Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity awaits

Fishing promises to be excellent on day two

PORT CLINTON, Ohio – The 150 pros and 150 co-anglers fishing the season-opening Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event on Lake Erie are in for a real treat. For nearly a week, these fishermen have waited for the right conditions to align. The wait is finally over, and the time to start catching pigs is now.

Once again, sunny skies and warm temperatures are in the forecast. But even better, yesterday’s stiff winds are expected to diminish a bit. With warmer, clearer water and less wind, day two promises to be one for the ages.

Madison Lake, Minn., pro Tom Brunz is in eighth place after day one. Fishing with co-angler Sally Blain, Brunz caught a limit that weighed 35 pounds, 15 ounces. Brunz also owns the heaviest single-day catch in Walleye Tour history. In 2003, Brunz caught five Lake Erie walleyes that weighed 47 pounds, 5 ounces. Although he doesn’t believe his record will be broken at this tournament, he knows there is an outside chance.

“We only had nine bites yesterday, and we ended up with 36 pounds,” Brunz said. “If the fish really start biting, anything is possible.”

Brunz was one of the few pros who had a productive practice. He termed his day-one performance “average or slightly under average.”

“The challenge is reconnecting with the fish. They move a little bit every day, and you’ve got to find them.”

Pro Nate Provost is two spots ahead of Brunz in seventh place. He said his practice got a little bit better every day. With better conditions, he hopes his big-fish pattern will get even stronger.

“We were fishing for five bites and we got eight,” said the Green Bay, Wis., pro. “We never pounded the fish in practice, but it’s definitely improving on a daily basis. This is going to be a shootout.”

On the other end of the spectrum, 13 pros failed to bring a keeper walleye to the scale, and roughly 20 more only caught one. But when a fishery like Lake Erie is consistently capable of producing 30- and 40-pound bags, anything is possible in a four-day cumulative-weight tournament.

Anglers will weigh in their catches today beginning at roughly 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, when the field arrives at Water Works Park after trailering their boats from the Nor’Easter Club.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:48 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 48 degrees

Expected high temperature: 69 degrees

Water temperature: 42-48 degrees

Wind: SSW at 14 mph

Maximum humidity: 62 percent

Day’s outlook: mostly sunny