Avoiding the storms that buffeted much of northern and western Iowa, the teams competing at the Lake Rathbun qualifier on the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) put on quite a show Sunday as team after team brought six-fish limits to the scales.
Taking first place and cashing a check for $1600 was the team of Mike and Doug Rodwell from Oskaloosa, IA. Their six-fish limit weighed 16.68 pounds. Their 3.61-pound walleye was the big fish and gave them a sweep of the top honors along with the Berkley Trilene Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley products.
The $800 second place check went to the team of Brandon Carpenter and John Mason from Hamilton, Il with a six-fish weight of 12.22 pounds.
Jesse Rousch from Clive, IA and Cory Batterson from Pleasant Hill, IA garnered third place and the $550 check with six fish weighing 11.85 pounds.
GNWC Tournament Director was pleased with the way the tournament went. "The bite during pre-fishing was good, but you never know what might happen the day of the tournament. Lake Rathbun showed today that it is a quality walleye fishery. The local anglers told us that the bite had been hot, and they were right."
Shallow, shallow, shallow! That was the key for the top teams. Shallow as in 2-4' of water! The Rodwells found their fish on the rocky and sandy areas of the north banks in 2-4' of water. They pitched jigs with twister tails and also Lindy rigged using copper and silver blades. "We had a great time, but we thought it would take more weight to win it," said the winning team.
Carpenter and Mason, who caught over 40 legal fish during the tournament, also worked the 2-4' water, but worked the backs of bays pulling nightcrawlers. For weight, they used 1/8-ounce sinkers.
The depth remained the same for the third place team, but Rousch and Batterson pulled Shad Raps and baby Thundersticks at about 2 mph. Black and silver and orange colors worked the best. They both felt that the walleye population is coming back on Lake Rathbun and Rousch noted, "We caught and threw back a lot of fish."
Other awards were also presented. The "Yo So Close" award of a Yo Net folding net valued at $80 went to the three teams that placed just out of the money. They went to Mike Clark and Al Wittmus in 12th place; Joe Kalvig and Don O'Toole in 13th place; and Dave Smithburg and Joel Shaw in 14th place.
Meanwhile, Craig Kerslake and Jeff Thomas were the winners of the Gander Mountain "Need More Stuff" drawing of $200 for a Gander Mountain Shopping Spree.
For complete results of the Lake Rathbun tournament, check out the Gander Mountain GNWC website at www.walleyecup.com.
After two first place finishes in a row, the team of Randy Mumm and Jim Juhlin from Clear Lake, IA ended up in 11th place at the Lake Rathbun tournament. However, they still hold a solid lead heading into the final tournament of the year on the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien on Sunday, June 20.
Anglers interested in signing up for the final qualifier or simply wanting more information on the GNWC circuit can call 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or they can email the GNWC at [email protected].
Title Sponsor for the GNWC is Gander Mountain. Other major national sponsors include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, the Sportsman Channel, Berkley, Aqua Innovations, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, VIB"E" Lure Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com. Iowa Regional sponsors include Carlson-Sanderson Real Estate, Motor Inn, Inc., and Triggs Bay Resort. |
