By Louie Stout

Tad Hepler and Dave Eggers

Tad Hepler and Dave Eggers continued to represent Michiana as a hotbed for top anglers by finishing third in the Sturgeon Bay Open last weekend at Sawyer Park, Wisc.

The Sturgeon Bay Open is one of the nation’s biggest bass tournaments. It’s held on Lake Michigan and Sturgeon Bay.

Hepler, a former Hoosier who now hails from Berrien Springs, Mich., and Hepler, who lives in Granger, Ind., have fished the Open for 17 years. They’ve logged two second place finishes in previous years.

The tournament draws some of the biggest names in bass fishing. In fact, Hepler and Eggers finished ahead of Cory and Chris Johnston of Canada. The Johnsons are often considered the best smallmouth anglers in the country and are top names in the Bassmaster Elite events.

Hepler and Eggers won $5,000 (entry fee is $500) for a two-day total of 54 pounds, 9 ounces with 10 bass. They beat out the Johnson brothers by one ounce.

The Michiana team was a pound away from second place and nearly three pounds from winning.

They had sacks of 28-6 on Day 1 and 26-3 on day two. They were all smallmouth.

We had two six pounders each day,” said Hepler. “It was crazy. The fish were bedding in four to five feet of water.”

Big bass for the two days weighed 7-7 by a team that finished 10th overall.

Like the Johnstons, Hepler and Eggers used a flogger, with one guy using the flogger and coaching his partner as to where to cast. The flogger is a cone-shaped apparatus that is placed partially in the water to make it easier to spot and few view bedding fish.

Most of the fish were caught on drop-shot rigs and Eggers homemade craw bait.

“The people up there run a great tournament that draws people from all over,” said Hepler. “We saw guys from Indiana, Kalamazoo and from some of the top bass fishing tournament trails.”

Hepler noted that fish up there are exceptionally big and broad.

“It took over 60 pounds to win tournaments held prior to ours,” he said. “If you like catching big smallmouth, I encourage you to fish that tournament. It’s a great event which is why Dave and I make a point to fish it each year.”

There were 1140 fish weighed in during the Open and they weighed 5186 pounds, 7 ounces. All but eight were released alive back into the bay.

The event attracted 164 teams.

For more information about the tournament, visit https://www.northamericanbasschallenge.com