SPRING VALLEY, Ill. – Neither wind, nor rain, nor lightning, nor strikes from hail could stay Patrick Neu and Dan Miller’s bite in the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour semifinals Friday, as the duo landed six saugers weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces under miserable conditions to lead the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers into Saturday’s final round.
Throughout the tournament Neu has produced solid limits jigging and trolling with crankbaits despite steadily deteriorating weather. Weights are cleared for the one-day final round, however, so he will have to duplicate his performance Saturday amid the constantly changing conditions to win $90,000 in cash and prizes, including a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha.
“The bite will be difficult unless the sun comes out and warms things up in the afternoon,” said Neu, who has earned two top 10 RCL Tour finishes since the circuit’s debut in 2001. “It’s anyone’s game at this point. There are 10 guys in it, and we are all in first place.”
Neu entered the semifinal round as the No. 2 seed after landing six saugers weighing 18 pounds, 8 ounces Wednesday with his opening-day teammate, Dean Holden of Red Wing, Minn., and six saugers weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces Thursday with his day-two teammate, Jim Barada of Fremont, Neb., for a total of 12 saugers weighing 31 pounds, 2 ounces.
Miller, who is fishing his third RCL event, is competing for a top co-angler award of $15,000 cash. He entered the semifinal round as the No. 2 seed after landing six saugers weighing 18 pounds, 6 ounces Wednesday with his opening-day teammate, Jeff Manz of Vanderbilt, Mich., and four saugers weighing 11 pounds, 11 ounces Thursday with his day-two teammate, Steve Vande Mark of Linwood, Mich., for a total of 10 saugers weighing 30 pounds, 1 ounce.
Pro Keith Eshbaugh of West Alexander, Pa., and Holden advanced to the final round as the No. 2 seeds with six saugers weighing 15 pounds, 1 ounce.
Rounding out the top five qualifiers are pro Richard Zachowski of Milwaukee, Wis., and co-angler Gary Smikrud of Pullock, S.D. (six saugers, 14 pounds, 9 ounces); pro Nick Johnson of Elmwood, Wis., and co-angler Marly Kroona Jr. of Champlin, Minn. (six saugers, 14 pounds, 2 ounces); and pro Scott Allar of Welch, Minn., and co-angler Kelly Klemm of Wheaton, Minn. (six saugers, 11 pounds, 8 ounces).
Takeoff starts at 7 a.m. Saturday at Spring Valley Boat Club in Spring Valley, and the final weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 1650 38th St. in Peru. Three hundred and thirty anglers representing 22 states and Canada are participating in the tournament, which awards $386,000 in cash and prizes to the top 50 anglers in each division. Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day.
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.