South Dakota Pro Angler Corey Sauerwein will tell you straight away: it is going to take big fish and lots of them to come out on top at the end of 2011 AIM International Walleye Championship at Akaska, South Dakota.

Fishing in Lake Oahe has been that good this year thanks to high water. Some anglers feel it may prove a hindrance to anglers, and others say it may be a boon because bait fish are staying in summertime haunts longer. That translates to keeping walleyes active and hungry, and that means one thing:  probable big weights every day of the Championship.

Sauerwein, 33, from Aberdeen, has eight years of local tournament fishing experience, and hopes Akaska will be his breakout event.

“This is the first year I’ve taken up fishing tournaments seriously,” he said. He finished fifth at the recent South Dakota Walleye Classic at Akaska in August. Akaska Pro Angler Chad Schilling, who also will be fishing the AIM Championship, took first place. Sauerwein said he’s relishing fishing under AIM’s exclusive C-R-R format.

“I caught a lot of fish during the South Dakota Walleye Classic, but the problem was with catching slot fish. If I would have been fishing the Catch-Record-Release® format that AIM uses, I would have had no problem weighing in seven ‘overs’ (that is, seven fish over the slot limit) every day,” he said.

“I was catching big fish every day in August; I just couldn’t catch the slot fish I needed. That’s what I really like about the C-R-R format. I can fish for big fish every day, and the angler who catches the 21 biggest fish wins,” he said.

With the AIM Catch-Record-Release format the local slot limits do not apply. In addition, each Pro Angler has the opportunity to “weigh” his or her seven largest walleyes each day instead of the normal daily limit of only four walleyes. In addition, normal regulations limit the daily bag to only one walleye 20 inches or over. This is why Sauerwein and others see the opportunity for huge catches each day of AIM’s tournament, with potential limits of all seven fish over 20 inches!

Lake Oahe is so varied, he added, that anglers can use their favorite technique, whether it’s vertical jigging, pulling cranks or crawlers.  “The fishing is so good here that these fish are up shallow, out deep and everywhere in between. If you have a technique you have confidence in, and with me it’s pulling crank baits, you can catch fish.” And even Oahe’s historic high waters, won’t matter.

Fish Are Everywhere
Despite an ongoing water release at the Oahe dam, river levels remain six to seven feet above levels in August 2010, when AIM last visited Oahe. “It’s a full pool or close to it, but the water is steadily dropping, about one foot per week. That will be a factor in planning for some Pros, but I don’t think it will be a big factor,” Sauerwein predicts.

“Typically here you’ll see walleyes head from the south in spring and go north. They follow the smelt and shad, and as summer progresses and the water level falls, the smelt and other baitfish flow back south, and the walleye follow,” he said. “But, the high water is keeping bait to the north, which is keeping walleyes there as well.  Fish are so spread out with this high water. You can catch fish in Mobridge, Whitlock (Whitlock Recreation Area), Spring Creek, all over.”

That being said, Sauerwein noted that walleye do have tails, and tend to move a lot, often staying in one spot for only a day or two. Whether they will stay put for AIM Pros will be determined starting September 15.

60-70-Pound Bag to Win

Sauerwein’s prediction for the tournament: expect lots of fish, with the winning three-day limit totaling close to 70 pounds.

“There are going to be a lot of fish caught, and it’s also going to take seven ‘overs,’ meaning seven fish over 20 inches each day, to win this tournament. Some of these 20-inchers weigh more than three pounds. They’re absolutely fat and healthy, and it’s going to be a great finale for the season and a fun tournament to watch, whether in-person or over the Internet.”

And, he said, one Pro to watch is Akaska’s Chad Schilling, despite the “curse of the local,” which often results in a local Pro tanking on his or her home water. “He’s been fishing this water since he was old enough to walk,” Sauerwein said of Schilling. “He was born and raised here and guides here nearly every day. He’s just a heck of a fisherman,” he said.

Regardless of that local knowledge, he and Schilling will be going up against a lot of other Pro Anglers who have earned that description, and it will take until the afternoon on September 17 to find out who will earn the title of 2011 AIM Champion.

 2011 AIM/JJ Keller Angler of The Year Standings
       
AOY AFTER DUBUQUE TOURNAMENT

Rank Pro AOY Points
1 King, Brett 202.23
2 Grothe, Ross 190.48
3 Skarlis, Tommy 187.62
4 Gofron, Mike 187.13
5 Blosser, Robert 179.99
6 Okada, Joe 177.62
7 Carpenter, Brandon 155.76
8 Kavajecz, Keith 151.47
9 Parsons, Gary 139.10
10 Martin, Mark 125.50
11 Kemos, Tom 108.17
12 Lampman, Robert 100.00
13 Parsons, Chase 89.54
14 Samson, Bruce 88.55
15 Brumbaugh, Mark 87.17
16 Carroll, Jim 86.27
17 Duncan, Scott 80.13
18 Miller, Harry 77.10
19 Freiburger, Clayton 70.04
20 Plautz, Dan 69.90
21 Mirabella, Bruce 69.20
22 Corradi, Matt 63.65
23 Hughes, Jim 60.35
24 Curell, Nate 56.81
25 LaPine, Jake 52.96
26 Gordon, Ron 52.18
27 Gosenheimer, Dan 51.81
28 Schilling, Chad 48.88
29 VanOss, Dave 48.58
30 Buechel, Jesse 47.73
31 Keller, James 47.58
32 Andersen, David A 46.84
33 Schmerbach, Maury 45.17
34 Wilson, Terry 44.97
35 Stanaway, Dane 42.67
36 Galligan, Michael 41.65
37 Good, Perry 40.92
38 Neu, Pat 40.22
39 Seelhoff, Ron 38.18
40 Kolinski, John 38.12
41 Takasaki, Ted 36.49
42 Hamel, Scott 35.61
43 McMaken, Michael 35.15
44 Huskey, Marianne 33.78
45 Mealey, Rich 29.47
46 Miller, Steve 28.61
47 Kopp, Steve 27.79
48 Johnson, Doc 26.33
49 Olson, Rick 25.79
50 Tennessen, Jon 22.94
51 Clark Jr., Douglas 18.24
52 Gatzke, Tom 17.63
53 Vivian, Roy 17.51
54 Pape, Don 13.50
55 Keller, Brian 12.86
56 Sauerwein, Corey 12.67
57 Millenkamp, Tom 12.28
58 Slaght, Todd 10.14
59 Loch, Donald 8.22
60 Riley, Todd 7.32
61 Allen, Scott 7.07
62 Schneider, John 5.89
63 Yarbrough, Greg 5.40
64 Oyen, Kevin 5.28
65 Zmudzinski, Ken 4.19
66 Lopau, Curt 2.89

2010 JJ Keller Fishing team Angler of the Year

Robert Blosser

Anglers Insight Marketing JJ Keller Angler Of the Year Race Standings:

Rank    AIM Pro            AOY Points
1      BLOSSER, ROBERT    341.80
2      GOFRON, MIKE    323.54
3      OKADA, JOE    307.06
4      FLUEKIGER, JARRAD    302.19
5      SCHILLING, CHAD    292.14
6      OLSON, RICK    290.49
7      KAVAJECZ, KEITH    284.45
8      SAMSON, BRUCE    283.08
9      CARROLL, JIM    276.56
10    ANDERSEN, DAVID A    265.15
11    SCHNEIDER, JOHN    262.18
12    SKARLIS, TOMMY    256.51
13    KOLINSKI, JOHN    255.47
14    BOGGS, RICH    253.65
15    NEU, PAT    253.43
16    MARTIN, MARK    249.97
17    PARSONS, GARY    245.75
18    MOLLET, GIL    239.73
19    TAKASAKI, TED    236.89
20    GULAU, DENNIS    234.83
21    BRUMBAUGH, MARK    232.60
22    GOOD, PERRY    232.24
23    CARPENTER, BRANDON    230.45
24    KEMOS, TOM    226.49
25    BUECHEL, JESSE    225.03
26    KELLER, JAMES    218.68
27    RILEY, TODD    216.73
28    PARSONS, CHASE    213.12
29    GATZKE, TOM    210.87
30    KING, BRETT    209.56
31    MCMAKEN, MICHAEL    209.45
32    KELLER, BRIAN    207.27
33    SCHERTZ, NICK    205.29
34    JOHNSON, DOC    204.37
35    GROTHE, ROSS    199.25
36    PRZEKURAT, JASON    193.76
37    VANOSS, DAVE    182.15
38    DUNCAN, SCOTT    180.39
39    BACKER, TOM    174.64
40    MEALEY, RICH    163.45
41    JURRENS, LYNN    158.27
42    CORRADI, MATT    151.67
43    HUSKEY, MARIANNE    145.17
44    PLAUTZ, DAN    143.44
45    PLAUTZ, DANNY    138.70
46    MIRABELLA, BRUCE    135.54
47    TENNESSEN, JON    125.41
48    GLORVIGEN, MARTY    114.81
49    GLORVIGEN, SCOTT    109.89
50    YARBROUGH, GREG    103.51
51    PETERSON, JIM    91.08
52    ALLEN, SCOTT    89.19
53    JIRIK, RYAN    84.44
54    LOPAU, CURT    79.81
55    DEAL, AARON    77.21
56    AUDRAIN, KEVIN    71.53
57    STEFFEN, PAUL    71.21
58    CURELL, NATE    71.15
59    SHIMOTA, BILL    70.65
60    KINDRAKA, CHRIS    67.90
61    STIER, DAN    66.58
62    SEELHOFF, RON    61.75
63    LOCH, DONALD    55.68
64    DEMPSEY, RYAN    51.59
65    WILSON, TERRY    51.20
66    WENCKEBACH, KARL    50.13
67    BUTTS, JOHN    47.63
68    ANDERSON, SAM    46.89
69    PYLE, JIM    44.25
70    GWIZDALA, MARK    43.92
71    MEADE, THERESA    42.33
72    PAULSEN, STEPHEN    39.74
73    WIERZBA, GREG    37.94
74    WALWOOD, TROY    35.75
75    PETTINGER, CARY    30.99
76    HEDQUIST, KIRT    25.50
77    LEWIS, MIKE    18.18
78    SUTTON, BILL    16.36
79    PALMQUIST, ERIC    5.97

Ten observations from  the fourth AIM event in South Dakota.

1. South Dakota has some serious walleye fishing fans. It seemed as though EVERYONE in the state was interested in this event.

2. Cell phone coverage in SD is not quite there yet. Our GPS units used for the Top 5 tracking on the final day use cellular data service to send position data back to our web service. They lose signal consistently around the area of the 212 bridge and cell service is inconsistent at best elsewhere along the system.

3. Mike McMaken is a true pro. His scorecard did not match the image for one of his fish - a 23 incher. Since the scorecard is the official record, the transcription error resulted in the loss of the fish and a reduction from 2nd to 8th in the standings, a several thousand dollar mistake. Mike was disappointed, but calm and highly professional throughout the entire process - I was impressed. 

4. CRR works. It is crowd, angler, and most importantly, fish-friendly.

5. The weather is crazy in South Dakota. It seems as though you can always see a thunderstorm somewhere on the horizon.

6. Is there a better place to watch a meteor shower?

7. The Akaska Bait Shop has the best hash browns anywhere.

8. Skarlis is one heck of an emcee. I haven't heard that many one-liners since the last time I watched Step Brothers.

9. Bring your camera.

10. South Dakota is a beautiful state - I will be back sometime when work doesn't require me to be there.