Big stringers preview of Semifinal
Walleye anglers know that when it comes to cold and uncomfortable weather, the walleye are not bothered. Only the anglers complain. At the day two weigh-in at the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit held on the Detroit River, there were plenty of long faces, but also plenty of big stringers. With twelve boats weighing in 20-pound or larger bags of fish, the big ‘eyes that roam the Detroit are just starting to make their presence known to RCL anglers.
RCL pro Todd Riley of Amery, Wis. had the largest two-day total. He weighed-in 27 pounds and 14 ounces of walleye today giving him a total of 45 pounds 2 ounces and sending him into Friday’s semi-final round.
“I am very happy right now,” said Riley. “Yesterday I think I caught about four times as many fish as I did today. Today I just caught bigger fish. I hope the bite holds up tomorrow.”
Finishing in the second position after day two was Grand Haven, Mich. pro Jeff Russell. Russell is definitely the comeback kid of the first two days. He was in 84th place after day one. With a stout limit of walleye weighing 34 pounds 3 ounces Russell managed to not only catch the biggest limit of the tournament so far, but he also secured a spot in the semifinal round moving up 82 places finishing day two with 41 pounds 12 ounces.
“I lost three big fish yesterday,” said Russell. “I am on good fish right now, I hope it holds.”
RCL pro Ron Gazvoda of Lakewood, Colo. wound up in third place after bringing in the second largest limit of the day and tournament, a respectable 30 pounds 4 ounces of Detroit walleye for a two day total of 41 pounds 8 ounces. Gazvoda started the day in 51st place.
“I had a great day of fishing today,” said Gazvoda. “We threw back a 5-pounder. That is how good it was. I am really looking forward to another day of wearing long johns.”
Rounding out the top 5 were Rick Cole from Elwood Ind. with 39 pounds 4 ounces in fourth and in fifth, John Hertensteiner of Victoria, Minn. with 38 pounds 2 ounces.
The weight from the first two days does figure into tomorrow’s semifinal round.
“Remember that with the RCL format, the semifinal round is essentially a one day tournament,” said FLW Outdoors Director of Walleye Operations Mark Dorn. “The angler’s weight from the first two days does not carry over. After tomorrow, the top ten anglers will move into the final round and just like the semifinal round, they start all over again.”
Twenty co-anglers move on to Friday’s semifinal round.
“The co-angler is such an important part of the fishing success in the RCL tournaments,” said RCL Tournament Director Sonny Reynolds. “Unlike bass fishing tournaments, the RCL co-angler is fishing with the pro and they share the day’s weight. This makes it very important for them to be able to work well together.”
Co-angler semifinalist Donald Lee of Commerce Township Mich. had nothing but praise for his partner Crestliner pro and 2001 RCL Angler of the Year Rick Olson of Mina Lake, South Dakota.
“I have nothing but good things to say about him,” said Lee. “I had a great time today with Rick. We caught enough fish to get me into the semifinal round. This is a great place to fish, the people are very nice. I think the RCL has done a great job with this tournament.”
Co-angler semifinalist Darren Edlund of Minneapolis, Minn. had to battle a frozen net today.
“I had a great co-angler partner,” said pro semifinalist Chris Bahl from Sidney, Neb. “Once we started catching fish we noticed that the net was frozen. It was like Darren was using a tennis racket to flip the first fish into the boat, but he did it.”
The top five co-anglers after day 2 are Rob Carpenter of Howard, Ohio with 42 pounds 8 ounces in first, Ron Schropp of Omaha, Neb. came in second with a weight of 41 pounds 13 ounces, Newport, Mich resident Thomas Nordyke ended up in third with 38 pounds 12 ounces, fourth place was nailed down by Tom Harrison of Naperville, Ill. with 38 pounds 9 ounces and in fifth place John Galaska from Omaha, Neb with 38 pounds 5 ounces.
Like the pro anglers, the co-angler’s weight from the first two days does not count in tomorrow’s semifinal round.
RCL follies.
Besides having several anglers and press members falling down at this mornings launch thanks to the ice covered ramps, which made it look like someone was filming a Candid Camera program, pro semifinalist Jerry Ruffolo of Manitowoc, Wis. came in this afternoon to a more comical surprise.
“I had a great co-angler partner today,” said Ruffolo. “He did a great job. Of course, when I came back to the launch today I found out he left the lights on in my truck after he parked it this morning. Other than that he is a very good partner.”
The semifinalists will launch tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. at the Lake Erie Metropark at 32481 W. Jefferson Ave. Brownstown, Mich.
The semifinal and final weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart on 755 Telegraph Road in Taylor, Mich. at 4 p.m. on Friday April, 5 and Saturday April, 6.
Pro anglers who make it to the finals will be competing for a first place prize of $50,000 cash and a fully rigged Ranger, Crestliner or Lund Boat. The co-anglers who make the final round will be competing for a first place prize of $15,000 cash. The total purse for this tournament is $346,000 cash plus a fully rigged Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat.
Quick stats
Total number of fish weighed in: 572
Total number of fish weighed in alive: 497
Total weight: 1395 pounds
Percent alive: 86.8 percent
Limits caught: 64