A six-walleye limit weighing 26.76 pounds! That's what the team of Tracy Pogue from Bemidji and Dave Erickson from Crosslake brought to the scales to win Sunday's Cass Lake qualifier on the Minnesota circuit of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC).
Pogue and Erickson not only pocketed the $1200 first place check but also took home the Abu Garcia Big Fish Award of two 6500 Linecounter reels with their 6.14 pound big fish.
Harold Lueck and Rick Runquist from Akeley took second place and a check for $700 with a six-fish limit weighing 19.87 pounds.
Third place and a check for $500 went to the team of Chad Benson and Joe Edlund from Bemidji with a six-fish wight of 15.31 pounds. They further solidified their claim to the Mercury Team of the Year honors. They have now had two first place finishes and a third place finish with only one event left on the Minnesota circuit.
The Berkley Family Angler Award of $250 in Berkley product as the top placing family team went to Jereme and Robert Watkins from New Carlisle, Indiana with four walleyes weighing 7.03 pounds.
"Talk about story lines!" said GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer. "This one had them all. We had an incredible first place weight, another top showing by our Mercury Team of the Year leaders, several six-fish limits and a team that travels all the way from Indiana to fish Cass Lake and that team wins the Berkley Family Angler Award."
With winds from the south during the previous four days of pre-fishing, you knew something big was going to happen. "I think things would have been even better if we wouldn't have had the storm roll through here in the Saturday night," said Barringer.
Getting back to the basics was the name of the game for the top three teams as they worked Lindy Rigs with Lindy slip sinkers in 11-14 feet of water along the weed edges and the sand breaks. The bait of choice was a nightcrawler for the top two teams, while Benson and Edlund used a leech.
As for the Indiana team, Barringer had this to say. "The Watkins team fishes the Illinois Circuit, but they also have a place on Cass Lake. Since they were going to be here anyway, they decided to jump in and they came away with the Berkley Family Angler Award."
Barringer noted one very unique quality about the Cass Lake tournament. "What a great environment in which to hold a walleye tournament in Minnesota's northwoods. There's the sound of the loons and the smell of the pines combined with the opportunity to fish a tremendous walleye fishery."
Next up on the Minnesota Circuit of the GNWC will be the fourth and last qualifier at Lake Vermilion on Sunday, July 20. Anglers can call 1-800-890-3474, email the GNWC at [email protected] or check out the official GNWC website at walleyecup.com for all of 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.
Those who do not get the Sportsman Channel and want to see the GNWC's television series Walleye Wisdom are encouraged to contact their cable or satellite provider and ask for the Sportsman Channel to be added to their program line-up. |
