|
Keeping on the Move Triggers Win for Klemmensen, Hering at
Whitefish Chain of Lakes By Steve Weisman GNWC Publicity Director
On a day when the bite on the Whitefish Chain of Lakes was definitely
tough for the teams competing on the Minnesota Region of the
Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC), the words heard over and
over were "you gotta keep moving!" That is exactly what the
team of Todd Klemmensen from Edina, MN and Brent Hering from
Maple Grove, MN did as they captured the $1200 first place check
with a four-fish weight of 13.23 pounds. The team of Brand Stockman
from Pine River, MN and Mark Dammann from Glencoe, MN cashed
the $600 second place check with a five-fish weight of 12.07
pounds. Third place and a check for $550 went to the team of
Corey Bohn from Kensington, MN and Jason Overby from Marshall,
MN with a four-fish weight of 7.07 pounds. The Cabela's Big
Fish Award of a $200 Cabela's shopping spree and $260 in the
optional Big Fish Pot went to the team of Chad Benson and Joe
Edlund with a 6.45-pound walleye. "This was definitely a tough
bite," said GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer. "It was
one of those days where it seemed you had to keep moving from
spot to spot to find the fish." According to Klemmensen, he
and his partner kept an open mind. "We had to because we didn't
get a fish until after 10 o'clock." Hering agreed, "We had a
really slow start, and kept moving from spot to spot. I'll be
we tried 20 spots before we finally found some fish." When they
did find active fish, Klemmensen and Hering trolled silver spinners
and nightcrawlers along the edge of the deep weeds in 16 feet
of water. Even after they found a fish, they had to keep moving
because "the walleyes really move around on Upper Whitefish,"
noted Hering. Stockman and Dammann found their fish in 13-14
feet of water fishing the mouth of the Pine River area. They
used Lindy Rigs and leeches, moving along the edges of the weedline
and then working the pockets of the weedbed. Bohn and Overby
caught their first two fish Lindy Rigging along the deep weed
edges on the bar that separates Upper and Middle Whitefish.
Then, with less than half an hour to go in the tournament, they
decided to switch to crankbaits and caught two nice fish in
15 minutes. However, it was too little, too late to make a run
at first place. The Yo So Close Award, provided by AMFYOYO,
manufacturer of the innovative stowable folding landing net,
went to the three teams just finishing out of the money. They
Ronald and Brian Swanson from Osceola, WI in 9th place; John
Madson from Cokato, MN and Gordon Schreifels from Kimball, MN
in 10th place; and Todd Andrist and Tom Smith from Brainerd,
MN in 11th place. After the first two tournaments on the Minnesota
Region, the team of Michael Marushin and Jeffrey Clem from Minnetonka,
MN leads in the race for the Minnesota Region's Yamaha Outboards
Team of the Year award with 13 points, followed by the team
of Corey Bohn from Kensington, MN and Jason Overby from Marshall,
MN with 21 points. The next tournament for teams on the Minnesota
Region is the Green Lake tournament on Sunday, June 26. 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.
"We're at the halfway point in the Minnesota Region, and we
have an exciting race taking place, I encourage people to check
out our website at www.walleyecup.com. I think they will find
it extremely interesting to see how the teams do in each of
the seven regions," added Barringer. 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 FoodSource Lure Corporation
|
