Spinoff
Grunwaldt takes sizable lead into finals in RCL Tour event on Erie
PORT CLINTON, Ohio – The optimist’s bite never panned out Friday in the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour semifinals on Lake Erie, where the roving schools were expected to go gonzo following a blow day with temperatures that reached 80 degrees and should have spurred the fish into action. Nevertheless, pro Carl Grunwaldt of Green Bay, Wis., waylaid a daunting five-fish limit of 33 pounds, 8 ounces to gain a daunting lead of almost 6 pounds heading into Saturday’s finals.
How’d he do it? “Two big ones right away, two dinks and two very long fishless hours,” Grunwaldt says. “Then I found a nice pod about 1 o’clock.”
Grinding them out, Grunwaldt landed seven fish and lost two, a common refrain among anglers who fell short when big ones, tentative without the benefit of sun, came unbuttoned. The upshot of the day’s weather, though, was that winds in excess of 20 mph never materialized; a steady rain, meanwhile, brought a constant gloom that allowed a mere 16 pounds, 11 ounces to cut the muster for the last spot, 10th place, headed into the finals.
“I expected it to be a tough bite,” Grunwaldt says. “Sun would have helped.”
No respite from the fish-inhibiting overcast is expected in Saturday’s finals, when more clouds and rain, with the possibility of thunderstorms, are in the offing.
The specifics of Grunwaldt’s program, the same one he deployed to take ninth, with 30 pounds, 13 ounces, in a one-day qualifying round foreshortened by high winds Thursday are sheathed in secrecy. On Saturday, it’s hoped Grunwaldt will disclose the details of what he used to separate himself from Dennis Jeffrey, the second-place finisher with 27 pounds, 14 ounces. What’s known is that spinners play a part in his presentation.
With new RCL rules for 2004, Grunwaldt will carry over his leading weight into the finals rather than starting over again at zero, the protocol for the semis. If anything, Grunwaldt is on the right fish off of Kelleys Island, able to get them to bite and keep them from coming untethered.
Light bites
Indeed, keeping walleyes on the line long enough to net them was a theme in the semifinals. The day’s third-place finisher, 2003 RCL Angler of the Year Jason Przekurat of Stevens Point, Wis., weighed a five-fish limit good for 25 pounds, 4 ounces but echoed a common refrain.
“I let them eat it,” Przekurat says of his spinners. “I lost four of my first fish. I let them hang on to it. Fifteen seconds and reel, reel, reel.
“I’ve never had to do that before.”
The same story played out for John Kolinski of Greenville, Wis., who missed the cut with just two fish worth 8 pounds, 11 ounces, good for 16th place. Kolinski says he lost seven fish in spite of spinner rigs tied with triple treble hooks.
Uh, oh
With a measure of additional drama, Ranger pro Bill Leonard of Estherville, Iowa, squeaked into 10th place in spite of returning to the launch at Catawba State Park six minutes late. Leonard’s belated arrival, fishing with Will Taege, the father of RCL pro Jeff Taege of Rhinelander, Wis., cost the pro-and-co-angler team 6 pounds that would have otherwise put them in sixth place.
Of the top 10, just one failed to weigh a five-fish limit. Ranger pro Mark Brumbaugh of Arcanum, Ohio, weighed four for 17 pounds, 3 ounces and finished in ninth. Brumbaugh, who had just two fish at 1:30 p.m., says he switched from spinners to Reef Runner crankbaits in the hopes of boosting his catch but later returned to spinners to catch his final two.
Brumbaugh, however, would have to come in Saturday with a monster bag in excess of 40 pounds to overtake Grunwaldt. Brumbaugh goes into the finals with a 16-pound deficit compared with Grunwaldt. Przekurat as well needs to make up 8 pounds, 4 ounces to have a chance at Grunwaldt’s top spot.
In the campaign for the top spot, chasing Grunwaldt’s big bag, the spinoff continues Saturday when the top 10 launch at 7 a.m. Eastern from Catawba State Park.