Clarkston’s Dobson Wins Toyota Series Event on Detroit River

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TRENTON, Mich. (Sept. 21, 2020) – Pro Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces to win the three-day Toyota Series at the Detroit River event in Trenton, Michigan. Dobson’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 59-3 earned him the win by a 1-pound, 7-ounce margin over second-place angler Troy Stokes of Brownstown, Michigan, and earned Dobson the top payout of $27,534 in the third and final tournament of the 2020 Toyota Series Northern Division.

Dobson said that he caught fish on more than a half dozen baits and weighed fish from the mouth of the Detroit River near Erie to the mouth of the St. Clair River in St. Clair.

“I appreciate them making the call to keep us all in the river day one and two, I don’t think I’ve ever fished 16 hours in the Detroit River in two tournament days,” said Dobson. “I grew up here in Trenton, I see a lot of Trenton people here, it’s awesome to win a big tournament out of Trenton.”

Dobson’s baits this week ran the gamut, but aside from a few fish caught on dragging baits, his main players were moving baits. His umbrella rig of choice was a Shane’s Baits Mini Blades of Glory with Keitech Swing Impact FAT swimbaits. For his spinnerbait, he used a ¾-ounce War Eagle Spinnerbait with gold and silver willow blades and a trailer hook. On the jerkbait side of things, Dobson wielded a Megabass Vision 110+1, a Lucky Craft Pointer 100 and a Duo Realis Jerkbait 100DR.

His dragging baits included a 5-inch tube on a ¾-ounce head and a magnum Ned rig with a Z-Man Giant TRD cut in half on a ½-ounce Nichols Lures Magnum Ned Rig Jig Head. He also mixed in a drop-shot with a Poor Boy’s Erie Darter and a 3/8-ounce weight.

On days one and two, Dobson targeted fish in the river, catching a few off a rock pile on a flat, but catching most of his fish in current on the faces of points and breaks. In some places, he threw the umbrella rig, and on other spots he slow-rolled the spinnerbait in water as deep as 15 feet.

Saturday, Dobson started in the river on a community hole at the mouth, some shallow rock and a couple of deeper current spots. Then he burned up to the mouth of the St. Clair River.

“I knew it was still going to be rough, but I wanted to get three in the box,” Dobson said. “I knew there was another tournament up there, and I wanted some fish in the box in case I got there and couldn’t get on anything or they had snatched a few.”

Once in St. Clair, Dobson got on a spot at the mouth of the river that was loaded with fish, but they were barely catchable for him. His first cast produced a 4-pounder, he broke off another on the next cast and then failed to catch any quality the rest of the time. So, he headed back down into the river.

“With 5-minutes to go I caught a 4-pounder,” says Dobson. “I slow-rolled the spinnerbait up the face of a point, probably 12 feet down, and she hammered it, and then I came in.”

The top 10 pros on the Detroit River finished:

1^st:       Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Mich., 15 bass, 59-3, $27,534

2^nd:      Troy Stokes of Brownstown, Mich., 15 bass, 57-12, $10,669

3^rd:       Wilson Burton of Findlay, Ohio, 15 bass, 56-15, $9,260

4^th:       Josh Kolodzaike of Toledo, Ohio, 15 bass, 56-5, $6,883

5^th:       Mike Trombly of Belleville, Mich., 15 bass, 54-11, $6,195

6^th:       Chase Serafin of White Lake, Mich., 15 bass, 54-5, $5,507

7^th:       Randy Ramsey of Burlington, Mich., 15 bass, 52-0, $4,818

8^th:       Matt Becker of Finleyville, Pa., 15 bass, 49-3, $4,130

9^th:       Robert Lefere of Jackson, Mich., 15 bass, 48-14, $3,442

10^th:     Ryan Davidson of Branchland, W.Va., 12 bass, 40-4, $2,753

A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Burton took home an extra $1,000 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $35,000 per event in each Toyota Series tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Tony Grubb of Ann Arbor, Michigan, won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 46 pounds, 5 ounces. Grubb took home the top prize package of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on the Detroit River finished:

1^st:       Tony Grubb of Ann Arbor, Mich., 14 bass, 46-5, Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat w/115-hp outboard

2^nd:      Rod Mackinnon of Middletown, N.Y., 13 bass, 45-3, $3,625

3^rd:       Jon Witt of Allegan, Mich., 13 bass, 43-8, $2,863

4^th:       John Husnay of Marcy, N.Y., 12 bass, 38-3, $2,481

5^th:       Dan Mundy of Swartz Creek, Mich., 14 bass, 36-15, $2,127

6^th:       Mark Sturgill of Brownstown, Mich., 12 bass, 32-15, $1,772

7^th:       Darwin Griva of Hamilton, Ind., 10 bass, 32-5, $1,418

8^th:       Zac Mumford of Covington, Ohio, nine bass, 28-14, $1,241

9^th:       Arnold Payne Jr. of Kokomo, Ind., eight bass, 23-3, $1,063

10^th:     Aaron Stahley of Batavia, Ohio, seven bass, 21-6, $886

The Toyota Series at the Detroit River was hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission and the City of Trenton Parks and Recreation. It was the third and final regular-season tournaments in 2020 for Northern Division anglers. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will take place Sept. 24-26 – the Toyota Series at Clear Lake in Clearlake, California. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The 2020 Toyota Series consists of eight divisions – Central, Eastern, Northern, Plains, Southeastern, Southern, Southwestern and Western – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International division. Anglers who fish all three qualifiers in any of the eight divisions and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning $235,000 cash, including a $35,000 FLW PHOENIX Bonus for qualified anglers. The winning co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard. The 2020 Toyota Series Championship will be held Dec. 3-5 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky, and is hosted by the Somerset Tourist & Convention Commission and the Burnside Tourism Commission.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Toyota Series on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.