| | July 17, 2005-Menominee, Mich- In final event of the year for the MWC Central Division, Kurt and Brad Knoll put together 2 solid days to claim victory on Green Bay. With a tremendous 37.16lb day 1 and a respectable 27.07lbs on Sunday the brothers combined  64.23lbs total weight was plenty to beat the rest of the field.
“We kind of struggled early. But at noon we raised our baits up and caught 2 big fish right away. We knew the fish were there. They had been since Thursday,
it was just a matter of making them bite.” said Kurt. On Saturday the brothers had their 5 fish by 10:30am and weighed early but on Sunday the fish made them work a little harder. “I wasn’t really worried about not getting our fish but there’s always that chance”.
The Knolls were trolling crawler harness’s behind planer boards to entice their catch. “We had ¾ ounce bottom bouncers with red and fire tiger blades, about 20 ft back from the board. We figured we were running in the 10 ft range today.” said Brad.
The Brothers should go home pretty happy for they will be cashing in a nice $25,000 check for their efforts this weekend. “I don’t know what we will do with the money. I guess it will just go in the bank.” said Brad after the ceremonies.
Coming in 2nd place Kevin Dahlhauser of Cottage Grove, Wisc. and partner David Koller of Allegn, Mich. with their consistent two day catches of 30.99lbs and 29.18lbs. “We found our fish on Thursday and were pretty sure they were going to stay in the same area. And they did, it was just a matter of what they wanted to eat. One day they loved our rainbow  blade and the next they couldn’t resist our black and white blades.” said Koller.
Many of the anglers were frustrated by loosing fish right at the boat, including Koller and Dahlhauser. “We lost 3 fish that were 8lbs plus right at the boat. If we could got those fish in it would have made a big difference for us.” said Dahlhauser.
Dahlhauser and Koller were also using a spinner blade presentation. “We were using ¼ ounce inline weights with a #4 blade, either black and white or rainbow, set back 50-65 ft behind the board. I really think our blades were the reason we did so well.” stated Koller.
The Wisconsin, Michigan duo will be bringing home a hefty $13,000 check for their efforts this weekend.
Taking 3rd place is the Michigan duo of Doug Lampen of Allegan and partner Jeff Russell of Appleton with their impressive 2 day 9 walleye catch weighing 57.43lbs. “We found our fish on Thursday and pretty much just hoped they would be there for the tournament. They weren’t structure oriented fish. There were a few bait fish around but to tell you the truth I’m not quite sure why they were there”. Stated Russell.
The duo didn’t have much of a problem finding their fish early. “We had our 4 fish by 9:00  today, that helped take some pressure off.” said Allegan.
Lampen and Allegan also had trouble with fish coming unbuttoned. “It was a real light and short bite out there. All of the fish we caught were on the trail hook barely in the upper lip. More than once we had fish bite our night crawlers and not even make it up to the hooks. I watched a 9 pounder take my crawler in his mouth then gently spit right back out.” stated Allegan.
Doug and Jeff will be taking home a nice check of $10,000 for their efforts this weekend.
Coming in 4th place are the local pros Dean Arnoldussen of Appleton, Wisc. and partner Tom Keenen of Hatley, Wisc with a 2 day total of 10 walleyes weighing 55.72lbs. Keenan and Arnoldussen will be taking home a check for $8,000 for their work this weekend.
Rounding out the top 5 is the team of Jum Preissner of Hastings, MN and partner Rodney York of Centerville, MN with their 2 day total of 10 walleyes weighing 55.72lbs. Preissner and York will be receiving a nice check for $6,000 for their 5th place finish.
The MWC Central Division Team of the Year standing were also decided this weekend. Taking the 1st place honors is the team of Chief Papineau of Escanaba, Mich. and partner  Jay Janny of Eagle, Wisconsin. Papineau attributed his success to always sticking to a plan and just plain and simply by keeping his lines in the water at all times. A nice season ending bonus check was awarded to the duo in the amount of $6,435.
Anglers fought high heat, high humidity and nearly flat conditions yet still came in with some tremendous weights on Sunday. 202 teams brought in 529 walleyes weighing just over a ton, averaging nearly 4lbs a fish.
This was the last MWC Central Division event but the Eastern Division still has 1 left in Dunkirk, New York August 19,20 and 21. This is a Lake Erie tournament and is bound to be a good one.
Kristine Houtman and crew put on a very organized and entertaining event, for both anglers and spectators. Even if you can’t get there to compete in the tournament it is well worth coming over for the weigh ins. |
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