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Massive Cold Front Hits AIM Pro Walleye Series on the Last Day at Lake Oahe
August 14, 2010
Stepping outside first thing this morning and getting hit by wind and rain is a less than nice way to wake up, but that’s what today’s AIM Pro Walleye Series competitors faced this morning as they readied for the final day of competition here on Lake Oahe in Akaska, SD.
Last nights weather system has brought winds from the NNW and chillier temperatures. After weeks of temps in the high 90’s and high humidity levels, today should prove to be much more comfortable for the Pros and Co Anglers fishing today.
After last night’s weigh in, the field has been cut to the top 50%, or top 26 Pros, for the final day. Sitting in first place by over 11 pounds is Jesse Buechel of Fond du Lac, WI.
I caught up with Jesse for a minute or two earlier and we chatted:
Juls: How did you sleep last night?
Jesse: Great! I was probably asleep at 10 o’clock, and woke up at 1:00. I was up for maybe an hour or two, just kind of like in that relaxed stage right now. If they’re there, I’ll do well, and if not, so be it.
Juls: Before I forget…I heard you rode a Bull again last night. I didn’t get to see it, unfortunately, but can you tell us how that went for you?
Jesse: Yeah, I got this Bull named “Chicken Fried”, just like the Zach Brown song…
It was just a great release from fishing. Since last Sunday morning that’s all I’ve been doing. I’ve been pacing. I’ve probably put on about a 100 miles, pacing. And, for two hours I forgot about fishing.
Juls: Last year, you went heels over head over the back end of that big Brindle Bull, how long did you stay on the beast this year?
Jesse: (Laughs) He said I made it a second and a half this time, which is about a second and a ¼ longer than last year, so in about 6 years, I might make it the whole 8 seconds. (Laughs) But, Jen, my girlfriend, made me promise her that I would never do it again, last night, and I said, “Okay, out of respect I will never do it again”.
There was another thunderstorm last night that brought with it some wind, rain, and much cooler temperatures. When I arrived at the launch at 5:30am, it would be another 45 minutes before the Pros arrived to start putting in the water. But, with only 26 boats to launch this morning, it was a pretty quick process.
The conditions at take off this morning were:
Temp: 61 degrees and Cloudy
Humidity: 90 %
Wind Speed: W 12 MPH
Barometer: 29.91" (1012.0 mb)
Dewpoint: 57 °F (14 °C)
Visibility: 10.00 mi
The forecast for today is:
Today: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. Breezy, with a west northwest wind between 11 and 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
When asked what his game plan was with these changing conditions, Jesse said, “You know, I’ve got spots where…I’ve probably got 10 spots within 5 miles of where I’m fishing. Some are wind blown in and some are going to be protected. I’ve got one primary spot where I’ve got a lot of my good fish off of, and that’s where I’m starting. If need be, I’ve got other ones back here. I caught a 22 ½ inch fish right here at the mouth of Swan Creek, on Thursday, and yesterday I popped one…I needed a 21 ¼ to upgrade, and I didn’t get it over that, but they’re up here too.
Hopefully…I want to run down there. We’re just fun fishing today. We’re going to go down and have fun, catch our 7 fish…we always had our 7 fish in the boat within a half hour…the good bite is right away in the morning. The most numbers of fish…and, by 10 or 11 o’clock the bite really dies off, so if we have all over 20’s by Noon, we’re coming back and fishing right here. So, that’s the game plan.”
 Going out in second place today is Chase Parsons of Glidden, WI. Chase has been in second place for the entire event, and is in the best position to take over the win if Jesse’s program stumbles today.
Juls: Morning Chase, what’s your game plan today?
Chase: The game plan is the same as the last two days. Yesterday was quite a bit tougher for me than what it was the first day. I don’t know if it was the little cold front we had come through with the storms the night before…I’m not sure exactly what it was…but, we went through half the fish yesterday, compared to what I did the first day.
I’m not sure what this….I mean, it feels freezing out to me today. (Laughs) It’s supposed to be 75 for a high and we’re used to 100 degrees out here the last few days. But, it’s the same game plan. Go out there, troll cranks, pretty much all day, hopefully get some good bites…hopefully, get some REAL GOOD bites actually, because I guess the guy in the lead has a huge lead over me and it’s his tournament to lose. No pressure. I’m just going to go out there and have fun.
Juls: So, he didn’t break any bones riding that big old bull last night?
Chase: Well, I guess he pulled his groin. (Laughs heartily) I’m serious! But, no, he’s fine. I can’t believe he rode. But, yeah, he’s doing well in this tournament. If you would have told me that I would have had 31 pounds the first day and over 25 on the second, I would have thought I would have had a pretty healthy lead going into the final day, so it’s a little bit of a shock.
I’m doing something different than pretty much everyone else in the top ten though. Most of those guys are focusing on trees, edges, tops, but I’m just actually contour trolling in 15-20 feet of water with two Off Shore boards in shallow and two Leadcore lines deeper. I’m using #7 Flicker Shads. Anything with white on them has been real good. It goes back and forth too, because sometimes the lead lines will fire for about an hour or so, and then the board lines will go. I’m running the board lines pretty high…only 40 back on mono and running the boards way to the inside, so it just seems like they are just moving up and down the breaks. Hopefully, they’re still stacked up on that structure, and the guys who are over the trees, I hope those fish are tucked just so far into the trees that they don’t want to come out and play in this cold weather. (Laughs)
Juls: Or, they run out of crankbaits, eh?
Chase: (Laughs) Yep, or they run out of crankbaits!
Juls: How fast are you trolling your cranks?
Chase: I’m going anywhere from 1.8 to 2.2. Some of these breaks are pretty sharp, especially on the points, so…I’m running that PTS5 Tracking, which is really helping me. It seems like yesterday the fish were in the cups, so speed wasn’t a huge deal, because they were kind of straight areas, because the cups in some of these bays are pretty flat. The first day, they were on the points. So, I think ripping around some of the points, my outside line would “go”, so it was a little bit faster on those fish. It’s pretty much right around the 2 mph range. It’s pretty typical for trolling crankbaits.
We’ll just go out there and see what happens. That’s all you can do on a reservoir like this.
 Jason Przekurat of Stevens Point, WI went out in third place this morning with 54.87 pounds under his belt already. When asked what his game plan was this morning he replied, “Anything can happen. It’s the weekend, and they will be a lot more boats out, and it’s a reservoir, the fish move a lot, and I hope I can move up. At least a second…second is a good position to be in. First would be awesome, but 12 pounds is a lot to make up, but I’m not going to give up and I’m going to try like heck to catch the mother load today.”
Juls: Are you fishing your spot alone, or are you in a community spot?
Jason: I’m fishing right outside the mouth of Swan Creek here. I can see my truck when I’m netting fish. It’s kind of cool. It’s one of those dream deals where you can fish real close to the landing and I won’t burn any fuel.
I’m fishing real close to the trees that are there in 20 feet of water. They come up to about 7 ½ feet from the surface, and I’m just pulling right over the tops of them. It’s a real skinny band of trees, but they’re long. They probably go for maybe a ½ mile to ¾ of a mile long. It’s a real skinny patch. But, it is a local spot, so there will be some people around, but the good thing is nobody really trolls for them. They rig live bait around them, so I don’t see any problem with other people trying to join me around those trees. It’s a pain in the butt. I mean, there are a lot of snags.
Juls: How many crankbaits are you going through everyday?
Jason: Oh, I don’t know. I’m really getting depleted though. (Laughs) I had one hot color, and I had one left yesterday of that hot color, which is a “Blue Tiger” #7 Flicker Shad. I got some more last night, so we should be okay. But, I’ve probably gone through 10-15 crankbaits a day, so it’s chewing up my tackle box pretty good.
In the mornings I can get away with pulling the Flicker Shad on Fireline right next to the boat. I’m only running 23 feet of line, with no boards, and as you get about an hour into the day, and those fish don’t like it by the boat anymore, I’ll send them out on the Off Shore boards to get the baits out away from the boat, and spread them out across the tops of those trees. It’s nothing real fancy. I’m just trying to get them as close to the trees as possible, and keeping the fish out of the tree once you get one on. That is a real big issue.
Juls: What do you think of this weather today?
Jason: It should be okay. Weather-wise, it changes out here all the time. It’s never consistent. The only good thing, I guess, is my fish that are in the trees tend to stay in the trees. If you’re fishing on a point, or on a flat, or something like that, they tend to move a lot in these conditions when the weather changes like this. I’ve fished trees in the past and they tend to stay put, so knowing that is a bonus that made me sleep a little better last night.
 Robert Blosser of Poynette, WI is no stranger to the top 10, or top 5 for that matter. Last month he won the AIM event on Green Bay. He’s a big water troller, but as versatile as they come. Robert is sitting in 4th place after two days of competition and has plans of moving up today.
Juls: Good morning, Robert. I always seem to find you sitting at the top of the leader board everywhere you go! How does it feel to be sitting in the top 5 again at this event?
Robert: It feels good! I’d like to say I had a shot to go back to back, but that might be a little out of reach. Not to say that we’re not going to go out there and really work out butts off.
The way I’m fishing right now is, we’re pulling #5 Jointed Shad Raps, right through the trees. And, I think the last count I had 41 baits lost to the trees, after two days. (Laughs) I’m really digging deep into my Tupperware and whatever stuff I have here to try to get through this last day, because it isn’t easy fishing. We’re really working hard to keep those baits fishing, and not hung up in the trees. But, when they do come through, we’re getting some nice fish.
With this cold front that just came in today, I’m not going to be afraid to downsize real quickly. I may go to like a # 5 Flicker Shad or maybe a #4 Jointed Shad Rap. I’m going to wait and see what the water temp did overnight, and make my decision from there.
Juls: What was the water temp yesterday?
Robert: 76. 76 was pretty common. Some places were as high as 78, but it’s been holding at 76 degrees for probably the last 6 days.
Juls: What colors are working best for you?
Robert: Whatever color I can pull out of the box the fastest and the quickest to put on! The biggest factor really seems to be an orange bellied bait. I think they’re keying in on young of the year Perch, so they’re coming up out of the trees and seeing that profile and that orange belly, and that’s about it. I mean, I can list 6-8 colors that have caught fish, so it really doesn’t seem to have that much of a deal. It’s more the action of the lure and getting it in front of them. And, I am trolling a little bit faster. I’m upwards to 2 ½ mph to 3mph looking for a reaction bite…really trying to get them to come up out of the trees.
One of the hardest things is, when we do get bit, we have to bring that fish up right away, because I’ve lost quite a few fish in the trees. We’ve had to back down, and back up over them, and try to finagle them out of there. We’ve been successful in getting a few to come back out. I lost two nice fish yesterday in the trees. One of them we saw, and one of them was almost a 24 incher. The other one I would guess was probably right around 20 inches. So, that’s kind of tough to swallow, but that just goes with the territory of fishing the trees.
Juls: How deep are your trees?
Robert: These trees are anywhere from 19-26 feet and they come up to 10 feet of the surface. We’re running 15 pound Fireline as Flat lines off the boat to start with, anywhere from 45 to 80 feet back. Once we get a few passes in then we may go to boards. If I can see the fish moving lower and lower on the Lowrance, then we’ll go to boards and spread them out.
For full Results please see the Live Leader Board at www.liveleaderboard.com. Just click on the “Lake Oahe” link associated with the current AIM event listed there.
Today’s weigh in is expected to begin at 4PM Central Time under the big tent in downtown Akaska. If you can’t make it to the weigh in in person you can watch from home or from the office through Walleye Central’s Live video stream of the weigh in.
For more information on fishing or attending an AIM Pro Walleye Series event, please visit their site at www.aimfishing.com.
Hope to see you all there!
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