Rookie wins RCL walleye tournament at Lake Winnebago
Friebel bags limit, first win
OSHKOSH, Wis. – Ranger pro Jamie Friebel of Roberts, Wis., caught a limit of six walleye today that weighed 14 pounds, 2 ounces to grab the win at the third stop of this season’s Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit. This is Friebel’s first win, and what a win it was. He is taking home a fully-rigged Ranger boat with Yamaha motors and a check for $50,000.
“This is my first win ever as a pro,” said Friebel. “I am a bit shook up right now. I am so privileged to be able to fish against such great pros. I just can’t believe it.”
Freibel has plenty of local knowledge of the Winnebago system, just not much luck fishing it.
“I have fished this system plenty of times, and I usually stink,” said Freibel. “I have never done any good on this system. Fortunately, I have a network of good anglers that I work with that helped me in this tournament. I guess it was worth taking a few days off work.”
Friebel banked on an area about the size of a football field in the upper lakes while most of the field fished the river.
“I thought I might be able to catch bigger fish in the river, but I decided that catching a limit was more important,” said Friebel. “The area I fished is about the size of a football field. I had it to myself. The river was incredibly crowded with not only this tournament, but several other tournaments going on at the same time.”
Friebel’s basic presentation was using Lindy rigs and live bait in 1 to 2 feet of water near the cane.
“I focused on the cane, but I really fished a spot on a spot,” said Friebel. “I fished an area that not only had cane, but it also had a decent amount of rock.”
Finishing in the runner-up position and receiving a check for $25,000 for the second straight event is Ranger pro Pete Harsh of Sauk Centre, Minn. Harsh, the current points leader for the title of Angler of the Year, fished the river with the rest of the armada today.
“My goal coming into this tournament was to finish in the top 30 to keep my points lead for the RCL circuit,” said Harsh. “It was unbelievable how many other boats were fishing the river where I was fishing today. There was also plenty of wind. I was blown off the spots I wanted to fish or there were other boats on them.”
Harsh was using a jig and bait combination to hook walleye in the river. Harsh weighed in five fish for 11 pounds, 1 ounce.
Grabbing the third spot and a check for $20,000 was the reigning Angler of the Year, Crestliner pro Rick Olson of Mina Lake S.D. Olson used a very technical approach to find his limit of walleye that weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces.
“I used a real tough technique to master: a bobber and bait,” said Olson. “I simply used a slip-bobber and a leech to catch my fish today.”
The mind-boggling amount of fishing boats affected Olson’s fishing today.
“I have never seen so many boats while I was fishing a tournament,” said Olson. “I looked at the river when we launched, and it was full of fishing boats. I hoped the spot I was heading to didn’t have many boats, but it had plenty of them. I fished around the edge of the area, but caught nothing. I left to fish another spot and came back about 1 p.m. with no fish. I was finally able to fish my spot and got a limit. If I could have been able to fish the spot all day and work through fish, I could have done better.”
Olson was targeting a rockpile in Lake Winnebago away from most of the RCL tournament anglers.
Rounding out the top five pros were, in fourth, Ranger pro John Campbell of Walker, Minn., and, in fifth, Lund pro Tim Reitan of Sabin, Minn.
Michael Dutton of Kaukauna, Wis., took home the co-angler title and a check for $15,000.
“I feel great,” said Dutton. “I had the opportunity to fish with four great pros that got me to this point. I can hardly tell you how excited I am. I can pay some bills with this money.”
Dutton used his body as an anchor today.
“The area we were fishing was so shallow that every time the wind would pick up, the trolling motor would come out of the water. I moved to the front of the boat so my weight would help keep us down. I was kind of an anchor. It worked, and we caught fish.”
A lucky rabbit helped second-place co-angler Jim Lovitz of Kaukauna, Wis.
“My daughter gave me a rabbit for luck earlier in the week,” said Lovitz. “I think I will keep it in my own boat now whenever I fish a tournament. It sure was a good luck rabbit this week.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were, in third place, Richard Clark of Mukwonago, Wis., in fourth, Keith Strauss of Syracuse, Ind., and, in fifth, Ed Parks Jr. of Webberville, Mich.
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