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| Egstad and Withy win Third Qualifier on GNWC's Wisconsin Circuit |
Despite dropping water levels of 6-12 inches the three previous days, Ed Egstad and Kevin Withy of Lacrosse captured the third qualifier on the Wisconsin Circuit of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) on the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien on Saturday with a five-walleye limit weighing 12.92 pounds.
Egstad and Withy, who cashed a check for $1100 locked up river to the next pool and found their fish in eight foot of water off a wing dam. However, the Lacrosse duo had no fish at 10 a.m., but limited out in the next hour using 3/4 to 1 ounce jigs tipped with leeches.
Second place and a check for $600 went to John Bella from Stevens Point and Joseph Besieda from Wisconsin Rapids with four fish weighing 11.08 pounds. However, they headed 10 miles down river to a backwater area. Although they lost lots of jigs to snags, it paid off as they caught their fish on jigs tipped with either nightcrawlers or leeches.
Clifford Jakusz from Stevens Point and Brad Jakusz from Plover, the current leaders in the race for the Mercury Team of the Year, not only took third place with 8.27 pounds, but also captured the Abu Garcia big Fish Award of two Abu Garcia 6500 Linecounter reels for their 5.51 pound walleye and the Berkley Family angler Award of $250 in Berkley product for the highest placing family team.
Instead of livebaiting, the third place team trolled 3/8 ounce chartreuse Wally Divers in 7-14 feet of water under the Prairie du Chien bridge. They boated their big fish at around 10 a.m.
According to GNWC Tournament Director Dean Higgins, the competing teams did well considering the dropping water levels. "Pre-fishing just kept deteriorating after Tuesday as the water levels dropped. Still these teams found a way to catch some very nice fish. As for the Mercury Team of the Year honors, the Jakusz team leads Bella and Besieda by only one point. Everything will come down to the last tournament at Castle Rock Flowage on Sunday, July 27."
Interested anglers can also call 1-800-890-3474 or email the GNWC at [email protected] for all the latest in GNWC information. Major sponsoring partners for the GNWC include Ranger Boats, Mercury Outboards, Berkley, Abu-Garcia, The Sportsman Channel and UpNorthOutdoors.com.
For those television viewers who do not have The Sportsman Channel and wish to watch the GNWC's television series Walleye Wisdom, be sure to call your cable company or satellite television provider and ask them to include it in their package. |
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| Smithburg and Shaw take Mercury Team of the Year Honors on GNWC's Iowa Circuit |
Dave Smithburg from Libertyville and Joel Shaw from Fairfield used a fourth place finish at Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi River on Sunday to capture the Mercury Team of the Year title on the Grand National Walleye Cup's (GNWC) Iowa Circuit.
Smithburg and Shaw, who won the title by 12 points over the team of Alan Wittmus from Fort Dodge and Mike Clark from Runnells, weighed a five-walleye limit of 10.33 pounds.
Eight teams weighed five-fish limits on a river that had been dropping 6-12 inches daily since Tuesday. Payout went through 12 places.
Winning the Prairie du Chien qualifier and a check for $2000 was the team of Ron Mason from Estherville and Jim Wahl from LeClaire with five walleyes weighing 13.48 pounds.
Earning second place and a check for $800 was the team of Brad Bull from Mason City and Robert Mordini from Webster City with a five-fish limit weighing 12.56 pounds.
Ironically, both teams locked up river to fish the same wing dam. So, the drama unfolded in front of their eyes as they battled for the first place honors. Each team anchored and used live bait rigs tipped with leeches to take their fish.
However, the third place team of Jeremy Ruehle from Ruthven and Moe Hansen from Dickens ran south to Guttenberg where they used three way rigs and a plain hook tipped with a leech to catch their five-fish limit weight of 11.05 pounds. This placing also gave them third place in the Mercury Team of the Year competition.
GNWC Tournament Director Dean Higgins found this to be the perfect way to end a great season on the Iowa Circuit. "Even though the water levels dropped 6-12 inches each day since Tuesday, these teams put on quite a show. It's hard to tell what kind of weights they would have brought to the scales if the river would have remained stable."
Higgins continued, "We had lots of drama out there today. The Mercury Team of the Year was decided and we had eight teams bring in limits of fish.
I'm really proud of all the teams who competed on the Iowa Circuit this year."
The Abu Garcia Big Fish award of two Abu Garcia Linecounter 6500 reels went to the team of terry Mitchell from Woodward and Adam Clausen from Long Grove for a 7.58 pound fish that they caught around 9:30 a.m. at the lower end of the pool on an orange spinner tipped with a nightcrawler.
Troy Loeckle from Floyd and Wesley Lockle from Mason City earned the Berkley Family Angler Award of $250 in Berkley product as the top placing family team. They finished in eighth place with a five-fish limit of 8.77 pounds.
Next up for the Iowa teams will be the State Championship at Clear Lake on September 13-14. A release in the near future will provide a list of those qualifying for the State Championship.
Interested anglers can call 1-800-890-3474, email the GNWC at [email protected] or get on the GNWC website at walleyecup.com to catch up on updated information from all five states.
Major sponsoring partners for the GNWC include Ranger Boats, Mercury Outboards, Berkley, Abu-Garcia, The Sportsman Channel and UpNorthOutdoors.com.
For those television viewers who do not have The Sportsman Channel and wish to watch the GNWC's television series Walleye Wisdom, be sure to call your cable company or satellite television provider and ask them to include it in their package. |
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