Way to go David Kolb!

[Juls]

Nice first day David...keep up the good work!:bowdown:

Good luck to all tomorrow! :raisin:

Juls

[Juls]

http://walleyetour.flwoutdoors.com/tournament.cfm?cid=5&t=news&tday=1&atype=6&tid=5834&tyear=2007&aid=146548

Just some good reading for those who are following the event. By the lack of responses on this board, I'm wondering if anyone is? :confused:

We're headed down there for the next three days. See ya'll there if you're going too! ;)

Juls

[observer]

I think lots of us are silently watching, pulling for our own. Let's hope they get released to the lake in the morning. NOAA looks bad but the hour by hour forecast isn't bad for that part of the big lake.

[Raybob]

| Day 1 |
| Headline Story |

Bounty pro cleans up
Ada, Mich., native leads day one with 37 pounds, 5 ounces

By Brett Carlson - 27.Sep.2007

CLEVELAND — For most of the day, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship qualifiers received a rare reprieve from Mother Nature. Atypical for late September, the big pond was relatively calm on day one. Of course, relatively calm on Lake Erie means 4- and 5-foot waves.

As expected, the 3- and 4-pound walleyes were everywhere, but the trademark Erie monsters were mostly absent. Bounty pro David Kolb caught three fish in the 9-pound class, one of which weighed 10 pounds even. His five-walleye total registered 37 pounds, 5 ounces.

Kolb won the 2003 Walleye Tour event on Lake Erie, but qualified for this year’s championship through the Michigan Division of the Walleye League. That tournament was held out of Port Clinton, Ohio, to the west, but Kolb is having no problem adjusting to Cleveland’s offering.

“We ran really hard to get to our spot,” said the pro leader. “We were boat No. 51 this morning and we almost caught boat No. 2.”

David Kolb and Joseph Fallaw celebrate their 37-pound, 5-ounce day-one stringer. Kolb said his speedy driving and close location enabled him to keep his baits in the water longer than his fellow competitors. It takes him only an hour to get his spot, which is located approximately 30 miles to the west. Kolb said he fished one area all day, catching somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 fish. He had a productive practice, but day one turned out better than expected.

“I was surprised to get them that big. I thought I would get 25 to 30 pounds. They were low in the water column to start, then later in the day they started coming up and became more active.”

Kolb caught seven fish in his first pass this morning. Then the bite slowed significantly for the next few hours. When the fish came up in the water column later in the day, the Ada, Mich., native knew it was feed time.

“I watch the graph. Whatever the graph tells me, that is what I’m going to do.”

Kolb wasn’t willing to reveal what specific bait he’s trolling with. All he would allow is that he’s using planer boards, not Dipsy Divers, and the area he’s fishing is about 40 feet deep.

“I think I’ll be able to get 20 pounds tomorrow for sure. I can’t predict the big fish though.”

With a 6-pound lead, 20 pounds on day two would definitely place Kolb in the top 10. Weights are cleared after day two as the top 10 pros start day three from zero.

Gillman second

John Gillman holds up his two biggest fish from day one at the FLW Walleye Tour Championship.John Gillman, another renowned open-water troller, sits in second place with five Lake Erie pigs that weighed 31 pounds, 5 ounces. The Freeland, Mich., native is running the opposite direction as Kolb and is fishing in much deep water.

“It was an awesome start,” he said. “We only lost one fish all day.”

Gillman is sharing a stretch of water 60 miles to the east with his practice partner Tom Keenan and Elyria, Ohio, native Jonathan Shoemaker. The area is clearly producing as Keenan is ninth and Shoemaker is 13th. The water there is about 70 feet deep however, making it very difficult to keep fish alive. Shoemaker took a 2 1/2 pound penalty as he was unable to keep any of his fish alive.

Gillman admitted that he was pulling spinners with night crawlers. He caught only eight fish total, but they were the right size. Most of his strikes came in the 60-foot range. To get his baits that far down in the water column, he’s using bottom bouncers, in-line weights and snap weights.

“It took us and hour and half to get there and three hours to get back. I think we could have done even better if we would have had more time.”

Grothe thirdPro Ross Grothe and co-angler Richard Ness hold up their day-one catch from Lake Erie.

In third place after opening day was Northfield, Minn., pro Ross Grothe. Fishing 35 miles to the west, Grothe caught five walleyes that weighed 30 pounds, 6 ounces. Included in that catch was a single fish that weighed 10 pounds, 8 ounces – worth $1,000 as the Snickers Big Walleye.

“I think I’m on the right fish,” Grothe said. “I’m just hoping they don’t move.”

Grothe won the 2006 qualifier on the Detroit River by jigging. In Cleveland, he’s fishing water 55 feet deep with crawler harnesses.

“I lost two big fish that could have really helped me. Hopefully, we’ll have another good day tomorrow and it won’t matter.”

Courts fourth, Vereeke fifth

Walleye Tour pro Mark Courts (left) and co-angler Mike Zawistowski sit in fourth place after day one.Harris, Minn., pro Mark Courts ended the day in fifth place with five burly walleyes that weighed 29 pounds, 2 ounces while Grand Rapids, Mich., native Jeff Vereeke finished out the top five with a stringer weighing 28-11.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros on day one on Lake Erie:

6th: Scott Fairbairn of Hager City, Wis., five walleyes, 28-8
7th: Dennis Lantzy of Warren, Mich., five walleyes, 26-11
8th: Dustin Kjelden of Brookings, S.D., five walleyes, 25-11
9th: Tom Keenan of Hatley, Wis., five walleyes, 25-8
10th: Glenn Chenier of Gladstone, Mich., five walleyes, 24-4

Fallaw takes fourth Lake Erie lead

For whatever reason, day one on Lake Erie has always been good to co-angler Joseph Fallaw. In his last four Lake Erie events, Fallaw has led the Co-angler Division after the opening day. In 2005, he won the Walleye Tour qualifier held out of Port Clinton, Ohio.

This time around the Wonder Lake, Ill., native is on top of the food chain at the richest no-entry-fee championship in the history of professional walleye fishing. Fishing with Kolb Thursday, Fallaw caught 37 pounds, 5 ounces.

Kolb said Fallaw was extremely valuable in his boat. For one, Fallaw is a strong young man, which allowed Kolb to drive significantly faster than most pros. Secondly, he’s experienced on open-water bites, which meant Kolb and Fallaw could take turns reeling and netting fish.

His partner for day two is Vereeke, the current fifth-place pro, so things are looking good for the co-angler leader. Even so, Fallaw had the humble look of a veteran prepared for a four-day slugfest.

“You can’t win it on day one but you sure can lose it,” he said.

Second place on the co-angler side went to Gary Sessions of Rapid City, S.D. Sessions caught five walleyes on day one that weighed 31 pounds, 5 ounces while fishing with Gillman.

“Gary caught the 10-pounder and I caught the second-biggest fish,” Gillman said.

That 10-pounder was the biggest walleye Sessions has caught in his entire life.

“I think I’m the only co-angler who never cashed a check all year but still made the championship,” said Sessions, who finished 49th in the points race. “I came out here to get that check.”

Co-angler of the Year Richard Ness of Ruthton, Minn., and Mike Zawistowski of Wonder Lake, Ill., finished Thursday in third and fourth place with 30-6 and 29-2. Both fishermen caught five-walleye limits with their pro partners.

Nineteen-year-old Ryan Kelly of Ortonville, Minn., finished day one in fifth with five walleyes that weighed 28 pounds, 11 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers on day one on Lake Erie:

6th: Dennis Gullickson of Fergus Falls, Minn., five walleyes, 28-8
7th: Sally Blain of Hopkins, Mich., five walleyes, 26-11
8th: Sam Christoff of Clarkston, Mich., five walleyes, 25-11
9th: Keith Keivens of Toledo, Ohio, five walleyes, 25-8
10th: Patrick Bertelsen of Jackson, Minn., five walleyes, 24-4

Day two of the FLW Walleye Tour Championship on Lake Erie begins as the field of 53 boats takes off from Voinovich Bicentennial Park, located at 800 E. Ninth St. in Cleveland, at 7:30 a.m. Eastern time Thursday for the final day of the opening round.



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http://walleyetour.flwoutdoors.com/tournament.cfm?cid=5&did=0&t=news


da old fart,
Bebob da I-Bobray

[observ]

Did they release the teams to the lake this morning?

[Juls]

Yes they went out today.

Here is a link to the camera at the "Crib", which is 3.5 miles off Cleveland. The winds are out of the Northwest. It's not bad this morning at all.
http://webcam.clevelandcrib.org/

1-3's building to 4-6's LATE in the day. It will be interesting to see how many give themselves enough time to get back. Those who were running 60+ miles to the East will have the disadvantage.

Some of the top leaders were only running approx. 30 miles to the West, so they will definitely be able to keep their baits in the water longer than those who went East, giving them a big advantage.

We're headed down there in a few hours...should be an interesting day!

Juls

[EYECRAZY]

Wow. How long does it take to run 60 miles in 4-6 footers? There will be some sore backs this evening. Steve

[dpd]

I feel for the Co's. Why is it always bumbier on the Co's side of the boat than the driver? The hot tubs at the hotels will be full tonight!!!!!

[Juls]

>Why is it always bumbier on the Co's side of the boat than the >driver?

That's an easy one! The driver knows how the boat will hit a wave...the co has no idea and stiffens up in anticipation. The stiffer you are the harder they feel. Been on both sides of the boat, and that's my theory. lol

Juls

[fishinmachine2]

>Wow. How long does it take to run 60 miles in 4-6 footers?
>There will be some sore backs this evening. Steve


No Thanks!!

Scott

[Juls]

>Wow. How long does it take to run 60 miles in 4-6 footers?
>There will be some sore backs this evening. Steve

Does the saying, "you can't get there from here" tell you anything? lol

Those bigger waves might not show up until all are in, so it's anyone's guess what's going to happen this afternoon. :confused:

Like I said, it's going to be an interesting weigh in today.

Juls

[Pond scum]

The lake is very rough today. Many pros refused to go and attempted to fish inside the breakwall. Some have called it and are packing up.

[Juls]

Thanks for the info Scott! WOW...See you in an hour or so.

Juls

[K Gonefishin]

I caught walleye inside the breakwall earlier this week, not hard to pull 5 out of there, they should be able to pull 15 pounds easy, they could also run down the breakwall to edgewater and hit the reefs by goldcoast or rocky river and pull fish over there. They are there all year long, might even pull a decent one or two over there, I was breaking my boat in last week off lakewood and saw walleye marks in the usual spots as well. These guys don't need to run 30 miles to find fish they are right there where they are at.

[observ]

Burke Lakefront reports winds at 17mph out of the NW at 10:45. If you've fished Erie you know that is going to make some big waves on the Ohio side of the lake. Weather underground has hour by hour wind forecasts and they show the winds diminishing after 5pm. Funny how the lake doesn't look that bumpy on the cribcam!

[K Gonefishin]

The pics on walleye central look nasty, you can see them crashing over the breakwall, when they do that, it's pretty rough, the wildwood site says it's small craft advisorty till tonight, Tommorow morning might still be rough as well.

[Fun Stuff]

Let's just say the guys from Michigan are used to these "Big" Waves.
I don't think it will hamper Kolb, Gillman, Vereeke and Lantzy from pulling some decent weights. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[RoughWater]

Is it normal to send out boats when there is a smalll craft advisory? Just wondering what the normal rules were.

[K Gonefishin]

They might be confined to the breakwall.

[observ]

They were not confined to inside the breakwall today. I just got off the phone with one of the Pro's, many guys have already put their boats on the trailer. He estimates that around 30 guys are still out there on the lake, let's just pray that everyone makes it back safely today.

[What]

Are you saying there are 30 zero's for the day?

[K Gonefishin]

NO he is saying 30 took off on the lake, so 23 decided not to head for open water, they would have either fished inside the wall or said I have no chance to make the cut I'm outta here.

[What]

Kgonefishing,

Observ said many are on the trailer. Do they take the trailer with them on the lake? He said he just got of the phone. Are phones legal during tournament hours?

[observ]

Sorry if the previous post was confusing. By on the trailer I meant that some of the pro's had turned in their boat number and called it a day. It is correct that no phones are allowed during the tournament, the person that called me was already off the water so there were no rules broken. His amateur was quite grateful that they turned back after about a 1/4 mile and went back into the protected breakwall area.

It was very rough this morning. Look at how choppy the water is inside the breakwall and as KGone points out you can see waves breaking over the top of the breakwall. I wouldn't want to be out there today.

[Jayman]

What's the big deal? 4-6'ers? I just read a post earlier today about someone doing 40 mph in 4'ers in there boat.


Just slow down a little for 6'ers, right? :)

[kmcquoid]

Observ, do you know who was already off the water early?

It sure did look rough, but hopefully they all are safe.

Karen

[MNwalleyehunter]

It is very possible to do 35-40 MPH in 4 footers. I did it on day two at the Bays de Noc tourney. I was the co, and let me tell you, I was sore the next day, but it was one of the funniest boat rides I have ever been on. I will say that I'm younger then most co-anglers (I'm 25), and the pro I was with, told me it was going to be bumpy and he said if I ever felt the need for him to slow down just to tell him, he asked me probably about 10 times during the 70 mile run if I was ok, and I said yes. I was very conifident in him that if I would of said slow down or I needed to stand and strech he would have said ok.

MNwalleyehunter

[kmcquoid]

I hope he does, too. :-) This is his wife Karen.

[MNwalleyehunter]

Yes, I knew this was you Karen......This is his pre-fishing partner for the tour events:)

[Reicher Unlogged]

So does Kolb carry the 68lbs into days three and four. I can't remember if they start over in the last day of the championship or not. If he can carry that weight he is looking good for the big $$$.

I was just curious from strategy standpoint, in big wind do you stay close and just try to make the cut or balls to the wall trying to get the big checks. That's why it is fun to follow.

[K Gonefishin]

The top 10 start at zero then it's anyone tourney, or at least for the guy who make the cut.

[observ]

The guys that went out and fished today have some serious cahones. Some of the very best turned around this morning and that is no knock on anybody. Those were absolutely brutal conditions, you have no idea unless you have ever tried fishing in true 6 foot waves. They probably shouldn't have been sent out. There are no sissies in tournament walleye fishing. :bowdown:

[Honest Fisherman]

The waves were not 6 footers...4 to 4.5. As usual most fisherman like to overestimate :)

[Wallygetter]

My son signed up as a Co-Angler at Saginaw Bay several years ago. Day one had a strong SW wind and it was getting nasty. I won't mention the Pro's name but he is a Super Pro and FLW angler as well, no rookie by any means. First they broke the bow mount, tried to tie it down but it eventually fell off, the next thing to go was my sons seat pedestal and he ended up riding in standing up and hanging onto the left side of the full windsheild, yep, it broke also. To make matters worse when he fell backwards, he landed on some trolling rods and broke two of them. They only caught 3 legal fish all day. Later that night at dinner I heard my son talking to a friend about his first day experience and told him, "those Professional Bull Riders don't have a thing on these Pro walleye fisherman." He did go on the next two days, even after being a little apprehensive after day one, he finished in the low forties and cashed a check. My son-in-law had a similar day on day one on Saginaw Bay in '05 but thats another story.

[Wallygetter]

My son signed up as a Co-Angler at Saginaw Bay several years ago. Day one had a strong SW wind and it was getting nasty. I won't mention the Pro's name but he is a Super Pro and FLW angler as well, no rookie by any means. First they broke the bow mount, tried to tie it down but it eventually fell off, the next thing to go was my sons seat pedestal and he ended up riding in standing up and hanging onto the left side of the full windsheild, yep, it broke also. To make matters worse when he fell backwards, he landed on some trolling rods and broke two of them. They only caught 3 legal fish all day. Later that night at dinner I heard my son talking to a friend about his first day experience and told him, "those Professional Bull Riders don't have a thing on these Pro walleye fisherman." He did go on the next two days, even after being a little apprehensive after day one, he finished in the low forties and cashed a check. My son-in-law had a similar day on day one on Saginaw Bay in '05 but thats another story.