Strong winds, rain and rising water did not deter the anglers who fished the second qualifier on the Wisconsin Circuit of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) Sunday, May 11 at Lake Dubay.
The team of Tito Alinea from Mosinee and David Hoffman from Stevens Point led the way with a six-walleye limit weighing 10.51 pounds. They cashed the first place check for $1200.
Second place and a check for $600 went to Mike Walsh from Stevens Point and Dan Yonke from Merrill with a six-fish limit weighing 9.70 pounds.
Brian Deffner and Tom Roeder from Wausau took third place and a check for $350 with their six-fish limit weighing 9.08 pounds.
The Abu Garcia Big Fish Award of two Abu Garcia 6500 Linecounter reels went to Ed Geohring from Wisconsin Rapids and Tom Norwood from chili with a
1.89 pounder, narrowly edging Alinea and Hoffman who had a 1.88 pounder.
With their fifth place finish, team of David and Adam Rasmussen from Stevens Point won the Berkley Family Angler Award worth $250 in Berkley products as the highest placing family team.
GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer said, "For the weather conditions, the bite was really good. We had six teams weigh six-fish limits, and several of the teams threw back several keepers. The weights were very respectable, when you consider that the teams could only catch fish in the 15-20 inch slot with one over 28 inches."
The Kowlton area turned out to be the key area for the top teams.
The top three teams separated themselves from the field by trolling Shad Raps in 4-6 feet of water. Both #5 and #7's worked, but the #7s seemed to produce a little better. Planer boards also helped get the baits out and away from the boats.
Other teams used a variety of presentations including Lindy rigs and jigs.
"This fishery is a great walleye fishery for numbers. Teams caught a lot of sub-legal fish which looks good for the future. There is no doubt the high winds caused the teams to have to hind behind banks and work areas where they could at least have boat control. These teams were tough, however, and most of them stuck with it until weigh-in time," said Barringer.
Next up on the Wisconsin Circuit will be on the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien on Saturday, June 21. Interested anglers can call 1-800-890-3474, email the GNWC at [email protected] for information on Prairie du Chien or check out the GNWC website 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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