SPRING VALLEY, Ill. – Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour pro Keith Eshbaugh of West Alexander, Pa., and his day-two teammate, John Solek of Indianapolis, landed a six-fish limit weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces Thursday on the Illinois River to bump Eshbaugh into the lead heading into the semifinal round with a two-day total of 12 saugers weighing 36 pounds.
Weights fall back to zero, however, as Eshbaugh and 19 other pros representing seven states square off Friday for one day of fishing to earn a spot in Saturday’s final round. Only the top 10 pros will advance to the finals for a shot at $90,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha, so every ounce is critical. Weights will be cleared for the final round as well.
“The bite was off and on all day,” said Eshbaugh, who entered Thursday’s competition in fourth place after landing six saugers weighing 17 pounds, 1 ounce Wednesday with his opening-day teammate, James Kraft of Eau Claire, Wis. “But I managed to catch a limit by noon. I’ve caught 12 to 15 fish each day by just irritating them into striking.”
Unlike most of the top contenders, who are jigging and trolling crankbaits, Eshbaugh caught his limits handlining crankbaits in a half-mile stretch of the river. The technique, he says, gives him superior depth control, allowing his bait to touch every bottom irregularity along a pass. Eshbaugh also says it is a bit different from other handlining techniques, but he declined to elaborate. With waves of saugers, and the occasional walleye, on the verge of spawning, however, the bite is in flux, and no one technique is a sure bet.
The Illinois River, which is widely regarded as a world-class sauger fishery, produced solid catches for the second straight day, as 161 of 165 teams weighed in a total of 671 fish weighing 1,189 pounds, 6 ounces Thursday.
Rounding out the top five pros are opening-day leader Patrick Neu of Forestville, Wis. (12 saugers, 31 pounds, 2 ounces); John Kolinski of Menahsa, Wis. (11 saugers, 29 pounds, 14 ounces); Mark Meravy of Shorewood, Ill. (12 saugers, 29 pounds, 7 ounces); and Ron Gazvoda of Lakewood, Colo. (12 saugers, 28 pounds, 11 ounces).
Dean Holden of Red Wing, Minn., held onto his lead in the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 12 saugers weighing 30 pounds, 9 ounces. He and Neu caught six saugers weighing 18 pounds, 8 ounces Wednesday to secure first place. Holden then landed six saugers weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce Thursday with pro Ryan Johnson of Taylor, Mich., to retain his spot atop the leader board in his quest to win $15,000 cash. Like their pro counterparts, 20 co-anglers advance to the semifinal round were they start from zero.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Dan Miller of Madison, Wis. (10 saugers, 30 pounds, 1 ounce); Troy Walwood of Grand Haven, Mich. (12 saugers, 29 pounds, 13 ounces); Benjamin Sobieray of Pinconning, Mich. (12 saugers, 27 pounds, 5 ounces); and Michael Hosking of Libertyville, Ill. (12 saugers, 27 pounds, 5 ounces).
Daily takeoffs for the RCL Tour season opener start at 7 a.m. at Spring Valley Boat Club in Spring Valley. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins start at 3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 1650 38th St. in Peru. Anglers from 22 states and Canada are competing in the lucrative tournament, which will award $386,000 in cash and prizes to the top 50 anglers.
Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour anglers compete in four regular-season tournaments in their quest to qualify for the $1.4 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship Oct. 1-4 at Treasure Island Casino and Resort on the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn. With a total purse of $3.07 million for the season, the RCL Tour is the world’s most lucrative walleye-tournament series.
The tour is administered by FLW Outdoors and named after boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund. FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing, is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.