STURGEON BAY, WI. - Larry Wisniewski and Dave McCarty made their many years of experience on the sprawling waters of Green Bay pay off at the World Walleye Association WI/UP Team Challenge two day qualifying event held out of Sturgeon Bay Aug 16th and 17th.
Fresh off a tournament win the weekend before, Wisniewski and McCarty hoped their pattern would hold for one more week as the final event of the 2003 season in the WWA WI/UP division approached.
Wisniewski and McCarty fished around an island in the northern part of the bay working a 30ft. breakline with crawler harnesses behind snap weights.
"We just decided to stick to our game plan and hoped it worked." Said Larry as Dave agreed.
And worked it did as Wisniewski and McCarty were the day one leaders bringing in a limit of four walleyes weighing 32.88 pounds. Despite rather rough water conditions on the bay in the morning, the duo made the long run incident free and caught the fish that were there as they planned.
On day two Wisniewski and McCarty brought in another outstanding limit of four walleyes weighing 31.20 pounds including the big fish of the day weighing 11.07-pounds.
Wisniewski and McCarty s two-day total of 64.08 along with the big fish of day two earned them the win and a check for $2630.
Second place finishers John Schneider and Rick Kerr were one of the only teams to fish south of Sturgeon Bay. But not going along with the field paid off as they managed to catch 55.18 pounds.
Schneider and Kerr were trolling crawler harnesses in shallow water.
"We had a lot of nice fish at our spot and we were the only ones there" said John. "We threw back five seven pound fish today (Sun) but just couldn't get that big one we needed. Having to weigh that 16 incher on Saturday really hurt us but were still happy with our finish."
Though John usually fishes with his wife Mary, a back injury forced John to get Rick to fill in.
Third place went to the brother team of Steve and Dan Bodinger.
Unlike the winners who stuck to their game plan from the start, Steve and Dan s first spot that they went to Saturday only produced two fish, so with most the day gone they went to a spot near Horseshoe Reef out of desperation and at the last possible moment caught a third fish with just enough time to throw the rods down in the boat and take off for the weigh in.
With their original plan out the window they went back on Sunday where they left off on Saturday trolling crawler harnesses weighted with bottom and snap weights and caught a triple-header to start their day off right.
Though they only weighed three fish on Saturday for 21.45 pounds, Steve and Dan did catch a limit of four on Sunday that weighed 32.29 pounds for a total of 53.94 pounds for the tournament.
Scott Hahn and Jason Brauch caught the big fish on Saturday weighing 10.49-pounds winning them $430.
Special recognition goes out to the father/son team of Matt and Bill Bobber who on Saturday delayed their fishing day to stop and help a team that was in distress.
Without hesitation, Matt and Bill stopped on their run and pulled the team from their swamped boat and stayed with them until help arrived several hours later.
Even with the delay, the Bobbers managed to catch a limit of fish and repeat the feat of catching a limit on Sunday to place 6th in the tournament and cash a check
"This unselfish act which Matt and Bill Bobber performed today goes to show the true character of these guys." Said Steve Poll, Executive Director of the World Walleye Association. "They never hesitated to help and they never complained that they lost fishing time, they are without a doubt what the spirit of competition is all about!"
To see pictures of the winning teams and a complete list of how all the teams finished, visit the WWA website at www.worldwalleye.com http://www.worldwalleye.com/ or watch for results on all the WWA tournaments in the Badger Sportsman magazine in upcoming issues.
For information on fishing the World Walleye Association, a "Tournament Circuit For Fisherman, Run By Fisherman", visit the website or call 920-924-2100
The World Walleye Association is proudly sponsored by Patriot Boats, "Overbuilt for Life" |
