(Provided by R&B)

Spawning smallmouth dominate catches in R&B Lake Michigan event.

Smallmouth gurus Ross Tornabene (Naperville, Ill.) and Bobby Bergren (Hammond, Ind.) captured 18.90 pounds of smallmouth bass to win the R&B Circuit tournament on Lake Michigan at Portage, Ind. last weekend.

They ran 30 miles to Chicago where they landed a limit off beds with tubes and drop shot rigs before working their way back towards the ramp. In the last hour they caught two additional 4-pound fish while fan casting a tube along a steel wall. Their stringer is the second heaviest in the R & B Bass Circuit's seven year history.

The winners took home $627 for first and won a bonus $56 for having the second largest fish in the event, a 4.44-pound smallmouth.

Tournament directors Andy Buss (North Liberty) and John DuPont (North Liberty) took a 16.73-pound limit of smallmouth bass to the scales and finished second ($335). They stayed in Indiana waters and caught all of their bass off their spawning beds. They used a variety of weights and colors of Xtreme Bass Tackle tubes to get the job done.

Tourney spotlights Portage, Ind. smallmouth fishery

Tom Billings (Chesterton) and Ryan Whitacre (Chicago) used drop shots and TightRope jigs in Illinois' water to bag a 16.40-pound limit of smallmouth for third ($219). All of their fish were also taken off beds. The drop shot was matched up with a Strike King KVD Dream Shot. Their limit was anchored by the biggest bass of the event, a 4.52-pound smallmouth, earning them another $224.