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| Big Second Day Propels Clark, Wittmus to the Iowa Championship of Walleye Fishing Title |
Sitting in 8th place and over 7 pounds behind the first day leaders, the team of Mike Clark from Runnells, IA and Al Wittmus from Fort Dodge, IA knew they had to strike it big on the second day if they wanted a shot at winning the Iowa State Championship of Walleye Fishing. And that's exactly what they did!
Clark and Wittmus brought in a five-fish basket weighing 14.01 pounds that propelled them to the top, earning them a $5000 payday and the Iowa State Championship of Walleye Fishing title!
Second place and a check for $2000 went to Day I leaders, Jesse Roush from Clive, IA and Cory Batterson from Pleasant Hill, IA. They had a two-day total weight of 20.49 pounds, but after a first day's weight of 14.21 pounds when everything seemed to go right, Roush and Batterson were only able to weigh 6.28 pounds for their three fish on Sunday.
Third place and a check for $1200 went to Mike Odor from Algona, IA and Gordy Odor from Dakota City, IA with a two-day weight of 20.10 pounds.
The Iowa State Championship of Walleye Fishing, which is the seventh of eight such tournaments on the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup
(GNWC) circuit, was definitely a tournament filled with drama.
"What a way to end this tournament," said Gander Mountain GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer. "We had a great crowd on hand at the weigh-in, and it came right down to the last team. Jesse and Cory took the lead on Day I and held it right up until that last fish went on the scales! This tournament was definitely a tournament of big fish."
That final kicker fish for Clark and Wittmus, which weighed 7.45 pounds, not only brought them the title but also gave them the Berkley Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley product and an additional $620 in cash.
The top presentation was a common one: pulling crankbaits in 17-18' of water. However, for Clark and Wittmus, there was a little secret they discovered about 20 minutes before the weigh-in on Day I.
"We found a spot about 30 yards long and 20 yards wide on Saturday," said Wittmus, "right out in the basin that showed up like little rough spots on the sonar. It was flat calm, so we knew it had to be rocks, and there were lots of arcs. We marked it and caught fish right at the end of Day I."
Clark added that they went right back on Sunday and had four good fish in the first 30 minutes. Right then, they knew they had a shot. Their strategy was to let out 150' of line and pull multi-colored (blue, chartreuse and orange) DT-6 Rapalas at 3 mph so that they ran about 2' off the bottom.
Roush and Batterson pulled firetiger Berkley Frenzys and perch colored #7 Shad Raps in 17-18' at both the northwest and the southeast ends of the lake. However, they ran two 12' rods off the side with Fireline and two directly off the back with lead core. Batterson noted, "There was a lot of grass and weeds floating on the surface, and if we would have used boards we felt we would have spent too much time cleaning them off." Speed was also a big key with 2.5 mph the ideal speed.
The third place team also worked deep water but found their fish suspended 3' to 6' off the bottom. "We found an area between two spots out in the middle of the lake that seemed to have a harder bottom and some rocks," said Mike. Their big problem was catching too many fish over 20. "We had to throw back a 23 1/2 incher on Saturday and a 22 1/2 incher today."
Barringer added, "I especially want to thank all of the volunteers who helped with the weigh-in each day. They worked very hard at helping the teams with their boats and also at taking care of the fish. The extra dock that VW Docks put in and donated for us to use during the tournament was really a big help to us."
Several other special awards were presented at Sunday's weigh-in.
The "Yo So Close" award of a Yo Net folding net valued at $80 went to the teams that placed just out of the money. They include Jack Davis and Rob Funk from Mason City, IA in 11th place; Dave Smithburg from Libertyville, IA and Joel Shaw from Fairfield, IA in 12th place; and Frank Wood from Mason City, IA and Lance Thoe from Clear Lake, IA in 13th place.
The VIB"E" Lure award of two six-piece lure sets valued at $40 went to the two teams who finished behind the Yo So Close award. They include Chris Scholl from Manly, IA and Kevin Hulsing from Cedar Rapids, IA in 14th place and Neil Daniels from Fort Dodge, IA and Jon Fuchs from Sioux Rapids, IA in 15th place.
The Towtector Comeback Award of a Towtector boat protector valued at over $250 went to the team advancing the most places from the first day to the second day. This award went to Terry Green from Mason City, IA and Steve Templeton from Clear Lake, IA who advanced from 21st place on Saturday to 4th place on Sunday. They also weighed the largest single day basket of fish at 15.87 pounds.
The winner of the Gander Mountain "Need More Stuff" drawing of $200 for a Gander Mountain Shopping Spree went to Richard and Donna Bindel from Forest City, IA.
The Walleye Wisdom camera crew was also on hand to film footage of the Championship. "The Walleye Wisdom camera crew is at all of the State Championships to capture the excitement of the tournament action. The highlights of these State Championships and the National Championships, along with some great walleye fishing tips will appear on our 13-week Walleye Wisdom television program, and we were able to capture some of the most exciting parts of the Iowa Championships," noted Barringer.
Those interested in checking out the standings, reading the releases about any of the eight regions or simply learning more about the circuit can access the Gander Mountain GNWC website at www.walleyecup.com.
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. The Iowa Regional sponsors include Carlson-Sanderson Real Estate, Motor Inn, Inc., and Triggs Bay Resort. |
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