Iowa fisherman hooks the big one
Speicher earns $6,667 as co-angler winner of FLW Walleye Tour event on Mississippi River
RED WING, Minn. – Gary Speicher estimates he has competed in over 50 pro-am walleye tournaments in his career. Up until day four of the Walmart FLW Walleye Tour event on the Mississippi River, he had never fished with pro Ted Takasaki, but he has been attending his annual Walleye Masters Institute in suburban Chicago regularly.
A few years ago, the two were paired together for an event on Bays de Noc in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. That day was cancelled due to unsafe conditions. Speicher was bummed at missing the chance to fish with one of the true legends of walleye fishing. But after three days of competition this week, he held the top spot in the Co-angler Division. Takasaki led his division over the same time frame, meaning the two would be paired together as boat No. 1 on the final day.
Making the most of their time together, the two combined for a limit weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces. 
Three of the five were walleyes, the other two nice saugers. The two biggest fish were caught rigging, and Speicher was proud to acknowledge he caught the team’s second-biggest fish.
“I would say it was a dream come true, but that would be understating it,” Speicher said of fishing with Takasaki. “He ran an excellent program, and there wasn’t any confusion on my end. We each caught one rigging, and I lost another good one. The only disappointment over the four days was having the big fish come unbuttoned. Had we not caught the fish that we caught later, it would have been a tougher day.”
Takasaki’s bread and butter was trolling with crankbaits and leadcore line. In this scenario, the two worked together and took turns reeling and netting. When they were bottom bouncing for big walleyes, Takasaki would hold a rod in each hand and slowly move the boat with his bow mount trolling motor.
“I held one of my rods, and the other rod we dead-sticked,” Speicher explained.
The 20-11 caught on day four pushed his cumulative weight to 81 pounds even. For winning his first FLW Walleye Tour event, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native will head south with a check for $6,667.
“I’d like to thank my partners from the first three days, and I especially want to thank Ted. For allowing me to do this, I also want to thank my family. My wife, Sue, goes antiquing, and I go fishing.”
Speicher said, although the money is nice, the best part about fishing as a co-angler is watching how the pros dissect a fishery.
“What’s great about these tournaments is learning the bodies of water and then taking what I learned and applying it when I’m fun fishing.”
Niemann second
Chad Niemann had the good fortune this week of drawing the ultimate river rat, Nick Johnson, not once, but twice. On day one, the two caught a 31-pound, 10-ounce limit by dragging three-way rigs and live bait on Pig Point.
At the conclusion of the opening round, both sat second in their respective divisions. This time around the bite wasn’t as stellar, and they had to scramble just to put a 13-pound, 9-ounce limit in the box.
“This was great; I learned a lot from Nick,” said the Rochester, Minn., native. “Today we just kept moving and kept looking.”
This was Niemann’s first appearance in the top 10, and he earned $6,333 ($3,000 in contingencies) for a four-day total of 72 pounds, 11 ounces.
Hosek third
In Minnesota, the second Saturday in May means walleye opener on inland lakes and rivers. In 2009, the Governor’s Opener was held on White Bear Lake, the first time it has ever been held on a Twin Cities metro lake. Co-angler David Hosek is from White Bear Lake, Minn., but instead of fishing his home lake, he chose to spend the week chasing walleyes and saugers with the best anglers in the world.
Hosek started the day in 10th place,but rallied all the way to third via a 21-pound, 9-ounce limit, the heaviest of the final day. He caught the 21-9 while fishing with pro Brian Bjorkman. The limit consisted of four walleyes and one sauger. The walleyes came from rigging a small honeyhole in Pool 4 called Katrina, and the sauger was trolled up in the lake.
Hosek finished with 70 pounds, 13 ounces and earned $2,000. This was his third Walleye Tour event as a co-angler and his first top-10 finish.
Berg, Brunz round out top five
Fourth place went to Steve Berg of Hudson, Wis., with 69 pounds, 8 ounces. In his first Walleye Tour event, Berg caught the heaviest limit of the tournament, a 40-pound stringer, while fishing with pro Rick Zachowski on day one. Berg earned $1,667.
Rounding out the top five was Robert Brunz, the father of young gun Nate Brunz and the son of veteran pro Tom Brunz. The Madison Lake, Minn., co-angler accumulated 67-9 and earned $1,833 ($333 in contingencies). More importantly, he upheld the family’s “big-fish Brunz” moniker.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists at the FLW Walleye Tour event on the Mississippi River:
6th: Del Ringling of Valley, Neb., 66-1, $1,867
7th: Larry Oleson of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., 63-2, $1,633
8th: Darrell Martin of Forest Lake, Minn., 61-9, $1,400
9th: Todd Dankert of Anoka, Minn., 61-6, $1,167
10th: Jerry Miller of Lowell, Ind., 58-7, $667
Competition resumes June 10-13 for the third qualifying event of the 2009 FLW Walleye Tour season on Leech Lake in Walker, Minn.