Migration Open anglers find fish on a variety of presentations

The Western Basin Sportfishing Association (WBSA) and Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) held the third annual Migration Open in conjunction with the Western Reserve Walleye Association (WRWA) on Saturday June 28th from Geneva State Park. The day started with mild winds at take off and built through out the day. The field of 53 teams were greeted in the morning with coffee and donuts from West Marine.

The team of Jason Kopf and Roger Hill of Avon Lake took top honors with a 5 fish tournament limit weighing 36.02 lbs. Finishing second was John Csizmadia of Cortland and John Centofanti of Berlin with 31.78 lbs and third went to the team of Scott Schultz of Geneva and Dennis Caserta of Madison and their basket of walleye weighing 30.92 lbs. Rounding out the top 5 were a couple of father and son teams with Travis Hartman of Bellvue and David Hartman of Columbus Grove in fourth with 30.84 lbs and Brian Davies of North Canton and Fred Davies of Youngstown with 30.68 lbs.

In total there was cash paid out for 3 big fish winners. Two in the walleye division and one in the steelhead division. Taking top spot in the walleye division was Davies and Davies with a 10.6 lb fish. Second in the walleye division was Jim McGowen of Hubbard and Steve Kagarise of Akron with a 9.52 lb walleye. Taking top spot in the steelhead division was Mike Robertson of Potsdam and Joe Horstman of Findlay with a silver bullet weighing 4.6 lbs.

In the LEWT team of the year race the top spot remained the same while there were some changes farther down in the standings. Scott Geitgey and Tim Calvert remained at the top of the standings while second place changed hands and the lead shrunk. Two time defending team of the year Travis and Dave Hartman moved into the second position just 10 points behind the leaders. Tom and Tommy Sibert are in third. It is still anyone’s race to win since the South Shore Marine Championship is worth extra points as the final event of 2008. The updated WRWA point standings were not available.

There were a total of 218 fish brought to the scales weighing an average of 4.75 lbs. Variety was the talk of the weigh in as it seemed every presentation imaginable was used. In an odd twist of a presentation the big fish of the event came on a spoon behind a dipsey but it hit long after the dipsey had tripped and started to rise in the water.

The Fairport Harbor Rod and Reel Association served food and refreshments at the weigh in for the anglers. They were there collecting fish donations to be put to good use for their senior citizen fish fry that they have every year. The WRWA and WBSA anglers are happy to be able to help them in this endeavor.

The final event of the 2008 LEWT season will be the August 2nd – Lorain “South Shore Marine Championship” Spots do remain for this event.

For more information about the LEWT you can visit www.wbsa.us Listed below are the 2008 LEWT sponsors: Starcraft Marine, Evinrude E-TEC(BRP), South Shore Marine, West Marine, Reef Runner Lures, Cranberry Creek Marina, Vics Sports Center, Crown Battery, Sportsmans Outpost, Erie Outfitters, Ole Pete's Tackle, Yant Beef Jerky, Navionics, www.OhioGamefishing.com , Buckeye Rod Maker, Michigan Stinger Spoons, Sharpnack II Chevrolet, Jim’s Taxidermy, Sharpnack Ford, Cisco Fishing Systems, LPG Fishing Systems, Medina Plating, and Rich’s Hook Line and Sinker.