Butz and Frederick Take Over Lead at Cabelas MWC Championship on Lake Erie
After a long day on Lake Erie in the rain, Wayne Butz of Mosinee, WI and Don Frederick of Appleton, WI took over the lead at the Cableas MWC Championship in Dundee, MI this afternoon when thier 5 fish limit of Walleye weighed in at an even 33 pounds, giving them a total weight of 58.86 pounds!
I waited until they had had a warm dinner and a hot shower before meeting up with them for a quick interview about their day today.
Juls: How was your day on the water today guys?
Wayne: Well, we had a good day today. We didn't lose any fish by the boat. We had two or three on that we missed. I think we caught 9 fish today...all quality fish...all 6 and 7 pounders. The area where we are working holds a big school of fish. There is also a lot of baitfish, and seagulls feeding on the baitfish in that area too.
We just hope we can put together one more good day.
Juls: What was the most interesting thing you saw happen today? To you, or to anyone else around you?
Wayne: We kind of did a little "S" turn. I stalled the inside board...that one went back, and I swung the boat back around as we were winding the fish in, and the other outside board went back! So, we had a little action going with two fish on the outside boards.
Juls: Can you tell us what you're using to catch fish? Are you pulling cranks or spinners?
Don: We were running spinners. And, we started in the middle of the water column, and we started raising them. The arcs were just all over today, so we just decided we would just bring'em. We just kept bringing the up until they started biting. We had about an hour flurry and then they shut down right away.
Juls: Tomorrow is the final day of competition....I don't have a results sheet in front of me, how close is second place to you right now?
Wayne: I think we have close to a 5 pound lead on second place. The guys that are in second place are kind of our teammates and their not to far from us, so we're kind of working the same fish. There's a lot of fish there. You can troll for a good mile and we're just marking fish real steady.
Juls: Are there a lot of other boats out there by you guys?
Don: There's 4 of us...well, sometimes there's 5. (laughs) We have 5 in our group and sometimes there's only 4, because we have two spots and sometimes that fifth guy is over fishing the other spot about 6 miles away. Our spot seems to hold the bigger fish though.
Tomorrow, we'll all be there.
Juls: Without giving out any gps coordinates...about how far are you running each day?
Don: Today, we ran exactly 43 miles. (laughs, because he checked the gps tonight) I had two gallons left in the tank. We carry two extra containers of gas. If we didn't bring extra gas along, we would have had two gallons left.
Juls: Hmmmm...sounds like you're driving all the way out to the boundaries?
Wayne: Pretty close!
Juls: What's your game plan for tomorrow? Looks like the weather will be a lot nicer tomorrow and you'll be able to run the lake again. Will you change anything that you've been doing?
Wayne: We're going to definitely stick with the same game plan. It's going to be a little different wind and the tide could be going a different way, so hopefully we can key in on that right away, and know which direction we need to troll. With the tide out there, it definitely seems to make a difference. You've got to be trolling in the right direction.
Another team that has figured out the tides and trolling directions on Lake Erie, is the family team of the Brothers Steve and Dan Bodinger both of Chilton, WI. Their efforts today were awarded with the largest 5 fish limit of the tournament so far with 34.41 pounds. Added to their day one weight of 19.74, the Bodinger Brothers have a total weight of 54.15 pounds.
In third place is the Father and Son team of Dave Casper (below right) of Bloomingdale, MI and Willie Casper (below left) of Grand Junction, MI with a day two weight of 23.82 pounds for a total weight of 52.73 pounds.
Sitting in fourth place after two days of competition is the Ohio team of Matt Davis(below left) of Marion, OH and Dan Gies (below right) of Huron, OH who also had a 5 fish limit that weighed in at 33.32 pounds...the second largest weight of the tournament. Their total weight after two days is 52.44 pounds.
Rounding out the top 5 are teammates Bob Devine of Windsor, ON and Steve Velte of Belleville, MI who brought in a nice limit of fish that weighed in at 24.66 pounds, giving them a total weight of 51.98 pounds.
For Full Results Go to www.liveleaderboard.com
Tomorrow's forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies, with a high near 59 degrees. Calm wind becoming West between 4 and 7 mph. So, it will be a nice change from today's rainy wet chilly weather. Showers should stop around 10pm tonight and winds will be from the N-NW from 5-7mph. The lake should calm down considerably, making the expected long runs a much smoother ride.
After the windshield busting adventure many of these teams were on, tomorrow's forecast will be a welcome change. It might even improve the bite a little bit.
The Big Fish winners each day win a Cabelas $500.00 gift certificate. The day one winning team was Jeff Koester and Scott Rhodes. Today's winning team was Jeff Manz and Greg Yarbrough with a 9.98 pound fish.
Tomorrow is the last day, and the MWC will crown a new team as "World Champions", so join us here on Walleye Central again tomorrow as we continue our Live coverage of the Cabelas Masters Walleye Circuit from the Cabelas Store parking lot where the weigh in is taking place. If you can't make it down to the store in person, you can watch the weigh in live right here on WC's Live Leader Board at www.liveleaderboard.com . There is a video stream and a chatroom set up for your viewing pleasure. Just click on the "Lake Erie-Detroit River" link in the current MWC event.
A special thanks goes out to Mike at the Cabelas Store for setting up Walleye Central with an internet line, so we could do our live web stream of the event. Thanks Mike!
The teams will once again launch from the Bolles Harbor Marina and blast off at 8am. Teams will be expected back to the docks at 3:30. After a drive from the ramp to the weigh in site, about a half hour drive, the weigh in will begin approximately at 4:15pm ET.
Hope to see you all there!
| 
article search
