Bass weren’t the only fish biting as about four-dozen angling pairs took part in the Sarnia-based second leg of the Great Lakes Super Series tournament Saturday.
“Guys were telling me they were having trouble getting bass because walleye were getting in the way,” tournament director Bill Hamilton said with a laugh.
“This river is full of walleye right now and full of bass,” he said.
Sixteen teams in the Southwestern Ontario tournament managed five-bass bags weighing more than 20 pounds after eight-plus hours of fishing.
“Anywhere you go, that’s amazing weight,” Hamilton said.
“The fishery we have in Sarnia and Lake St. Clair is one of the top tournament places to fish.”
Organizers were hoping for 75 teams, but settled for fewer amid the higher cost of gas, he said.
The Sarnia stop was one of three qualifiers for the tournament’s Sept. 10-11 championship in Belle River.
The top team’s five fish Saturday weighed in at 26.74 pounds, and the heaviest fish caught on the day was 6.18 pounds, tournament officials said in a Facebook post.
Teams spent a couple of days pre-fishing in the area, staying in hotels and spending money locally, said Vicky Praill with tournament sponsor Tourism Sarnia-Lambton.
“We have our fingers crossed that they had a good time here in Sarnia and we hope to have them back next year,” she said.
That will be up to the anglers, Hamilton said.
“At the end of the season, we talk to the anglers … work everything out and see if they like different areas,” he said. “If they love it, we’ll come back for sure.”
Participants were from the London, Windsor, Guelph, Chatham, Sarnia and Cambridge areas, plus maybe a half-dozen from Michigan, he said.
“Which is the first time we’ve had Michigan guys,” in the two-year-old tournament, he said.
West Lorne’s Rick Damphouse and Chatham’s Darryl Boismier teamed up for 22nd place Saturday, with 19.12 pounds.
The duo won a different tournament in Mitchell’s Bay the weekend before and spent most of their time Saturday fishing in Lake St. Clair and the southern part of the St. Clair River, Damphouse said.
“Our fish … they left,” he said. “And so we scrambled to find some more and we got pretty lucky we were able to get 19 pounds,” he said.
Lake St. Clair seemed to be fishing a bit better than the river, he said, but also called the river a world renowned bass fishery.
The team wasn’t immune from walleye getting in the way, he said.
“It’s pretty annoying, he said with a laugh. “You think you’ve got a nice bass on and it turns out to be a walleye. It’s like ‘geez.’”