June 11th-14th, 2008
Day 2PM
Story and Photos by: Julia "Juls" Davis
"We had good luck and bad luck today", said day 2 leader, Pete Harsh, as he recounts the fish that almost wasn't.
"This gentleman here (he points to his Co Angler, Jeff Russell, of Grand Haven, MI), got the net on the next fish, and I got a good slot on...bring it up to the boat...and about 5 feet from the boat, and two feet under the surface...it comes off and the lure goes flying past my head...he gets the net underneath it and got a 19 3/4.We didn't get many bites today. It was brutal. Yesterday we were done at 1 O'clock and had taken it easy.
Today we struggled... just struggled... first three fish we threw back. Including one over 20 inches...about 20 1/2...and I'm like..."I want to win this thing, so I can't do this"...well, a few hours later we're still skunked, and I'm like..."I know that 16 1/2 and 17 1/2 should of went in the boat, and that 20 1/2 should have been in the boat...this bites going south, fast."
We got 1/3 the bites today. We were fortunate we got that 27 incher which was pretty stout...and we got a 19 3/4, couple 18's, and we had another 17 3/4 there, but with about 10 minutes to go I stuck 20 1/2. So, we put it in the box and said, "thank you Lord" and headed in."
Ranger/Yamaha Pro, David Kolb, was sitting in 6th place this morning, but managed to
find a nice kicker fish today that anchored his 15.4 pound basket to a solid second place position. I spoke with David this afternoon about his day, and this is what he had to say:Juls: You went out this morning saying you needed a little bit of luck like you had yesterday. Well, today it looked like you got just that.
David: "Yep, we had a tough bite today... had about two fish at noon. Caught a couple more dinks, and then about 1 O'clock we caught one that was over 28 inches...and it was a nice fat one too, so we can't complain about that one. We were just talking how we could turn a not so great day into an awesome day with one bite, but it happened to us, so we were very fortunate today."
Juls: With the predicted bad weather coming in for tomorrow, will you do the same thing you did yesterday, or was today the same, and you'll just keep doing what you're doing?
David: "I was fishing the same areas with the same baits, yeah...no doubt about it. I'm not even sure what the weather even is yet, so I'll go look tonight...
(I interject, and tell him it's supposed to blow 30 out of the Northwest)
David: "Plus 30? I think they should call it", he says with an infectious laugh.
While most of the field is using live bait, Pro Brian Warner is doing something that doesn't involve slimy creatures. It seems to be working well for him, since he is sitting in 20th place, and brought in a nice 13 plus pound limit today. I caught up to him after he weighed in to find out what he was using.
Brian: I'm doing something a little different than everybody...actually, it's A LOT different than everybody. I'll tell you what I'm doing...I'm pitching jigging spoons. Some of my homemade jigging spoons and a blade bait that I designed.
Juls: Oh! So nobody is going to have that here.
Brian: No one is going to have...and no one is going to have the technique that I have. I've been doing this since I was 14 with the spoons and I'm 50 years old now, so I've got the experience.
Juls: So, it's ok if I post this information today, even though there are still two days more to fish?
Brian: "Yeah, you sure can!" He adds while throwing me a wink: "And, I AM the Spoon Daddy"!
The nicer weather today did prove to be more productive for most anglers, but none would match the largest basket of the tournament, like that of Brian Bjorkman's 18-11 pound scale tipper!Juls: Brian, how does it feel to bring in the largest weight of the tournament so far?
Brian: It feels great to do this...a plan finally comes together. Ah, we had our fish...we had spots lined up yesterday, we just ended up pulling off the lake and wasn't able to get the slot fish, so we knew we had to plan to do this today and hopefully it will all turns out well tomorrow.
Juls: Did the weather play a big part? The calmer weather today? Because, tomorrow it's supposed to blow again...do you think it's going to help you or hurt you?
Brian: "Oh, as long as it doesn't blow...you know, 40 mph, or what not...I don't know what the weather is supposed to do...
(again, I interject with Northwest at 30)
"Well, (he laughs)...we'll have to take a look at that tomorrow and make the adjustments. It will hopefully work out for us again."
Tony Renner who was in first place on day one will head out on day three in fourth place. Even though he wasn't able to match his day one weight of 16-14, he still managed to bring in a respectable weight of 10 pounds 5 ounces.
Carl Adams Jr, of Blackduck, MN sits in third place after he brought a 5 fish limit to the scales, weighing in 12.8 pounds to go with his day one weight of 15 pounds, for a total of 27 pounds 8 ounces.
In fifth place is Ranger/Evinrude Pro, Scott Stiel, of Richmond, MN. who weighed in 11 pounds 11 ounces, giving him a two day total of 27 pounds 3 ounces.
With one more day of competition, before they cut to the top 10 for Saturday, and with more unstable weather approaching, it still anyone's tournament to win.
We saw some flip flopping on the leader board this afternoon, and it should do so again tomorrow.
For complete results from today's event, please check out the Cass Lake results here on Walleye Central's Live Leader Board.
Join us again tomorrow as we find out who will make the top ten finalist, who will cash a check, and who will go home scratching their heads in wonder.
The weigh in will begin again at 3PM.