Pierre, S.D.- Lund pro Bob Propst Jr. of Fort Pierre, S.D. and co-angler Michael Coats of Byron, Minn. lead their respective divisions into the final round of the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit tournament on Lake Sharpe with a 12 pound 15 ounce limit of walleye. The difference between the leader and the tenth place qualifier was just over a pound. With weights being so close, tomorrow’s finale should provide plenty of drama.
“I’ll tell you what, this elimination format is nerve racking. I can hardly take the pressure,” said Propst. “You just never know if you have enough weight. I think it took some luck today.”
What Propst is referring to is the elimination format used for RCL tournaments. After the first two days the 20 semifinalist start day three from scratch. The 10 finalists will also start from zero.
Propst had a tough morning, but things worked out in the end.
“I headed to a spot this morning thinking I could catch plenty of fish in a hurry,” said Propst. “I went upriver this morning and that was a bad spot. Later I headed down river to a good spot and found the fish. I am very relieved to have made it to the final round.”
Yamaha pro Shannon Kehl from Menoken, N.D. was shooting for 13 pounds to get him into the final round on Saturday.
“I was hoping for 13 pounds,” said Kehl. “I knew if I caught 13 pounds I would be in the final round.”
Kehl and his co-angler partner Reid Widvey of Pierre, S.D. weighed in 12 pounds and 14 ounces today enough for a second place spot going into the final round.
Kehl had a short day of fishing.
“We were in by 10:00 a.m.,” said Kehl. “All of our fish today came in the right order. We got our bigger fish and still had a slot spot left. I knew we had a decent weight with the 5 we had. We caught a 16 incher and decided to keep it. I figured if we did not have enough with that weight, we were never going to have enough weight.”
In third position is Lund pro Dan Dolinski of Alberta, Canada. Dolinski had been coming in early the previous two days, but had to stay out much longer today.
“I had been coming in pretty early on the other days,” said Dolinski. “Today the bite was off compared to what I had been experiencing. I had to work much later into the day today.”
Pre-fishing paid off for Dolinski.
“I put in about two and a half days of pre-fishing,” said Dolinksi. “During that time, I found the areas and the fish I have been catching. They have stayed put for the first three days, hopefully they will be there tomorrow.”
Rounding out the top five pros going into tomorrow’s final are Ranger pro Charles Johnson of Merrifield, Minn. and tied for the fifth spot are Ranger pro Pete Harsh of Sauk Centre, Minn. and Lund pro Jim Klick of White Bear Lake, Minn.
Co-angler Coats has first timers luck.
“This is the first tournament I have fished,” said Coats. “This is incredible that I am going to the finals. This RCL tournament has been a wonderful experience for me. Today we caught plenty of fish and all of our slot fish were good. We got back pretty early. I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
Local co-angler and second place finisher Reid Widvey has plenty of time under his belt when it comes to Lake Sharpe.
“I fish this lake quite a bit,” said Widvey. “There have been a few times when I have fished this lake three days in a row. I guess I know it pretty well.”
Coming in third in the co-angler division was Duane Hons of Laurel, Mont. Hard work and a few right decisions paid off for him today.
“We had a tough start to the day,” said Hons. “We made some wrong decisions early and then we made some right decisions. We worked hard and it paid off.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are in the fourth spot Flo Swank of Pierre, S.D., and tied for fifth are John Henderson and Jason Hanson both from Pierre, S.D.
Pro finalists are competing for a first place prize of $50,000 cash and a fully rigged Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat fitted with an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard. Co-anglers are competing for a first place prize of $15,000 cash.
Competition resumes at 7 a.m. Saturday at Downs Marina in Pierre. Saturday’s weigh-in will be at 4:00 p.m. at the Pierre Wal-Mart located at 1600 North Harrison Ave. There is plenty of bleacher seating available and food and drink concessions are available, too.