament, I had found a pretty good spinnerbait bite. So we started out fishing spinnerbaits on the river and fished for a solid two hours. We had zero bites and I knew we had to change it up. I decided to run to Spring Lake and once there I had some more success.
“Finally, at 10 a.m. I got my first bite. She was a 4-pound, 13-ounce beauty,” Torsch continued. “It came off of a yellow and black-colored snag-proof Frog. Then I started working the main lake docks in 3-feet of water. Most of them came on a gilley-colored 3/8-ounce Pepper jig, which you can find on my website at www.hogbass.com. I also got one with a cotton candy-colored trick worm.
“I think the key for me was definitely moving to the docks,” Torsch went on to say. “There wasn’t nearly as much pressure on them, and that’s where the bigger fish were hanging out.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Marc Snyder, St. John’s, Mich., five bass, 14-3, $1,374
3rd: Donald Watts, Gowen, Mich., five bass, 13-1, $916
4th: John Black, Monclova, Ohio, five bass, 12-15, $641
5th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., five bass, 12-7, $550 + $1,000 Evinrude Bonus
6th: Josh Fulks, Cedar Springs, Mich., five bass, 11-12, $481
6th: David Reault, Livonia, Mich., five bass, 11-12, $481
8th: Brian Feutz, Ada, Mich., five bass, 11-9, $412
9th: Craig Stanley, Westville, Ind., five bass, 11-5, $366
10th: Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 10-11, $321
Eric Tourre of Traverse City, Mich., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 9 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win $1,374 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Patrick Lesniewski, Oregon, Ohio, four bass, 9-10, $687
3rd: Joey Miller, Syracuse, Ind., five bass, 9-8, $459
4th: Marvin Anderson, Russell Springs, Ky., three bass, 8-5, $321
5th: Benny Gray, Ypsilanti, Mich., five bass, 7-13, $275
6th: Allan Stephens, Florence, Ky., three bass, 7-1, $252
7th: Steve Morrow, Sparta, Mich., two bass, 5-9, $229
8th: Brandon Stanley, Elkhart, Ind., three bass, 5-7, $206
9th: Kevin Webb, Xenia, Ohio, two bass, 5-5, $183
10th: Jon Witt, Kalamazoo, Mich., three bass, 5-0, $160
The next BFL Michigan Division tournament is scheduled for Sept. 15-16 on the Detroit River in Trenton, Mich. After the fifth Michigan Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 11-13 Regional Championship on Lake Barkley in Kuttawa, Ky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.