Versatility and Teamwork Trigger Barfknecht Victory at Petenwell
By Steve Weisman GNWC Publicity Director Versatility! That's
what propelled the team of Mike Barfknecht from Baraboo, WI
and Bob Barfknecht from Waterford, WI to victory at the Grand
National Walleye Cup (GNWC) Lake Petenwell Tournament held on
Sunday, May 15. "We tried four different places and caught fish
at three of them," said Mike Barfknecht. The winners brought
in five walleyes weighing 6.81 pounds and took home the $1800
first place check. Second place and a check for $900 went to
the team of Bill Koval from Middleton, WI and Jack Niemann from
Son Prairie, WI with three fish weighing 3.94 pounds. Craig
Swatek from Wisconsin Rapids, WI and Scott Swatek from Lone,
WI took home the third place check of $600 with three fish weighing
3.64 pounds. The Cabela's big Fish Award of a $200 Cabela's
shopping spree went to Tor Millonzi from Jackson, WI and Dean
Natzke from West Bend, WI with a 2.73-pound walleye. The also
won $420 in the optional Big Fish pot. "The cold front really
made things tough," said GNWC Tournament Site Director Cheri
Barringer. "There was a lot of rain and cold weather this past
week, and it certainly affected fishing." Still, the winners
were able to overcome the blustery weather and showed that versatility
and teamwork made the difference. They went with live bait and
crawler harnesses. Mike noted, "We knew it was going to be a
tough day, but we also knew that everybody would be trying to
make things work for them. So, we worked the south end of the
lake for an hour, where we caught our first legal fish. We tried
to anchor, but it was just too windy. So, we moved to a point
on the west side and caught a second legal fish." However, it
was the move toward the north where they caught three more legal
fish that made the difference. Mike said, "We used our electronics
to find the fish and worked the channel edge of the breakline
in about 10 feet of water. That's where we found the schools
of baitfish with the arcs beneath them." It was here that the
teamwork came into play as they battled the wind and the snags.
According to Mike, it seemed that they were constantly re-rigging
as they encountered snag after snag. "We were really glad we
weren't losing crankbaits!" joked Mike. Meanwhile Koval and
Niemann went to the river and used jigs tipped with half of
a nightcrawler to catch their fish. They caught all three of
their legal fish after mid-day and went through several sub-legal
fish. They also found the fish to be lethargic and used a slow
presentation to trigger their bites. The Yo So Close Award,
provided by AMFYOYO, manufacturer of the innovative stowable
folding landing net, went to the two teams just finishing out
of the money. They include Jon Ohnesorge from West Bend, WI
and Kevin Behrens from Loyal, WI in 13th place and Bill Needles
and Tim Bartels from Neceda, WI in 114th place. Next up on the
Wisconsin Region will be the Lake Winnebago Tournament on Sunday,
June 5. With the Wisconsin Region at the halfway point of the
season, the team of John Bella and Joe Besiada from Stevens
Point, WI have taken the lead in the race for the Wisconsin
Region "Yamaha Team of the Year" honors with 11 points. The
team of Robert Blosser and Gary Thomlinson from Poynette, WI
is close behind with 13 points. For those interested in entering
this or any of the remaining qualifiers, call 1-800-890-FISH
(3474), or email the GNWC at info@walleyecup.com. Executive
Director Bernie Barringer added, "I encourage people to check
out our website at www.walleyecup.com. We have exciting races
going on in all seven regions of the GNWC." Major national sponsors
for the GNWC include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Lowrance
Electronics, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, Aqua-VU, Aqua Innovations,
Cabela's and UpNorthOutdoors.com. National championship sponsors
are Towtector Shield and the VIB"E" Lure Company.
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