Many walleye fishing pundits guessed it would take daily limits of 20-30 pounds to make the first round cut at the seasons first stop on the 2.9 million dollar RCL Walleye Circuit on the Detroit River. Looks like they were right, except there were only 6 bags of fish weighed in that made it to the 20-pound mark. With weather hovering in the upper thirties to lower forties, anglers toughed it out today and brought in a respectable amount of walleye.
RCL pro Wasyl Mirutenko of Hawthorn Woods Ill., was one of the anglers weighing in a limit of walleye totaling over 20 pounds. Mirutenko took the first day lead with a weight of 26 pounds 5 ounces anchored by an 11 pound 11 ounce hog.
“My partner and I had a good day out on the river,” said Mirutenko. “I know a lot of other anglers did not do as well, but we caught 15 walleye today. We caught our fish in the river and not out in the big water. I plan on fishing in the river tomorrow. What I am doing right now is pretty simple. I am just jigging the river. I caught all of my fish by jigging and that is what I did in practice. It is no secret that jigging works well on this river.
Another angler who fared well in the river was Rick Cole, an Elwood, Ind. pro who sits in second place with a weight of 25 pounds 12 ounces. “I had a good day out there today,” said Cole. “Within an hour of fishing this morning, my partner and I had it going on, but we did not have any big fish. With very little time left in the day my partner, John caught our big fish. He wanted to keep fishing, but I told him we had to go.”
Coles’ big fish tipped the scales at 10 pounds 5 ounces and was the second largest fish caught on day one.
Last season’s RCL Angler of the Year, Rick Olson of Mina, South Dakota did not find the river to be very inviting. Although Olson caught a 5 fish limit, his fish only weighed 10 pounds 6 ounces leaving him in 58th place.
“You never know what will happen on this river,” said Olson. “I think the rain messed up the area of the river I fished. Maybe I will go to the lake tomorrow.”
“I have a suggestion for the first tournament for next year,” said Mirutenko. “Hold it in Florida, it is too cold here. Seriously, I think this bite might be getting ready to happen at anytime. Even with cold weather real big stringers might be caught tomorrow.”
Rounding out the top five after day one are Tim Drascic of Monona, Wis. in third place with a weight of 22 pounds 9 ounces, Jeff Taege of Rhinelander, Wis. in fourth place with a weight of 21 pounds 15 ounces and John Hertensteiner of Victoria, Minn in fifth place with a weight of 21 pounds 13 ounces.
Co-angler leader Joe Kotsull pulls in the big fish of the day.
“It pulled a little bit,” said Kotsull. ” I knew it was a big fish.”
Kotsull’s partner, day one pro leader Wasyl Mirutenko, thought he snagged bottom.
“I really did not think he had a fish hooked,” said Mirutenko. “Joe hooked the first fish of the day at about 8:30 this morning and had nothing for the rest of the day. He then tells me about 1:30 this afternoon that he hooked a big fish. I kept telling him he was snagged. Obviously I was wrong, I netted the 11-pound plus snag for him.”
The top five in the co-angler division are day one leader Joe Kotsull of Allen Park, Mich. with 26 pounds and 5 ounces, John Galaska of Omaha, Neb. in second place with 25 pounds 12 ounces, Tom Harrison of Naperville, Ill. in third place with a weight of 22 pounds 9 ounces, Donald Lee of Commerce Township, Mich. in fourth with a weight of 21 pounds 15 ounces and Ron Schropp of Omaha, Neb. in fifth with a weight of 21 pounds 13 ounces.
The day two take-off will be at Lake Erie Metropark located at 32481 W. Jefferson Ave. Brownstown, Mich. at 7 a.m.
The combined total of day one and two will be used to determine the 20 pros and 20 co-anglers who will head to the semifinal round held on Friday, April 5.
Quick stats
Total number of fish weighed in: 460
Total number of fish weighed in alive: 459
Total weight: 1,292 pounds 14 ounces
Percent alive: 99.7
Limits caught: 55