Iowa’s Cherkas snares pro lead on Northern Division opening day
George grabs co-angler top spot
LA CROSSE, Wis. – It was a day of firsts for Ronald Cherkas. In the first day of the premier $185,000 Northern Division tournament, the Des Moines, Iowa, native competed in his first-ever EverStart Series event. He came off the Mississippi River with the first flight of anglers and weighed in his five bass for 12 pounds, 3 ounces to take over first place in the Pro Division.
“Boy, this is a beautiful place, isn’t it?” Cherkas said of the Mississippi River afterwards. “This is my vacation pool, right here. It’s basically my home waters so I’m feeling very confident.”
The pro leader used a Doug Garret Megatube with a Megatube rattle to work the shallows of Lawrence Lake located about 10 miles downstream from La Crosse. He caught all of his bass, which were primarily largemouth, in about 1 to 2 feet of water.
“I had a limit by 9 o’clock so I basically just tooled around after that and helped my partner catch fish,” he said.
While the day was a success for Cherkas, it began a little bit ominously. He lost his first fish, a 6-pound bass, right out of the chute in the morning. Then he lost a 4- or 5-pounder on the next cast.
On his third cast, Cherkas caught a fish just over the 14-inch lake limit. The culling rules for this tournament are a little different than normal. Wisconsin state law says an angler cannot return fish that have been in a livewell back into the water. Competitors must decide immediately upon catching a fish whether or not they want to keep it. So Cherkas was faced with a decision: Keep the shorty and hope for the best or throw it back and hope he can still catch a limit.
He kept it and still came out ahead, thanks primarily to his productive fishing location. Cherkas says he found around nine spots that he can key on in practice, but Lawrence Lake was enough to put him ahead today.
“I missed 10 fish in the first 15 minutes,” he said. “So there was enough quality fish to go around.”
Today’s leader predicted the bass would continue to bite throughout the week. He estimated that 20 pounds over the first two days should be enough to make the pro cut. “The fish are on the move with the water going down, but they’re pretty easy to pattern on the river,” he said. “There are not a lot of places for them to go.”
He added that thunderstorms forecasted for tonight should bode well for his fishing. “That should help,” he said. “It should push them into the eelgrass.”
Jason Graham of Coleman, Mich., came in tied for second behind Cherkas with five bass weighing a net 12 pounds even. Graham would have taken the lead if not for a 2-pound penalty incurred for four fish that didn’t make into weigh-in alive.
Also tied for second place was Karen Savik of St. Louis Park, Minn., a female pro who guides on Lake Minnetonka outside of Minneapolis. She also weighed in five bass for 12 pounds even.
Rounding out the top five in the Pro Division were Mark Martell (4th place) of La Crosse, Wis., with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces; and Robert Oines (5th) of Beaver Dam, Wis., with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 11 ounces.
The $750 Big Bass award in the division went to Steve Hauser for a 5-pound fish.
Pennsylvanian uses fortuitous pairing to push into co-angler lead
Another EverStart rookie took top honors today, this one in the Co-Angler Division. Tim George of Kittanning, Pa., landed five bass weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces to take first place.
George credited his pro partner today, Craig Jahnke of Appleton, Wis. – as well as a stroke of luck – for his success on the water. George and Jahnke had been practicing in the same area all week long prior to the tournament – a stretch of water upriver from La Crosse on Lake Onalaska. So when they learned they were paired together last night, there was no doubt about where they were going.
“He and I had already pretty much fished beside each other,” George said.
George used the lucky pairing to his advantage, working the shallow weedy water for a first-place performance. He had his limit by 9 a.m.
Fishing in his first EverStart tournament, George has done well in first tournaments before and is encouraged by his strong start this week.
“This is awesome,” he said. “Last year, I ended up fifth in the first Red Man (now BFL) tournament of the year (in the Piedmont Division). I should have won it, but I lost one fish.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Paul Dostal (2nd place) of La Crosse, Wis., with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 10 ounces; Mike Blaesi (3rd) of Donhue, Iowa, with four bass weighing 11 pounds, 9 ounces; Tadd Andrle (4th) of Fairfax, Iowa, with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 6 ounces; and Jeffery Carman (5th) of Liberty, Ky., with five bass weighing 10 pounds, 11 ounces.
Young Chris Shields of Grafton, N.D., won the $250 co-angler Big Bass award with a 4-pound, 9-ounce fish.
Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 5:30 a.m. at West Clinton Street Ramp in La Crosse. Weigh-in is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the same location.
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