By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
    "One big one will make the difference!" Those were the recurring words
made by Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) teams at the Iowa State Walleye
Championships held on Clear Lake last weekend.
    With no patterns established during several days of pre-fishing and
several weather changes, the 30 teams vying for the State Championship title
knew one fish would make all the difference.
    For the team of Chris Scholl from Manley and Kevin Hulsing from Cedar
Rapids, a 4.17 pound walleye taken at midday on Saturday made all the
difference as they captured the 2003 GNWC Iowa State Walleye Championships
and cashed a winning check of $6000.
    Along with their one big fish, Scholl and Hulsing managed to scratch out
one more keeper for a total weight of 6.10 pounds. The winners also won the
Big Fish Pot of $600 and two ABU Garcia 6500 Linecounter reels for the ABU
Garcia Big Fish Award for Day I.
    Second place and a check for $2000 went to Jeff Thomas from Allburnett
and Craig Kerslake from Marion with two fish weighing 5.63 pounds.
    Meanwhile, Randy Mumm and Jim Juhlin from Clear Lake took the $1000
third place check with three walleyes weighing 5.43 pounds. They also took
the ABU Garcia Big Fish Award on Sunday for their 3.08 pound walleye.
    The Berkley Family Angler Award of over $200 in Berkley product for the
top placing family team went to Terry and Bruce Sparks from Des Moines with
a two-day weight of 2.44 pounds.
    "Talk about tough!" said GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer. "I've
never seen a mid-September bite on Clear Lake this tough. One reason has to
do with the tremendous year class of yellow bass. All these walleyes have to
do is open their mouth and the food is there! There was simply no pattern to
these fish! Even so, we were still able to shoot some good footage for our
television series Walleye Wisdom that will be aired on the Sportsman Channel
later this fall. "
    Barringer added, "The weather changes made things tough, too. We had a
major weather change from Friday to Sunday, and I know that made things
doubly tough for the teams."
    Since there was no pattern to the bite, the teams either stuck with a
pre-determined game plan or spent their time running from spot to spot and
trying everything in their tackle box!
    Scholl and Hulsing stuck with their game plan of trolling Firetiger
jointed Shad Raps along the north half of the lake. They caught their big
fish going over a small hump toward the middle of the lake.
    Thomas and Kerslake went deeper and also trolled crankbaits, but chose
to use blue RS Shad Raps instead.
    Mumm and Juhlin went a different route and anchored off of Gilmore's
Reef casting jigs tipped with either a minnow or nightcrawler.
    "I'm really proud of the efforts these teams gave. Even when things are
really tough, they just keep battling and searching for that one thing that
can make a difference," said Barringer. "It was still a great weekend. We
had a tremendous banquet sponsored by Con-Agra Foods on Friday night, good
crowds at the weigh-in and the sponsors for the Iowa State Walleye
Championship really rolled out the red carpet for us. We certainly thank
them for all that they did for us."
    With the state championships now completed, only the Grand National
Walleye Championship remains. This will be held at the Okoboji Chain of
Lakes October 9-11.
    For those interested in learning more about the GNWC, call
1-800-890-3474, email the GNWC at info@walleyecup.com or check out the
official GNWC website at walleyecup.com. The website has all of the latest
in GNWC information in not only Iowa, but also in Illinois, Minnesota, South
Dakota and Wisconsin.
    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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