Steve Weisman
07-17-2005, 10:56 AM
Open Water Bite at Lake Erie
By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
Battling heat and humidity, the team of Jim Stedke from Wapakoneta, OH and Steve Carlson from Clinton, OH brought in a 5-fish limit weight of 19.54 pounds to take the $1400 first place check at Sunday's Lake Erie Tournament on the Ohio Region of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC).
This fourth and final regular season tournament for the Ohio Region was hosted by Lorain, OH.
The winners also took Cabela's Big Fish Award of a $200 Cabela's shopping spree and the $370 optional Big Fish Pot for their 6.5-pound walleye.
Second place and a check for $700 went to the team of Wayne Jesionowski and Gary Zart from Hinckley Twp, OH with a five-fish weight of 19.08 pounds.
The team of Scott Stecher and Larry Lambert from Marblehead, OH earned the third place check of $550 with a five-fish weight of 17.76 pounds.
According to GNWC Tournament Director Lyle Heidenwith, the 42 competing teams had to battle heat and humidity.
Stedke and Carlson used their pre-fishing game plan to take first place. Stedke said, "We knew it was going to be an open water bite and that the fish would be on 'the bar'. The big decision was whether to run open water harnesses or pull Reef Runners."
Their decision to run 10-12 inch harnesses tipped with nightcrawlers behind Luhr Jensen Jet Divers turned into the winning decision. Stedke and Carlson worked 46-50 feet of water and targeted walleyes suspended about 30 feet down. "We let out line at different lengths, from 80 to 135 feet behind the boat. We also used both dual willow leaf and single willow leaf blades and pulled them at 1.6 mph," added Stedke.
"A week ago, I would have said it would take over 35 pounds to win this tournament, but these are open water fish, and the big fish moved. So, we knew that there were not a lot of big fish on the bar. Our plan was to catch our five 20-24 inch fish and then pull Reef Runners and search for the big fish."
The winners, though, felt with time running out in the afternoon that they would stick with the open water spinners. That paid off because they caught their 6.5-pound big fish with about an hour and a half to go in the tournament.
"Another big key for us," added Carlson, "was the blade itself. Erie Outfitters in Sheffield, OH is making a new hammered copper willow blade and then painting them the same colors of the popular Michigan spoons."
Jesionowski and Zart also pulled open water harnesses behind both Luhr Jensen Dipsy Divers and Jet Divers. According to Jesionowski, their plan was to stick with their game plan and to make the proper adjustments as the day wore on. They found their most active fish in 47 feet of water. "Our first spot didn't produce, so about 11:30 we moved and that's when we began catching our fish," said Jesionowski.
They found the double willow blades to work best and after trying silver and gold, found that copper was the key color.
Meanwhile, Stecker and Lambert went with a different presentation by running both Reef Runners and Michigan Stinger Spoons behind Dipsy Divers. "We ran Reef Runners to try to target the bigger fish and the spoons behind the divers in order to run deeper," said Lambert. "We caught a lot of fish, but we just couldn't catch the bigger fish like we did yesterday during pre-fishing."
In the battle for the Ohio Region's Yamaha Outboards Team of the Year award, the team of Mike and Tom Defibaugh from Bellefontaine, OH used a fourth place finish to take the Team of the Year title with 24 points.
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 include Ken Abernathy and Nathan Marcini from Ravenna, OH in 11th place; Scott Yarman from Vernon, OH and Tom Kemper from Marion, OH in 12th place; and Dale Grimm from Warren, OH and Sam Cappelli from Poland, OH.
With the regular season now over, GNWC Executive Director Barringer talked about what is coming next for the Ohio Region. "The Ohio Championship is up next. The top 30 teams in the region will now meet at CJ Brown on August 20-21."
For those interested in learning more about the GNWC, call 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or email the GNWC at info@walleyecup.com.
GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer said, "I encourage people to get on our website at www.walleyecup.com. With regional championships in all seven regions, I think people will enjoy checking out the results of these regional championships."
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.
By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
Battling heat and humidity, the team of Jim Stedke from Wapakoneta, OH and Steve Carlson from Clinton, OH brought in a 5-fish limit weight of 19.54 pounds to take the $1400 first place check at Sunday's Lake Erie Tournament on the Ohio Region of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC).
This fourth and final regular season tournament for the Ohio Region was hosted by Lorain, OH.
The winners also took Cabela's Big Fish Award of a $200 Cabela's shopping spree and the $370 optional Big Fish Pot for their 6.5-pound walleye.
Second place and a check for $700 went to the team of Wayne Jesionowski and Gary Zart from Hinckley Twp, OH with a five-fish weight of 19.08 pounds.
The team of Scott Stecher and Larry Lambert from Marblehead, OH earned the third place check of $550 with a five-fish weight of 17.76 pounds.
According to GNWC Tournament Director Lyle Heidenwith, the 42 competing teams had to battle heat and humidity.
Stedke and Carlson used their pre-fishing game plan to take first place. Stedke said, "We knew it was going to be an open water bite and that the fish would be on 'the bar'. The big decision was whether to run open water harnesses or pull Reef Runners."
Their decision to run 10-12 inch harnesses tipped with nightcrawlers behind Luhr Jensen Jet Divers turned into the winning decision. Stedke and Carlson worked 46-50 feet of water and targeted walleyes suspended about 30 feet down. "We let out line at different lengths, from 80 to 135 feet behind the boat. We also used both dual willow leaf and single willow leaf blades and pulled them at 1.6 mph," added Stedke.
"A week ago, I would have said it would take over 35 pounds to win this tournament, but these are open water fish, and the big fish moved. So, we knew that there were not a lot of big fish on the bar. Our plan was to catch our five 20-24 inch fish and then pull Reef Runners and search for the big fish."
The winners, though, felt with time running out in the afternoon that they would stick with the open water spinners. That paid off because they caught their 6.5-pound big fish with about an hour and a half to go in the tournament.
"Another big key for us," added Carlson, "was the blade itself. Erie Outfitters in Sheffield, OH is making a new hammered copper willow blade and then painting them the same colors of the popular Michigan spoons."
Jesionowski and Zart also pulled open water harnesses behind both Luhr Jensen Dipsy Divers and Jet Divers. According to Jesionowski, their plan was to stick with their game plan and to make the proper adjustments as the day wore on. They found their most active fish in 47 feet of water. "Our first spot didn't produce, so about 11:30 we moved and that's when we began catching our fish," said Jesionowski.
They found the double willow blades to work best and after trying silver and gold, found that copper was the key color.
Meanwhile, Stecker and Lambert went with a different presentation by running both Reef Runners and Michigan Stinger Spoons behind Dipsy Divers. "We ran Reef Runners to try to target the bigger fish and the spoons behind the divers in order to run deeper," said Lambert. "We caught a lot of fish, but we just couldn't catch the bigger fish like we did yesterday during pre-fishing."
In the battle for the Ohio Region's Yamaha Outboards Team of the Year award, the team of Mike and Tom Defibaugh from Bellefontaine, OH used a fourth place finish to take the Team of the Year title with 24 points.
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 include Ken Abernathy and Nathan Marcini from Ravenna, OH in 11th place; Scott Yarman from Vernon, OH and Tom Kemper from Marion, OH in 12th place; and Dale Grimm from Warren, OH and Sam Cappelli from Poland, OH.
With the regular season now over, GNWC Executive Director Barringer talked about what is coming next for the Ohio Region. "The Ohio Championship is up next. The top 30 teams in the region will now meet at CJ Brown on August 20-21."
For those interested in learning more about the GNWC, call 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or email the GNWC at info@walleyecup.com.
GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer said, "I encourage people to get on our website at www.walleyecup.com. With regional championships in all seven regions, I think people will enjoy checking out the results of these regional championships."
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.