TRENTON, Mich. – Nobody ever said professional walleye fishing was an easy pursuit. Especially not on the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, the premier walleye circuit in the industry. Especially not when the season-opening forecast calls for a 90-percent chance of snow showers, accompanied with gale-force, bone-chilling easterly winds.
But these are the cards dealt to a full field of 150 pros and 150 co-anglers competing in the first qualifying event of the season on the Michigan waters of the Detroit River and Lake Erie.
On the positive side, the angling promises to be good. Prefishing reports of 20-, 25- and even 30-pound days were common at Elizabeth Park Marina shortly before takeoff. The jig bite was hot in practice, but a change in wind can quickly turn productive water into chocolate milk.
As the water cleared up over the past few days, Lake Erie began to look like a viable option. But anyone brave enough to venture to the big lake would have had to have done so with extreme caution, as 25 mph winds can create waves up to 8 feet in height. With these treacherous conditions and the safety of the anglers in mind, FLW Outdoors is restricting anglers to the river today. That ruling, although temporary, will definitely alter some plans.
Even with the recent restriction, catching a five-fish limit should not be a problem, so long as the smaller male walleyes continue their aggressive behavior. A tournament limit of males will add up to roughly 12 pounds, which might be good enough for a check over the course of three days, but certainly won’t be good enough for a top-10 finish.
According to pro Paul DeVoss, no matter where an angler chooses to fish, there will be congestion.
“There isn’t going to be any secrets today,” said DeVoss. “Not with the lake being off limits.”
The Dodgeville, Wis., native was one of only 13 pros to catch a limit each day of the opening round at last year’s Detroit River event.
“I’ll be happy with 20 pounds today. The river was going really good during practice, but I haven’t been there the past few days.”
Tournament logistics
Elizabeth Park Marina in Trenton, Mich., will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7 a.m. Eastern time. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 23800 Allen Road in Woodhaven, Mich., beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public.
Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight. Pros compete against other pros, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers. The full field competes during the three-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day accumulated weight. Weights carry over to day four, with the winner determined by the heaviest four-day weight. In the Pro Division, the winner can take home up to $100,000 in cash if he or she is contingency qualified. The top co-angler prize is $18,000.
Wednesday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:59 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 34 degrees
Expected high temperature: 39 degrees
Water temperature: 36-42 degrees
Wind: E at 25 mph
Maximum humidity: 84 percent
Day’s outlook: snow and rain mixture