2003 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship
Mississippi River, Red Wing, Minn.
Friday, pro semifinals, co-angler finals
Been there, done that … Tom Keenan, the only pro finalist who has fished the RCL Championship finals before, finds himself in a familiar position at this tournament: second place. That’s where he finished at the 2001 championship in Green Bay. While he’d obviously like to improve on that mark Saturday, he’s more than a little worried about Friday’s leader Scott Allar. “Tomorrow, I’m going to stick to my guns,” Keenan said. “I know where the big fish are. The current picked up this afternoon, and that was key. … But Mr. Allar’s going to be tough to beat, though. He’s a great guy, a great fisherman, and this is his water.” So what does the Wisconsinite hope to do in the finals to make a run at the local gun, Allar? “I’d like to go fish Green Bay like we did two years ago, that’s what I’d like to do,” Keenan said.
It’s probably worth the loss … $120,000 co-angler winner Darrell Archey, a UPS driver out of Great Falls, Mont., accidentally chucked pro partner Allar’s fishing net out of the boat in Friday’s action. Fortunately, Allar had a backup net. “I told him I’d buy him two nets after today to replace it,” Archey laughed. … For the record, Archey’s largest tournament check previous to Friday was $4,500 in a team event. … Also for the record, Archey was the one who caught his and Allar’s biggest walleye, about a 6-pounder, Friday. He caught it just 10 minutes after dropping his first line in the morning. “That changed the original strategy,” said the low-key Allar. “It took the pressure off.” After weigh-in, Archey was a bit more enthusiastic. “I don’t even have words to describe it right now,” he said.
Good vibrations … Third-place pro Jerry Hein found his way to a 9-pound, 10-ounce, four-walleye catch Friday using an interesting strategy. He’s trolling crankbaits on a rocky shore near some railroad tracks, and it seemed that every time a train rumbled by, he started catching fish. “The vibrations turn the fish on,” he said. “When the trains went by, the fish bit.”
Go Twins! … Aware that almost everybody in the state with a pulse will be watching their beloved and scrappy Minnesota Twins crush the overrated and overpaid New York Tankees in game three of the ALDS Saturday afternoon, FLW Outdoors Chairman Irwin Jacobs has wisely decided to broadcast the ballgame on the big screens in the tent at the Hastings Wal-Mart prior to the RCL final weigh-in. You can catch both big events right at the same convenient location, and – thank the merciful gods – they won’t overlap. Ballgame starts at 12 p.m. Central and weigh-in starts at 4 p.m., which should give hometown fishing fans plenty of time to watch the mighty Twins smack “Bottle Rocket” Clemens all over the Homer Dome before we crown the 2003 RCL Championship winner.
Quick numbers
500: Estimated number of Rapala crankbaits that Jerry Hein said he’s gone through in five days of fishing on the Mississippi River this week.
4-3: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of the three walleyes that pro Doug Vandersteen caught to make the cut into Saturday’s finals. He is fishing for a $400,000 payday tomorrow on the strength of those three little fish.
“I haven’t quite figured out American fish yet. Canadian fish are a little bit smarter, I think.”
– Co-angler Audrey Robb, who hails from Dryden, Ontario. Despite her impressions on piscatorial international relations, Robb seems to have conquered our stupid American walleyes. She placed second in points for the season and finished the championship in fourth place.
Quick links, Day 3: