PORT CLINTON, Ohio – Pro Tom Brunz of Madison Lake, Minn., and his co-angler partner Keith Krych of St. Clair Shores, Mich., combined for five walleyes weighing 38 pounds, 12 ounces to propel Brunz to the top of the pro leaderboard heading into Friday’s semifinal round of the four-day, $386,000 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour event on Lake Erie near Port Clinton.
An original field of 156 pros and 156 co-anglers was trimmed to 20 in each division following Thursday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Pros are in the hunt for a top pro award of $50,000 cash plus a fully rigged Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat while co-anglers are duking it out for a winning cash prize of $15,000. Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight and are randomly paired each day.
After hauling in more than two tons of walleyes Wednesday, anglers enjoyed another plentiful day Thursday on Lake Erie, catching 767 walleyes weighing 4,838 pounds, 10 ounces, including 152 five-walleye limits. Most competitors are catching their fat sacks not in Erie’s expanse of open water but rather along contour lines.
Day-one leader Brunz was no exception, catching his tournament-leading walleyes with night crawlers in 20 to 25 feet of water. He caught five walleyes Wednesday that weighed 47 pounds, 5 ounces, and his two-day catch of 10 walleyes weighed a whopping 86 pounds, 1 ounce. Brunz said he was trying to stay in clearwater areas and is fishing with planer boards to claim his walleyes.
“We had another pretty good day (Thursday),” said Brunz, whose best finish to date on the RCL Tour is an 11th-place effort on Devils Lake in 2001. “Our presentation and our spot were pretty much the same, but we had a little more competition, and that made it a little bit harder. It was a small spot we were fishing, and a few more boats moved onto the spot, so the fish got caught out of there.”
Even with his primary spot drained of walleyes, Brunz remains confident that the tournament title could be his. “I think I have a fairly good chance because I have a couple of other spots that I haven’t fished yet, and nobody’s been on them,” he said. “Hopefully that will be an advantage, if the weather cooperates and I can get to them.” Calm conditions on Lake Erie are expected to become windier as storms begin to roll into the area.
Rounding out the top five pros are Bill Hall of Algona, Iowa (10 walleyes, 83 pounds, 6 ounces); Patrick Byle of Hartford, Wis. (10 walleyes, 83 pounds, 4 ounces); David Kolb of Riverview, Mich. (10 walleyes, 80 pounds, 14 ounces); and Rock McGillivary of Watertown, S.D. (10 walleyes, 79 pounds, 13 ounces).
William Vogel of Lafayette, Ind., leads the co-angler contingency into the semifinals thanks to a two-day catch of 10 walleyes weighing 86 pounds, 14 ounces. He and pro partner Jamie Friebel of Roberts, Wis., caught five walleyes weighing 40 pounds, 5 ounces Thursday to secure Vogel’s spot as the co-angler leader. He entered Thursday’s competition No. 2 in the Co-angler Division.
“The last two days, the wind has been very light up here, and I think we actually would have had more weight in the total field if we’d had more wind, because the walleyes get more active when the wind blows,” said Vogel, who caught his walleyes Thursday in 10 to 30 feet of water on a crankbait. “The walleyes like to eat.”
Vogel, like Brunz, also likes his chances of emerging victorious on Lake Erie. “I’ve fished quite a few tournaments,” he said. “I’m pretty good with a net, and I’m pretty good at reeling them in.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Dave Stanke of Green Bay, Wis. (10 walleyes, 81 pounds, 15 ounces); Phil Petersen of Lowell, Mich. (10 walleyes, 80 pounds, 10 ounces); Mel Reichling of Watertown, S.D. (10 walleyes, 77 pounds, 15 ounces); and James Kraft of Eau Claire, Wis. (10 walleyes, 77 pounds, 12 ounces).
Anglers take off each morning from Catawba State Park in Port Clinton at 7 a.m., and Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 4070 E. Harbor Road in Port Clinton beginning at 4 p.m.
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.