Outdoors

Few expected an angler from North Carolina to hang with the locals on the Detroit River, Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair.

Most of the local FLW pros were familiar with the fish and the fishery on Lake Erie, the site of the final stop on the FLW Tour. The first two days of the event saw the local favorites break the 20-pound mark to make it to the cut.

But as the saying goes — a bass is a bass is a bass. And Alvin Shaw knows about bass and bass catching.

Shaw didn't bust through the 20-pound mark the final day, but with almost 19 pounds of smallmouth, it was enough to claim victory and a $200,000 payday. He made it close with only a 3-ounce margin over second-place finisher, Vic Vatalaro of Ohio, a tournament favorite.

On Saturday, thunderstorms and high winds forced some of the anglers off the water and limited fishing time. Sunday's weather for the final day saw high winds turn the lakes to froth.

Shaw didn't take any chances and fished closer by in Lake St. Clair, where he located some bass during practice. He credited his sonar/graph unit with being able to pick up very subtle changes on the lake bottom. He targeted areas mixed with grass and rocks in about 15 feet of water. He located these small areas on the calmer days during practice, when he could the changes easier on the graph.

Normally, in the clear water anglers will use a spinning rod with light line to fool the stubborn smallmouth. But, Shaw opted for a casting rig so he could jerk the tube lure out of the grass and trigger a strike from the waiting smallmouth bass.

Vatalaro provided some assistance to a father and his two sons when he saw them on top of their capsized boat. A helicopter was hovering overhead as Vatalaro has headed back to the weigh-in. He instructed the camera boat that was with him to take the three back to the shore. The capsized boat was not part of the FLW tournament.

So now the stage is set for the showdown next month at Lake Murray near Columbia, S.C. There, 77 pro anglers will compete for four days and a chance to win $1 million in cash.

After the first two days the field will be cut to the top 10 for the final two days.

BASS Elite pros will head to New York for their final two events of their tour. In two weeks, they will be at Lake Erie and the Niagara River, and the following week at Lake Oneida near Syracuse.

Valuable points are on the line for the Elites to make the top 36 cut in the points race for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic.

After some re-calculating in the points standings, Alabama angler Timmy Horton moved up one spot from 24th to 23rd position. Other anglers from the state have their work cut out for them. Gerald Swindle and Boyd Duckett are 47th and 51st, respectively. They both can still make it, but they will need some high finishes in the final two events.

If I can scrape up some gas money, I am going head over to Birmingham for the Deer and Turkey Expo on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the BJCC. See you there.