Hughes hoists Walleye League Finals trophy
Wisconsin Division angler wins $53,000 Ranger-Evinrude package
WINONA, Minn. – The old saying goes that nice guys always finish last. Oshkosh, Wis., angler Jimmy Hughes challenged that notion by winning the 2008 Walmart FLW Walleye League Finals on Pools 5A, 6 and 7 of the Mississippi River.
On Monday, Hughes and his friend and fellow Wisconsin Division angler Nicolas Schertz discovered a backwater area two miles downstream of Levee Park in Pool 6. The first time they visited the area, they 
caught a couple of nice walleyes on night crawlers. They checked the area later in the day, caught a giant and knew they had stumbled onto something special.
“We knew that willow cats were going to be the winning bait, but we wanted to save them for the tournament,” said Hughes, who won in wire-to-wire fashion. “Obviously it was the right decision.”
The area itself actually consisted of three small rock piles. Hughes called them miniature wing dams, but they were really rocky deposits left by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. To catch his fish, Hughes used a live-bait rig similar to a Carolina Rig. His leader was 12 inches in length from hook to slip-sinker, and he fished the front face of the rock piles in 10 to 12 feet of water.
In front of his No. 2 Gamakatsu hook, he inserted an orange bead. For line he used 15-pound Berkley Fireline on his main line and 20-pound Berkley Vanish for his leader. One of the keys to his presentation was letting the walleyes take the bait for several seconds before setting the hook.
“Those willow cats are spiny little fish. It’s important to give the walleyes some time to chew on them for a while.”
On day one Hughes caught a 21-pound, 4-ounce stringer. He followed that up with 15 pounds, 13 ounces on day two, and he caught 10 pounds, 5 ounces today. Although the weather was dreary 
Saturday, the fish were in the biting mood. Nine out of the top 10 pros caught a five-fish limit – the lone exception being the pro winner, who caught four.
The win was especially sweet for Hughes, who had led two tournaments (Mercury Nationals, Master’s Walleye Circuit on Lake Winnebago) earlier in the year only to have the title slip away.
“It’s a huge relief,” he added. “It’s incredible I did that well with only 14 bites over three days.”
Although he considers the League Finals the biggest win of his career, Hughes has won a Walleye League event in the past. In 2005, he won the Wisconsin Division qualifier on Petenwell Lake. With a three-day total weight of 47 pounds, 6 ounces, Hughes’ margin of victory was 7 pounds.
Next season, he will be fishing the Walleye League in a brand-new Ranger 621 powered by an Evinrude outboard.
“I’m going to keep this boat. I’m wearing my Crestliner clothes now, but I’m making the switch.”
Bremmer rallies to second
Avoca, Wis., boater Galen Bremmer made the most of the final day on the Mississippi River. He began 
the day in sixth place and moved all the way to second via five walleyes that weighed 20 pounds, 5 ounces, the heaviest catch of the day. While he was never a serious threat to unseat Hughes, he did cash a $3,500 check for a three-day total weight of 40 pounds, 5 ounces.
“If I would have had 8 or 9 pounds the first day, I could’ve done it,” said Bremmer, who only caught 3-11 Thursday.
Although his weight was impressive, Bremmer said day three was a struggle.
“We were on one of my best wing dams for over an hour without a bite. We were just about to leave when a camera boat came by, and I immediately got a bite – a 4-pounder.”
Bremmer and his co-angler partner, Tom Laveque, caught 10 walleyes on the day. All were caught on two specific wing dams in Pool 6, five miles south of Levee Park. Bremmer used willow cats and a slip-sinker setup similar to Hughes’. Instead of mono on the main line, he used 20-pound braid and 15-pound mono for the leader.
“This was my first year in the finals, and it couldn’t have gone any better.”
Christensen third
Despite catching the third-heaviest limit of the day, boater Daniel Christensen slipped from second to 
third. His five fish weighed 13 pounds, 2 ounces, giving Christensen a three-day total of 39 pounds, 8 ounces.
“I lost a big fish as my line went over the sharp rocks of a wing dam,” said the Cochrane, Wis., native. “I guess next time I’ll have to use 80-pound braid.”
Throughout the first two days, Christensen was catching his fish on jumbo leeches with a 14-inch leader and No. 2 hooks. On day three his leech bite died and he resorted to the tried and true willow cats.
“Yesterday I fished wing dams in Pool 7, and today I fished in Pool 6, 12 miles south of the park. Believe it or not, we sat for the first six hours without a bite. We literally had no fish at 1:30 p.m.”
For his third-place finish, Christensen earned $3,100.
Ernst, Dirkman round out top five
Matthew Ernst of North Oaks, Minn., was the biggest mover on day three. He started the final round in 10th place and finished fourth on the strength of a 14-pound, 14-ounce catch. Ernst finished with 33-6 and earned $1,750.
“The fishing was really good today; they came right away,” Ernst said. “We lost a lot of fish the first two days, and today we figured out how to get them.”
Ernst said the key to his success was finding wing dams with the strongest current.
Coming in fifth place was Fergus Falls, Minn., angler Brad Dirkman. Throughout the week, Dirkman was the most consistent angler in the field – catching limits of 10-9, 10-11 and 10-10. He finished with 31 pounds, 14 ounces and earned $1,000.
Dirkman used a mix of Gulp, crawlers, leeches and willow cats to catch his fish. On day three willow cats were the best bait. He credited a light-wire jig for giving him extra fishing time.
“That jig got us through a lot of rocks,” he said. “The fish were constantly moving. Every day was a different day, and having the extra time to find them was crucial.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 boater finalists at the FLW Walleye League Finals on the Mississippi River:
6th: Mitchell Jerowski of Winona, Minn., three-day total of 30-3, $800
7th: John Balla of Bartlett, Ill., 29-3, $900
8th: Jerry Fox Jr. of Algonac, Mich., 28-12, $800
9th: Jonathan Rohde of Kildeer, Ill., 28-3, $550
10th: Chad Carroll of Lake Bluff, Ill., 27-12, $500