FLW Walleye Tour-Escanaba, MI July 23rd-26th
Day 4 PM
Story and Photos by Julia Davis
Vanderweide Pulls it Out!
Joshua Vanderweide, an Oral Surgeon and recent graduate of dental college from Jenison, MI just won enough money to pay off a big chunk of his student loan by winning the FLW Walleye Tour's last event of the season at Escanaba, MI, and will take home a beautiful trophy and a check for $100,000.00!
Juls: You're the winner, big guy! How does it feel to win it all?
Josh: This feels incredible! We've been up here for 17 days, so my hard work paid off! (He's visible relieved while smiling a huge smile).
Josh: We've been pulling 1/2-3/4 oz inlines on crawler harnesses 30-40 foot back, about 1-1.1mph...nothing special. More than anything it's been the location. Color didn't really seem to matter. My Dad and I were fishing all by ourselves over in Big Bay the entire time.
We were kind of fishing the middle of the water column 16-30 feet, depending on where the bait fish were. Today the water temperature just dove. When I got there it was 2 degrees cooler than it was yesterday, and it dropped 4 degrees by the time I left. There were some fish there right away, and I caught those, and then it was just like there were none left. So, I made a run, about 15 more miles up into Big Bay.
The water was warmer in there and we were fishing some weed fish. I had about a 1/2 hour to fish them...I set up to fish them...the bites been really good in the afternoon, so I knew I wanted to be ON fish somewhere when that happens. I thought, "If I only have a 1/2 an hour, I'm still going to make the run".
The wind was just howling, and I didn't know what I was going to find when I got around Peninsula Point. I figured it was just going to be huge waves, but I said, "we've got to go"! Just as I said that the board went back, and I'm fight'n it, and fight'n it, and I get it all the way up to the side of the boat, and it's like a 21 or 22 inch slot...it got off! My heart just sank. I thought for sure that I had just lost the tournament, and that that fish was going to cost me big time!
But, then, we made it back and I hit Peninsula Point and I realized that I could have fished for about another 1/2 hour. We just came in early and that was it.
It's an indescribable feeling to win this, that's for sure.
Jerry Miller of Lowell, IN led the tournament on the Co Angler side for the last three days. For his efforts, Jerry will take home a beautiful trophy and a nice check for $10,000.00!
Juls: Congratulations Jerry! You finally won one. Are you having a good time?
Jerry: It's unreal! There's no way you can explain it, or say it, you just feel like you're on a high for a while right now. I never expected it. I was just trying to make a couple points with this one, so I at least had a chance to go to Bismarck for the Championship.
Juls: How long have you been fishing the Co side of the FLW Walleye Tour?
Jerry: I started three years ago...just going out to prefish with Joe McCartin and a couple other guys, and they hooked me on it. The first fish I caught while fishing with them was a Detroit River hog! I was hooked!
So, for about a year, I just followed them, and they kept telling me to join, and last year I joined. I was only able to do three tournaments last year, because one of the events was full. This year I was able to get into all four regular season events.
Juls: Would you suggest to anyone out there that may be sitting on the fence, to come and fish with the FLW?
Jerry: Oh! Definitely! (He starts laughing) I tell everyone how much fun I'm having. I mean, I live in a small town and everybody knows everybody else. I tell the barber and he tells everyone else! I got my doctors, my dentist, and everybody...they all know about what I'm doing here.
Juls: This might be a sensitive question, Jerry, and feel free to not answer it if you don't want to...
You are an "older" gentleman. Do you ever feel that some of these boat rides with these young guns will hurt you?
Jerry: Well, I'm "up there", so for me...yeah, some of them do. I'll go home tonight and I'll be taking a couple hot showers and I'm going to put it back together, and it will take me about a week to get back to where I was...I hope! The big water is really the killer for me. The others I don't have too much trouble trying to hang with.
Juls: You're a pretty healthy man, would you suggest this for others your age?
Jerry: Well, the big thing would be your health. You need a good back, and you just got to get some strength in your legs. I'm a snowmobiler....so, I'm always on my knees. You need strength in your arms too.
That's what I would suggest. If you're going to get into it, be in good physical shape...your legs, your arms, and your back. That's the biggest key.
Tom Keenan took home a nice check for $30,860.00 for his second place finish.
Juls: Great job Tom! Congratulations! Can you tell our Walleye Central readers how you were catching your fish this week?
Tom: I was catching all my fish pulling spinners. I fished pretty high in the water column, and I was using 1/2-1oz inline weights and split-shot 40 foot back. I used them all, depending on how strong the wind was. Most of my fish were in 20 feet of water, and I was catching them down about 14-15 feet...again, depending on how rough it was. Today I made a big move and went to Minneapolis Shoals area, and I caught a bunch and it was a lot of fun.
Today I was using 2 ounce Off Shore Snap Weights, because of the wavy conditions caused by the wind.
Every day I ran one bait with a split-shot really high, and on day 1 I caught my biggest fish on it, and day 3 I caught my biggest fish on it, but today I didn't catch a fish on it. I caught my biggest fish today on a slider (aka: stacker line) 40 foot back with a 1/2 ounce inline...he ate it up. I mean, he was a giant! Then I caught another one ten minutes later that was 26 inches on the same set up.
It's official... "Mr. Tiller", Pete Harsh has secured the FLW Walleye Tour Angler of the Year title for 2008!
Juls: How does it feel to be rated number one overall after a long tough season, Pete?
Pete: Well, it's quite an honor. I've been the Ranger Cup AOY, but not an FLW Angler of the Year. The best I've done on this circuit is second and with the roller coaster year that it was, I'm really surprised that I won. But, I'm extremely grateful that I do have this honor.
Juls: That's great Pete...congratulations! Let's turn to the tournament now, how did your day to today?
Pete: Everybody thought I was "sandbagging". In practice I said, I was getting one to three fish and two days I got skunked.
In the tournament one day, we had two big fish for about 16 pounds. We went looking for little ones, and hadn't got a bite, so we started pulling our lines and the last one...my Co Angler said, "Hey, I got a week on this one". I took the board off and I looked and it was under the boat...I said, "No, weeds come up on top. That's a fish!" (He chuckles) The Co Angler says again, "No, it's a weed, see it's not even fighting". I grabbed the net and I don't know how we were dragging it, but it was a 16 1/2 inch Walleye! That was our third fish. Otherwise, it was two fish, two fish, one fish, and three fish, so I only caught 8 fish over 4 days of fishing this tournament for 8th place.
Juls: How were you catching your fish?
Pete: I was using spinners. I tried cranks, and I went back to trying cranks today and the moss was so bad from all the wave action that the hooks just filled up, even with a split-shot in front of them. Where I was, I just couldn't make cranks work. Spinners stayed clear if you put a split-shot in front of the set up.
I wanted to run cranks, because it seemed like until you had your two big fish, that was the best way to go. But, the wind ruined it.
So, I ran spinners. You don't cover ground quite as fast with spinners. And, when you've got 6 foot waves, and the boards are flipping and getting buried by the next wave...it's hard to get that precise spin on the spinner. And, when the fish comes up to gobble it and all of the sudden it gets jerked ahead at 90mph it's tough to hook up on them. We lost a big one today, and two big ones yesterday. With those, I could have easily been in first or second. But, we had 11 fish on and boated 8 in 4 days.
I went out to where the pigs go to die. I said, "I'm going to stay out here and just fish for big fish and if I make it, I'll make it, and if I don't. At least I'll go down swinging".
The rest of the best on the Pro side:
3rd Place: Kim Papineau had 1 fish for 6.15 pounds for a total weight of 60.13 pounds
4th Place: Chad Schilling zeroed today. His weight remained at 58.1 pounds
5th Place: Lynn Hanisko had 2 fish for 12.2 pounds putting his total at 54.7 pounds
6th Place: Rick Franklin had 2 fish for 14.10 pounds for a total weight of 52.15 pounds
7th Place: John Gilman had 2 fish for 11.11 pounds bringing his total weight up to 50.7 pounds
8th Place: Pete Harsh had 1 fish for 8.1 pounds for a total weight of 49.8 pounds
9th Place: Pat Byle had 2 fish for 4.5 pounds. His total weight is 48.13 pounds
10th Place: Nick Heelein zeroed today too. His weight remains at 39.3 pounds
The rest of the best on the Co Angler side:
2nd Place: Heath Fremstad had 4 fish for 23.06 pounds for a total weight of 66.10 pounds
3rd Place: David Kerzee had 2 fish for 12.02 pounds for a total weight of 54.09 pounds
4th Place: Chuck Jones had 1 fish for 6.15 pounds for a total weight of 51.03 pounds
5th Place: Kim Knudson 2 fish for 14.10 pounds for a total weight of 51.00 pounds
6th Place: Jimmy Cox zeroed today...his weight remains at 50.05 pounds
7th Place: David Lillge had 1 fish for 8.01 pounds for a total weight of 50.01 pounds
8th Place: Fred Gordon had 2 fish for 11.11pounds for a total weight of 48.14 pounds
9th Place: Scott Peterson had 2 fish for 4.5 pounds for a total weight of 46.15 pounds
10th Place: Dennis Buechel zeroed today...his weight remains at 40.14 pounds
Thanks for joining us here on Walleye Central's Live Leader Board for the FLW Walleye Tour at Escanaba, MI!
Please join us again for more coverage of upcoming MWC, PWT, and FLW events! Check the event listings on the homepage of the Live Leader Board at http://www.liveleaderboard.com for more information.
Pete Harsh Wins FLW Angler Of the Year Title
Click Here to read the Press Release