River rats crank away
Field trimmed to top 10 pros, top 10 co-anglers
PIERRE, S.D. – Migrating fish and howling prairie winds were the story on day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship. While stiff southeast gusts made the long run north difficult, it also stirred a feeding frenzy for a select group of anglers. As the opening round came to a close, Welch, Minn., pro Scott Allar stood tall with a two-day total of 28 pounds even.
Despite being one of the most successful walleye pros on tour, Allar is about as quiet as they come. In a sport where the crazy personalities continue to grow, Allar is the anti-Iaconelli.
“The bite was a little bit tougher today,” said the silent assassin. “We had to work a little harder to get our fish. I’ve got the right program, but I’ve still got to get a little lucky.”
That program consists of trolling natural-colored crankbaits in anywhere from 20 to 40 feet of water. Allar noted that at this point color isn’t as important as size.
“The size is making a difference for the bigger fish. The color doesn’t seem to matter as much, so long as the bait is in front of them.”
Allar’s area is located 60 miles north of the Spring Creek Resort, just south of Highway 212. One of his teammates, Bill Leonard, found the spot last Sunday during the unofficial practice period. Leonard didn’t even qualify for the championship yet his discovery is the talk of the tournament. On day two, Allar shared his water with pros Richard Nascak, Scott Steil and Tom Brunz. Not surprisingly, all four anglers qualified for the final round. Nascak finished the opening round in second place. Steil and Brunz, also Allar’s teammates on tour, made the cut in fifth and sixth, respectively. That’s four of the top six anglers fishing the same area.
This tournament, which is looking more and more like a trollfest, might be Allar’s best chance at redemption. After fishing a flawless tournament at the 2006 Red Wing qualifier, he was trumped when Jeff Ryan caught an unthinkable 87 pounds over four days. Despite fishing brilliantly, Allar ultimately finished second on his home water. This time around, Ryan is out of the picture and Allar’s crankbait skills are clearly on display.
With fierce winds in the forecast tomorrow, everyone is bracing for a brutal day on the water.
“I’ve got a good chance, but everybody else has a chance too. I’m glad it’s not my boat tomorrow. If they let us go, I’ll get there. There’s not a lot going on anywhere else. If the wind is what they’re forecasting, 12 pounds would be good. Fifteen pounds would be nice, but I don’t know if it’s realistic.”
Nascak overcomes boat trouble, sits second
Nascak, who caught 12 pounds, 15 ounces on day one, sacked 13-12 on day two to finish the opening round with 26 pounds, 11 ounces. Lucky for him he quit fishing at 11 a.m. Unlucky for him, his big engine quit and he had to use his kicker for a 60-mile trip back. Thankfully, pro Kevin Herbert took in his fish and pro Bill Ortiz gave him a tow back.
The Winona, Minn., native, like Allar, is deadly when it comes to trolling crankbaits. Nascak’s program consists of a mixture of Reef Runners and Shad Raps.
“They seem to prefer white,” said the river rat. “Everything we’ve been running has a white belly. The ability to troll the leadcore is key. We do a lot of that back home on the Mississippi.”
Kjelden boats two, falls to third
Dustin Kjelden was only able to boat two keeper walleyes on day two, but his day-one catch of 19 pounds, 3 ounces was more than enough to carry him into the final round. Kjelden was still catching fish, they were just too big. Sound strange? Anglers are only allowed to keep two fish over 20 inches as part of their five-fish limit.
“We caught only big fish,” said the Brookings, S.D., pro. “We missed some bites and we had some fish come off. Hopefully we got that out of our system for tomorrow.”
Franklin fourth with a hog
Rising to fourth place was Bemidji, Minn., native Richard Franklin. After bringing in 10 pounds, 10 ounces on day one, Franklin caught exactly that weight with only one fish on day two. In addition to his 10-pound, 10-ounce monster, he also boated two smaller fish to push his day-two total to 15 pounds, 11 ounces. At the conclusion of the opening round on Lake Oahe, Franklin’s total weight stands at 26 pounds, 5 ounces.
“After our long run, we only had about three hours of fishing time,” Franklin said. “Yesterday we had our five in an hour and 15 minutes, but today it was much slower. In prefishing, everyday I got my two overs. I know they’re still there, I’m still marking them on my electronics.”
Not surprisingly, Franklin said his fish came on crankbaits in 20 to 40 feet of water. He too said he’s contour trolling with both leadcore and Fireline. Franklin earned $500 for winning the Snickers Big Walleye award.
Steil fifth
In fifth place was Steil, who boated a 15-pound, 9-ounce limit, one of only 11 limits weighed, bringing his two-day total to 26 pounds, 3 ounces.
While he shared water with Allar, Nascak and Brunz, Steil’s boat received the most action.
“We had our fish by 11 a.m.,” said the Richmond, Minn., pro. “We only fished for about an hour and a half. Then we just eased our way in and sat in the bay.”
Contributing to his sizeable limit were three slot fish that measured just over 19 inches.
“When we get wind like this, the fish seem to be more aggressive. Tomorrow I need more. You’ve got to set the bar higher. On day four, we only get four fish so there won’t be that much movement.”
Fascinatingly, this is only Steil’s second visit to Lake Oahe. At the 2004 qualifying event he finished third.
“I love the lake. I love slot tournaments. You have to have a plan to catch small fish, and you have to have a plan to catch big fish.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros who will be fishing on day three on Lake Oahe:
6th: Brunz of Madison Lake, Minn., 24-7
7th: Troy Morris of Bismarck, N.D., 22-8
8th: Gerrick McComsey of Fort Pierre, S.D., 22-8
9th: Kevin McQuoid of Isle, Minn., 22-5
10th: Rick Olson of Mina, S.D., 21-2
Mr. Mizmo takes walleye world by storm
Perhaps best known in the angling sect for his tubes and soft plastics, co-angler Jimmy Cox has nicely acclimated himself to the world of walleyes. After catching 13 pounds, 11 ounces on day one, Cox caught 12 pounds, 9 ounces on day two to push his opening-round total to 26 pounds, 4 ounces.
“It feels wonderful,” said an elated, yet exhausted Cox. “There’s a lot of pride involved in doing this.”
Immediately after weigh-in, the Bono, Ark., native was seen lobbying tournament officials to relocate the launch closer to his fishing location. Apparently his southern bones don’t agree with 60-mile runs and 4-foot waves.
“It was four and a half hours of fishing and three and a half hours of hell. We launched and then went through the torture chamber. When we finally got there, we got our first fish within 10 minutes. At 11 a.m., we had four good ones in the boat. At 12:30 p.m., we took our pain relievers and then we started coming back at 1 p.m.”
Walleye fans might remember that Cox took fifth place in the Co-angler Division at last year’s championship. He also fishes the Wal-Mart FLW Tour as a co-angler.
Second place for the co-anglers went to Lake Villa, Ill., angler Jerome Chwierut. Partnering with Brunz on day two, Chwierut caught a five-walleye limit Thursday weighing 13 pounds even. After catching 11 pounds yesterday, his two-day combined weight stands at 24 pounds even.
Co-angler Flo Swank of Pierre, S.D., caught only three small walleyes yet still made the cut thanks to her day-one limit. Swank’s opening-round total was 23 pounds, 6 ounces.
Adam Adler of Oconto Falls, Wis., claimed the fourth spot for the co-anglers with a combined weight of 22 pounds, 12 ounces.
Fifth place went to Jason Wrosch of Melrose Park, Ill., for 21 pounds, 9 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers who will fish on day three on Lake Oahe:
6th: Keith Strauss of Syracuse, Ind., 20-14
7th: Mark Fling of Hudson, Colo., 20-12
8th: Darrell Martin of Forest Lake, Minn., 19-6
9th: Dana Delp of Lansing, Mich., 19-0
10th: Dewey Watson of Twin Falls, Idaho, 18-11
Day three of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship begins as the top 10 pro and top 10 co-anglers take off from Spring Creek Resort at 7:30 a.m. Central time Friday. Weights are cleared for the final round, with the winning pro determined by the heaviest two-day total weight from tomorrow and Saturday. The co-angler champion will be crowned Friday based on the day’s heaviest catch.