SPRING VALLEY, Ill. – Pro John Kolinski of Menasha, Wis., landed $90,000 in cash and prizes, including a Lund boat powered by Yamaha, Saturday in the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour season opener after catching six saugers weighing 10 pounds, 15 ounces on the Illinois River. His final-round teammate, co-angler Dan Miller of Madison, Wis., reeled in $15,000 for the catch.
“I didn’t think it would happen,” said Kolinski, who is fishing his second RCL Tour season. “I figured we might make the top five, but not this. When I saw the last guy pull out his last fish and put it on the scale, it just took the air out of me. It’s just incredible.”
Kolinski and Miller caught their fish under frigid conditions by jigging 1/4-ounce bucktail jigs tipped with minnows in 10 to 14 feet of water. The pair targeted a sand flat on the inside of a turn in the river using orange jigs in the morning and lime-green jigs in the afternoon. It was the same technique Kolinski employed all week, but the location was new because of debris that washed into his primary area and made it unfishable.
Kolinski qualified for the final round of 10 pros and 10 co-anglers in ninth place after landing six saugers weighing 10 pounds, 2 ounces Friday with co-angler Troy Walwood of Grand Haven, Mich. Miller advanced to the final round in first place after landing six saugers weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces Friday with pro Patrick Neu of Forestville, Wis.
“It has been a wonderful tournament,” said Miller, who was fishing in just his third RCL Tour event. “The money is great, but to be able to fish with the guys I get to fish with and learn their techniques is even better. They are wonderful people.”
Pro Richard Zachowski of Milwaukee, Wis., ($25,000) and co-angler Benjamin Sobieray of Pinconning, Mich., ($7,500) placed second with six saugers weighing 9 pounds, 10 ounces. Pro Eric Olson of Minneapolis, Minn., ($20,000) and co-angler Kelly Klemm of Wheaton, Minn., ($6,000) placed third with six saugers weighing 9 pounds. Pro Scott Allar of Welch, Minn., ($15,000) and co-angler Gary Smikrud of Pollock, S.D., ($5,000) placed fourth with six saugers weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces. And pro Keith Eshbaugh of West Alexander, Pa., ($12,500) and co-angler Scott Hausauer of Appleton, Wis., ($4,000) placed fifth with four saugers weighing 7 pounds, 14 ounces.
The $386,000 tournament, which kicked off the $3.07 million 2003 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, began Wednesday with 330 anglers representing 22 states and Canada taking off from Spring Valley Boat Club in Spring Valley. The field was cut to the top 20 anglers in each division after Thursday’s weigh-in and trimmed to the top 10 anglers in each division after Friday’s weigh-in. Pros and co-angler were randomly paired each day, and weights were cleared for the semifinal and final rounds.
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. The next stop on the RCL Walleye Tour is Lake Sharpe in Pierre, S.D., April 30-May 3, followed by events on Lake Erie in Port Clinton, Ohio, May 28-31, and Devils Lake in Spirit Lake, N.D., June 18-21.
Named after boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund, the RCL Tour is the world’s most lucrative walleye-tournament series and is administered by FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing.