| | By Gander Mountain/Lindy Legendary Tackle Fishing Team Member John Balla
It all comes down to this for 66 of the top teams in walleye fishing as they converge on Prairie du Chien, Wi and Pools 9 & 10 of the Mississippi River, each with a vision of winning the Masters Walleye Circuit World Walleye Championship. The tournament is a 3-day event beginning September 29 and culminating with a $25,000 winners check and trophies presented on Saturday, October 1. Teams will have 8 long hours each day to catch walleyes over 15”in Pools 9 & 10. Teams are not allowed to cull fish, but may keep up to ten fish in the boat before weighing their best five fish. Anglers can lock through each pool but take risks in returning on time as the river bustles with barge traffic. Many tactics will be used by the teams including trolling, jigging, casting cranks, pole-lining, hand-lining, 3-way rigging, and live bait rigging.
 Leadcore trolling is an effective way to cover lots of water and catch active fish. It involves spooling 10 colors of leadcore line on a line counter reel, and attaching a 3-6 foot fireline leader before tying on a crankbait snap. In 2002, the Red Wing, MN team of Scott Mann and Bob Bodin won this event trolling leadcore with a weight of 34.73 pounds for three days. Again in 2003, the father/son team of Jim and Tim Minnema won trolling leadcore and crankbaits both upstream and downstream with a weight of 29.03 pounds. Baits like #5 Rapala Shad Raps and Cotton Cordell’s Walley Divers dominated. However, Pool 10 is rumored to be filled with floating river grass, potentially shutting down the trolling bite in many areas. Depending on conditions as tournament day arrives, most of the trolling may occur in Pool 9.
Jigging the Mississippi is a tried and true way to catch walleyes on the many shoreline rocks, wingdams, closing dams, and the immediate tailrace area of the main dams at Genoa and PDC. Presentations include hair jigs, Lindy Thumpin’ Ringworms on Max-Gap jigs, jigs and minnows, and a local favorite, the One-eye spoon. In a tournament where levels and flow are low, holes and eddies near any type of current will produce. Also, as the water temperature falls, fish are more active as they move towards pre-wintering areas. Casting ringworms on wingdams is a recent hot trend in river fishing, and hair jigs are often fished with no bait and sprayed with a little shad scent to inspire biters. Casting crankbaits in the same areas as jigging the rock will produce fish as well.
Recently, many top finishers in river events have cashed large checks handlining on channel edges and breaks. In fact this tournament was one several years ago in Pool 4 by a team of handliners. Look for a few teams to fish to their strengths and handline through areas other fisherman could struggle to contact fish. Using two floating Rapala #9 cranks catches multiple fish in every pass where fish are present.
Fishing a 3-way rig allows teams to cover areas in front of wingdams, flats, and channel edges. Also, using finesse 3-ways near dam eddies is a local favorite as the water cools. The Dubuque rig, a modified 3-way rig with a fish-catchable big jig on the dropper replacing the lead weight, and a live minnow or crankbait on the trailer, is an awesome technique to search wingdam troughs and the flats connecting them. Anglers will position their boat upstream of the wingdam and slide across the face and contact any fish working the area. It is a run and gun technique to find the best and most prolific wingdams.
Okay, there is no way it can’t be mentioned, it’s been avoided long enough. What about fishing willowcats on wingdams? This tournament was won in a decisive manner last year as Eric Eichorn and Dan Felber took top honors with 55.31 pounds. And check this out, they were fishing one wingdam and finished each day by noon! As recent as a few weeks ago in another championship upriver, the top two teams caught all of their fish using willowcats on wingdams. They are called walleye candy, as walleyes gobble up these small 1-4 inch long, bullhead looking madtoms. These critters are found in creeks and have three needle like stingers on the head and either side of their body. Get stung and you’ll be dancing in the boat with a hammer-on-the-thumb type pain for a few hours. Suggestions include a Lindy fish-handling glove for protection, or a locally made scoop-type funnel which allows anglers to hook the willow cats without touching them.
The technique used is to rig a ½ oz. egg sinker on the mainline, followed by a swivel attached to a 2-3 foot leader and #1 or #2 bait hook. The idea is to cast into the rocks and slack water areas in front of the wingdams, and washout edges near the main channel. The most difficult part may be convincing the partner to lift the ancher 50 times a day to find the best wingdams. Although many wingdams align the river, certain dams hold more fish than others. Not all wing dams are productive. Most anglers know the best ones, and getting there first may be the biggest contest of this event. Get there first and success is yours. In fact last years winners had the fastest boat in the field and it paid off. Rumors have a few of this years teams switching to rocket-fast bass boats to get to the best spots first. It will be follow the rooster tail as teams sprint from the lock and race to glory. Will it work? Only time will tell.
So who will take home the big foam board check? Will the lead-core trollers find the fish cruising main channel breaks and flats in the relatively low water? Will backwater sloughs produce fish for the jiggers? Or will the millions of shoreline rock kick out a 3-4 pound average for teams pitching jigs and crankbaits. Don’t forget classic river 3-way rigs as well. It’s anybody’s guess, but barring any local flooding, it will most likely be won fishing willowcats on wingdams….and the fastest boat! Stay tuned to walleyecentral.com for all of the results.
Editor’s Note: John Balla is a member of the 2005 Lindy Legendary Tackle and Gander Mountain Pro Team, a 3-time MWC Championship qualifier and is fishing this years Championship. He has fished the MWC, RCL, PWT, and other walleye tournaments. His articles have been featured in Midwest Outdoors, Fishing Facts, Walleye Central, and local suburban Chicago newspapers. He has appeared on Midwest Outdoors Television and NAFC’s Fishing Club Journal spotlighting the MWC. His sponsors include Lindy Legendary Tackle, and Gander Mountain. He can be reached at john.balla@comcast.net |
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