Five fish key to success at Red Wing
RCL Championship under way
RED WING, Minn. – Chilly weather greeted the 234 pros and co-anglers competing for a piece of the $1.4 million purse at the 2002 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit Championship. The word around the docks is that few anglers are boating limits of walleyes. If an angler can boat five keepers – including one decent fish measuring 20 inches or more – for the first two qualifying days, they have a legitimate shot at making the first cut.
“I can’t say that the fishing for me during practice has been very good,” said Lund pro Mark Martin of Twin Lake, Mich. “I have not had any spot that I have been fishing that has produced a solid limit each time I have fished it. I think I can put a limit in the boat each day, but I don’t know if they will be the right-sized fish. I did put a couple of nice fish in the boat during practice, but the bigger fish bite has not been consistent for me.”
Crestliner pro Rick Olson of Mina Lake, S.D., agrees that this tournament is going to be tough.
“I think there are plenty of fish out there to be caught, but the key here is to catch the bigger fish,” said Olson. “I can’t say that I am confident that I will catch the bigger fish, but I will sure give it my best shot.”
The cold front moving in might help fish activity.
“I know that many anglers are worried about the fishing because of the cold front that moved in,” said RCL pro John Hertensteiner. “I feel that this will be a positive weather change. Typically, when the air temperature drops and the water temperature drops, the walleyes in this river will turn on. If this happens you will see some surprisingly large limits of fish brought in.”
The pro anglers are competing for a potential first-place prize worth $400,000 cash. The co-angler champion will potentially take home $150,000 cash.
After the first two days of competition, the top 12 pros and co-anglers will move on to the semifinal round. After the semifinal round, the co-angler champion will be crowned, and the top six pros will move on for the final round on Saturday.
The weigh-in starts today at 3 p.m. at the Treasure Island Casino and Resort Marina located at 5734 Sturgeon Lake Road in Red Wing, Minn.
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