ESCANABA, Mich. – To borrow a phrase from the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch,” pro Chad Schilling was on the crab on day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour regular-season finale. While 52 of the best anglers in the world zeroed on Bays de Noc, Schilling stuck a nice limit early and culled his way to 22 pounds, 4 ounces.
“That was a lot of fun,” said the jovial pro leader. “I love Escanaba; it’s so different than how I fish back home in South Dakota.”
Admittedly, Schilling is not an open-water troller. But you wouldn’t know it from looking at the results. At the season-opening qualifier on Lake Erie, the Walleye Tour rookie took seventh, and now he leads the 124-boat field on Lake Michigan.
“I owe a lot of my success to my teammate Tom Gatzke. He’s taught me everything I know.”
Schilling said he didn’t catch a single walleye during his first three days of practice. Within the first few hours Wednesday, he had already registered one of the day’s six five-fish limits.
“We got them right away. We could have come in at 10 a.m.”
While Gatzke was off trying a different area, his pupil was putting fish after fish in the box. By the time Gatzke joined Schilling at the spot, the bite was all but over.
“This thing is so wind-dependent,” added Schilling. “The north winds may be rough for some guys, but it’s perfect for this spot. We got the right wind and it worked.”
The spot the Akaska, S.D., pro is referring to is the same spot he and Gatzke fished last year at the PWT qualifier on Bays de Noc. In that tournament, Schilling took eighth and Gatzke took third.
Trolling spinners is the predominant pattern, and Schilling put his in the upper part of the water column.
“We started high and we stayed high. We’re probably actually in the middle, but for here that seems high. We just put our baits in the water and let the fish take over.”
Heelein secures second
In second place, Nick Heelein of Genoa City, Wis., ran 70 miles roundtrip and fished five different spots en route to a four-fish catch weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces. At approximately 2 p.m., Heelein had zero fish in the livewell.
“We just kept hopping and hopping, and finally we connected,” he said. “All our fish came in one area. Once we found them, we caught them all in a 20-minute period, and then it was time to get back. What an adrenaline rush!”
The two biggest fish were 30 and 29 inches in length and were caught pulling crawler harnesses.
Competing in his first Walleye Tour event, Heelein said he had a productive practice.
“We found them in the same area, but there weren’t as many. We’re lucky; we’re all by our lonesome. Now we get to find out if the fish will stay there.”
Keenan third
With five walleyes weighing 20 pounds, 8 ounces, Chevy pro Tom Keenan sits in third at the conclusion of day one. The Hatley, Wis., angler said he is fishing Little Bay. There he is employing crawler harnesses in the middle of the water column.
“We caught a lot more fish than I expected, and we caught them in the right order,” said Keenan, who grew up in nearby Rapid River, Mich. “We are actually fishing a spot that has a lot of 21- to 25-inch fish.”
The 2006 Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year had his limit at 11 a.m. and then changed areas and went looking for big fish. Eventually he was able to upgrade with a 6 1/2-pound kicker.
“When I’m going for big fish, I pull them high and fast. Your chances of catching a really, really big fish are better up high. We had a great day, but now I need two more good days.”
Byle, Courts round out top five
Pat Byle of Colgate, Wis., trails Keenan by 7 ounces with 20-1, and 2007 PWT Championship winner Mark Courts of Harris, Minn., placed fifth with 17-15.
“We just sat there and battled making pass after pass,” said Courts. “A lot of these areas hold fish all the time, but you’ve just got to wait for them to eat.”
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one on Bays de Noc:
6th: Tom Zollar of Green Bay, Wis., 16-11
7th: Joshua Vanderweide of Jenison, Mich., 16-10
8th: Jesse Buechel of Fond du Lac, Wis., 16-8
9th: Glenn Chenier of Gladstone, Mich., 16-5
10th: Pete Harsh of Sauk Centre, Minn., 15-12
Knudson reels in top co-angler spot
Fishing with Schilling, the pro leader, co-angler Kim Knudson had the time of his life on the water today. The Glendive, Mont., co-angler did all the reeling of the planer-board fish while Schilling did all the netting. The end result was a five-walleye limit weighing 22 pounds, 4 ounces.
“It was just an awesome time,” Knudson said. “I did all the reeling, and we never missed a fish and that’s what counts.”
Jerry Miller of Lowell, Ind., placed second with 20-11, while John Hammond of Ixonia, Wis., took third with 20-8. Kenneth Bundy of Pulaski, N.Y., sits in fourth with 20-1 and David Kerzee of Westerville, Ohio, is fifth at 17-15.
Day two of FLW Walleye Tour action on Bays de Noc continues at Thursday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. Eastern time at Escanaba Harbor in downtown Escanaba.