It took quite a gamble but the team of Randy Wehler from Prairie du Sac and Craig Anding from Arena needed to do something in order to run in six inches of water to get over the sandbars to get to their walleyes. So, they installed a jackplate on the back of their boat to raise their motor and then added a four-blade propeller for more speed with the motor trimmed up.
That allowed them to run 20 miles upstream through the shallows to catch their winning two-day weight of 16.38 pounds at the 2003 Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) Wisconsin State Walleye Championship on Lake Wisconsin, August 9-10.
"What a story!" said GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer. "Heading 20 miles up the Wisconsin River, these guys had to cross stretches of 400-500 feet where the water was only about 12 inches deep. You had to run wide open with the motor trimmed up in order to stay above the sandbars."
Wehler and Anding not only won $3000 for their winning effort, but also won two Abu Garcia 6500 Linecounter reels for taking Saturday's Abu Garcia's Big Fish Award with a 1.88 pound walleye.
Second place and a check for $1250 went to John Bella from Stevens Point and Joseph Besiada from Wisconsin Rapids with a two-day total of 11 fish weighing 13.08 pounds. "John and Joseph gave a great effort. They were the
2003 Mercury Team of the Year and displayed the same quality effort here at the championships as they did throughout the season," said Barringer.
Taking third place and a check for $500 was the team of Randy Schmidt from Middleton and William Kerr from Black Earth.
The Abu Garcia Big Fish winner of two 6500 Linecounter reels on Sunday was the team of Chuck and Karen Dorner from Sobieski with a 2.17 pounder.
They also won the optional Big Fish pot and finished 6th overall.
The Berkley Family Award of over $200 in Berkley product for the family team who finished the highest in the standings went to David and Adam Rasmussen from Stevens Point for their fourth place finish weight of 5.56 pounds. They also cashed a check for $400.
"Wehler and Anding's risky run was well worth the effort," noted Barringer, "especially since the pre-fish bite on the lake fell apart after the May fly hatch ended. Prior to that, the teams were taking big, and I mean big fish, suspended. It once again proves the importance of adaptability when a bite suddenly quits."
Wehler and Anding found their fish in holes up to 11 feet deep. They also discovered trolling crankbaits downstream worked better than working the cranks upstream. "We shot footage of them for the Walleye Wisdom television series," said Barringer, "and I'm telling you they were really moving with the current."
Bella and Besiada, whose lake bite had gone sour, took advice from a local baitshop and also headed up river. However, they fished at the mouth of the Baraboo River. "This team showed why they won the Mercury Team of the Year honors. Although they had never fished up there before, they took a chance and it paid off," said Barringer. They found a 4-5 foot hole with a gravel bottom and caught their fish either drifting or anchoring with jigs and crawlers.
Schmidt and Kerr, who finished third, also headed up river and did well on Saturday with four fish. However, they hit a sandbar on Sunday and spent several hours trying to get their boat off the bar. They caught their fish pulling jointed Shad Raps.
"It was quite a year," added Barringer. "I think the Wisconsin circuit of the GNWC continued to gain momentum throughout the year, and there is a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for 2004."
For those interested in learning more about the GNWC, call 1-800-890-3474, email the GNWC at [email protected] or check out the official GNWC website at walleyecup.com. The website has all of the latest in GNWC information in not only Wisconsin, but also in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Illinois.
Major sponsoring partners for the GNWC include Ranger Boats, Mercury Outboards, Berkley, Abu-Garcia, The Sportsman Channel and UpNorthOutdoors.com.
Television viewers who do not have The Sportsman Channel and want to watch the GNWC's television series Walleye Wisdom, are encouraged to call their cable company or satellite television provider and ask them to include it in their package.
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