Jig bite triumphs in Titletown
Butz overcomes 13-pound deficit, claims first Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour win
GREEN BAY, Wis. – All week long, limit after limit was caught from the seemingly invincible Geano Reef area of Green Bay. Nearly all of those walleyes were caught by trolling crawler harnesses behind planer boards. But on day four, the jig bite ruled as local pro Wayne Butz stayed away from the crowd and pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in FLW Outdoors history.
Despite having a 13-pound, 10-ounce deficit to overcome, Butz insisted he had a chance to unseat Ted Takasaki.
“Consistency was the key,” said an overjoyed Butz.
Each tournament day, the Oneida, Wis., resident set out with a goal of catching at least 25 pounds. Butz accomplished that and then some as his four-day total of 109 pounds, 1 ounce falls just short of Pat Neu’s four-day tour record of 111 pounds, 8 ounces.
“We caught a lot of fish throughout the week trolling, and we had a nice jig bite going as well. I probably caught nine of the big fish jigging.”
Things weren’t going as planned on day four as Butz started trolling just outside the Geano Reef. At noon, he only had one fish in the box, weighing roughly 7 pounds. Thick, floating weeds made the trolling bite difficult. Butz then decided to make the best angling decision of his life and go jig his shallow-water honeyhole, located two miles straight north from the launch.
“I was really sweating it out. The wind kicked up, and that made me nervous. Usually when the wind blows, they bite better on the reef. I thought Ted had it when he put his bag on the scale.”
Butz was using 1/8-ounce yellow and orange jigs tipped with a crawler. When the wind blew, he would upsize to a 1/4-ounce jig to get the bait down deeper.
“I think having local knowledge of the area really helped. Even when I was fishing near Geano’s Reef, near most of the field, I still had a lot of water to myself. The nearest boat was probably a half-mile away.”
Butz’s improbable rise to victory earned him an $85,000 check thanks to $25,000 in contingency money from Ranger Boats. Ironically, it sounds as though a good portion will be immediately returned to Flippin, Ark.
“I’ve been telling my wife I want a new Ranger.”
Takasaki tumbles to second
Takasaki’s bid for his first FLW Walleye Tour victory ended abruptly as he managed only a 13-pound limit on day four. Still, the tournament veteran took things in stride after an impressive showing.
“With the cards that were dealt to us, we played them perfectly,” said the East Gull Lake, Minn., pro. “It’s been a long day. I did everything I possibly could.”
With his family in the crowd, the president of Lindy Tackle commented on the life of a tournament angler.
“My family has been supportive,” Takasaki said. “It’s a great life, but there’s lots of travel, hard work and time away from home. If someone had told me before this tournament that I would get second place, I would’ve taken it in a heartbeat.”
Takasaki has been pulling crawler harnesses all week in the Geano Reef area. He credited his getting bites to a proper trolling speed, combined with the right depth presentation.
While he never flat out said it, it appears Takasaki never got the big bites Saturday that were the trademark of his tournament. His limit on day four pushed his combined total to 107 pounds, 12 ounces, which earned him a check for $32,000.
Coincidentally, that was the identical four-day combined weight of second-place pro Pat Schuette from last year’s tournament on Green Bay.
Schoenecker sacks four pigs
With only four fish, Ken Schoenecker, the pride of tiny Nabob, Wis., brought in the second-largest sack on day four and moved from fifth place to third. Schoenecker’s four walleyes on day four weighed 25 pounds, 14 ounces, pushing his tournament total to 100 pounds, 12 ounces.
“Most of the time I could scoot off to the side and pick up one or two,” said Schoenecker. “My goal today was not to keep anything under 24 inches. We found a little pod of supertankers, and then we tried and tried for one more. I got most of my fish from 5 to 13 feet down.”
While Schoenecker’s huge weight earned him $25,000, he said it wasn’t always so easy.
“I started prefishing a week and a half ago, and I couldn’t even get a mosquito bite. I then started focusing on fish that were higher up in the water column.”
Ryan’s roll continues
Finishing in fourth place was Lakeview, Iowa, native Jeff Ryan. Ryan caught the heaviest limit on day four, which weighed 29 pounds, 3 ounces. His four-day combined weight was 99 pounds, 12 ounces.
In his last three tournaments alone, Ryan has now netted $123,500. If not for a 129th-place finish on the Detroit River to start the year, Ryan would likely have been an FLW Walleye Tour Angler of the Year candidate. As it stands now, he still has a shot for another huge payday at the championship in October.
“It took a lot of patience again today,” Ryan said. “We had to move areas to find our fish. When we made our move, we got fish right away.”
Ryan said the hot blade colors on day four were purple and silver.
Arnoldussen fifth
Dean Arnoldussen earned $13,000 and finished in fifth place with a four-day total weight of 96 pounds, 6 ounces. On Saturday, Arnoldussen boated five walleyes that weighed 20 pounds, 1 ounce.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pro finalists at the FLW Walleye Tour event on Green Bay:
6th: Bill Ortiz of Richland Center, Wis., 92-6
7th: Ross Grothe of Northfield, Minn., 91-12
8th: Paul DeVoss of Dodgeville, Wis., 89-0
9th: Tom Keenan of Hatley, Wis., 80-12
10th: John Schneider of Shawano, Wis., 78-7
FLW Walleye Tour competition resumes Oct. 4-7 as the top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers compete in the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on Lake Oahe in Pierre, S.D.