Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour preview: Green Bay of Pigs

Crawler-harness bite persists during July heat

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Kennedy administration may have failed miserably in its Bay of Pigs conquest, but don’t expect similar disappointment at the final qualifying event of the 2006 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour season on Green Bay. Although the world’s best walleye anglers will be wetting their lines during the dog days of summer, expectations for a successful catch couldn’t be higher.

The walleyes are biting on the bay, no question about it. Last year, pro Pat Neu set an FLW Walleye Tour record with a four-day total of 20 walleyes weighing 111 pounds, 8 ounces. Coming into this event, many anglers casually predicted the bite would be much worse than last year, mainly due to warming water temperatures. But after experiencing the conditions first-hand, those same anglers have geared up for a slugfest. Still, a no-cull rule looms large over the field, making each and every catch a gamble.

Second AOY in reach

After three qualifying events, pro Jason Przekurat sits in second place in the FLW Walleye Tour Angler of the Year race. The Stevens Point, Wis., native has the rare opportunity to become the first angler to capture the AOY award twice in his career. Adding to the pressure is the fact that Green Bay is Przekurat’s home water, a mere hour from his residence.

Przekurat has already spent five days on the water, and to this point, he likes what he sees.

“There is an abundance of smaller fish,” he said. “The 20-inchers are just everywhere, and a lot of guys won’t be used to that. That makes it real interesting with the no-cull rule. When you catch 3-pounder, does it go in the boat? There should be no reason why you can’t get a limit every day.”

Przekurat added that the big fish still exist, but that you have to go through some numbers to get to them. Also complicating matters is the spawning of alewives, a 4-inch baitfish that makes up much of a Green Bay walleye’s diet. With tons of young baitfish swimming around, these fish have plenty of dietary options.

“First you’ve got to make them eat, then you’ve got to weed through them to get your 7-pounders.”

Tactically speaking, don’t expect too much diversity from the field. Przekurat thinks most anglers will be employing crawler harnesses, just like last year. Those that won’t run harnesses will likely troll big crankbaits. Unlike last year, there appears to be two distinct patterns forming. When the event was held in May, nearly all of the heavy sacks were caught shallow. Now that the tournament is being held in July, a deep-water bite has developed as well.

“I’m going to guess that it will take 31 pounds per day to win it,” Przekurat stated. “The weather is stable, and we are getting near-perfect conditions.”

Championship berth at stake

Another angler with a lot on the line this week is pro Tommy Brunz. Like Przekurat, Brunz has spent five days on the water practicing. The Madison Lake, Minn., resident currently sits in 55th place in the points race, just barely outside the cut to make the championship, which is being held on South Dakota’s Lake Oahe.

“I would really like to go to Pierre for the championship,” said Brunz. “That’s a goal of mine; it would be wonderful.”

Despite living roughly an hour from the Twin Cities, Brunz has developed into an excellent open-water fisherman.

“I’ve been fishing tournaments since the late 1980s. It’s been a long learning curve for me. But once I learned it, it wasn’t too hard to refine. I also learned that those same techniques work all over.”

Most recently, Brunz was sitting in 11th place after two days of competition on Devils Lake. Unfortunately for him, a brutal cold front rolled in overnight and day three was cancelled, leaving him one spot away from the top-10 cutoff. While it was a bitter pill to swallow, Brunz has refocused his efforts to the task at hand. That immediate task includes relocating walleyes that have moved considerably after an overnight storm.

“Things have changed quite a bit since we’ve got here. The water clarity yesterday was 4 feet; today you’re struggling to see down a foot. My plan for the rest of the day is to find clearer water.”

Before the storm passed through, Brunz was on a steady bite. He said he caught fish both on a crankbait and on a live-bait rig, presumably a crawler harness. Brunz described the crankbait as more of a search tool.

“Today the wind is coming from the north. The previous four days it was coming from the south. The weather will play a big factor. I’ve heard rumors of some of the local guys running all the way to Chambers Island to get to their fish. A steady wind would make it hard, if not impossible, to make that long of a run.”

Competition begins at 7 a.m. Central time Wednesday.