Banks bangs 31, opens up 10-pound lead

Limits abound despite frightful weather on Detroit River

TRENTON, Mich. – A mix of rain and snow pelted anglers throughout what was perhaps the most miserable day in the history of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour. What a way to ring in the 2007 season.

With temperatures hovering around 35 degrees, the precipitation started as rain, switched to snow and then switched back again to rain. This wet mixture came down in a horizontal fashion thanks to intense easterly winds of up to 30 mph. The winds were so bad that FLW Outdoors had to restrict its anglers to the Detroit River, making Lake Erie temporarily off limits.

With that restriction in place, it was no surprise to see Mississippi River rat Scott Banks on top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of day one.

The total catch Wednesday was 661 fish that weighed 1,680 pounds, including 114 five-walleye limits. Without question, the painfully miserable conditions kept even the best anglers in the world off their game. As much as they tried to fight it, total concentration is a near-impossible task in the face of freezing rain and gale-force winds.

In fact, several veteran walleye pros such as Ron Seelhoff and Eric Olson described today’s weather as the worst they’ve ever encountered in a tournament.

Banks limits early, upgrades

Banks, a Cannon Falls, Minn., native, said he used his general knowledge of river fishing to his advantage today. Banks is a diehard river fisherman on the Mississippi back home, and he said the Detroit River is fishing similarly right now.

“We had our first fish within five minutes, and we were culling by 10 minutes to 8 this morning,” he said. “We upgraded all but one in the next few hours and were in at 11:30 a.m.”

The five fish Banks did weigh were hefty, going 31-5 for an unthinkable lead of nearly 10 pounds. He swears most of his practice was tough, but he finally figured something out the final day.

“Every day the bite is getting better as the fish are getting acclimated to the cooler water temperatures we’ve had recently. People around us were catching fish, but we were doing something just a little different that allowed us to land a little better fish.”

Banks said he and his co-angler partner caught roughly 15 keepers, all of which had finished spawning. He nabbed those fish jigging, but wouldn’t reveal what exactly he’s doing differently that’s been so effective. He did say he had minimal boat traffic around him, meaning he’s definitely not fishing near the smokestacks in Trenton, Mich. Despite the big-fish potential Lake Erie offers, Banks spent all of his time prefishing for the event on the river.

“I’m going to do the same thing the rest of the tournament. Now I just want two solid days to keep me in the top 10. To me, the pressure is actually off now. The goal is to stay in the top 10, and to do that, you need to stay consistent.”

Meravy second

In second place is Shorewood, Ill., pro Mark Meravy. Despite catching a solid five-walleye limit of his own, Meravy currently sits 9 pounds, 13 ounces behind the leader with 21-8. Meravy garnered second place despite receiving only five bites the entire day.

“I was lucky enough to get one big fish,” he said. “Half the field is only one big fish away.”

Meravy triggered those bites by jigging shiners in the Trenton channel. His co-angler partner, Bill Buboltz, caught the 9-pound kicker fish, which was their first walleye of the day.

“It’s a great start, but you have to realize the lake was off limits. If the weather cooperates, I have a feeling things will change drastically.”

Goligowski third

In third place is Maplewood, Minn., native Kevin Goligowski, who caught five walleyes that weighed in at 21 pounds, 5 ounces. Goligowski said he caught his fish on a small jig tipped with a small minnow.

Goligowski spent the majority of his practice time on the lake, and the recent off-limits ruling left him scrambling. He initially ran upriver and then returned to Trenton after finding the northern waters unproductive.

Fishing near the well-known smokestacks, Goligowski managed seven keepers, two of which were large females.

“I’m just trying to cut off the fish as they come into the river to spawn,” he said. “Boat control was a big thing. It’s hard to stay vertical in this crosswind, especially with the light jigs.”

2005 championship winner fourth

Yet another Mississippi River rat is in the top 10 after day one on the Detroit River. Pro Robert Lampman of De Soto, Wis., brought a sack weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces to the scale, which was good enough for fourth place.

An excellent jigger and handliner, Lampman will be one to watch as the four-day tournament unfolds. As the 2005 FLW Walleye Tour Championship winner, he’s no stranger to giant paydays. Plus, he’s at his best on river systems.

McLaughlin fifth

Rick McLaughlin, a resident of Glenrock, Wyo., caught a five-walleye limit weighing 20-1 for fifth place.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros on day one on the Detroit River:

6th: Scott Fairbairn of Hager City, Wis., five walleyes, 19-13

7th: Kent King of Menasha, Wis., five walleyes, 18-14

8th: Ted Takasaki of East Gull Lake, Minn., five walleyes, 18-10

9th: Dan Herd of Hutchinson, Minn., five walleyes, 17-8

10th: Richard Nascak of Winona, Minn., five walleyes, 16-14

Local co-angler grabs early lead

In the Co-angler Division, local fisherman Michael Eichbrecht caught 31 pounds, 5 ounces with Banks, his pro partner, to lead day one.

“Going into today, I would have loved to have had 20 pounds,” Eichbrecht said. “That would have been fantastic. As it turns out, I’m doing much better than that. I’m just really having a lot of fun out here.”

While he’s competing in his first FLW Outdoors event, Eichbrecht is a solid stick. Banks estimated that he and Eichbrecht each caught roughly seven or eight keepers.

“The adrenaline was going so strong there for a while, I could barely even feel the cold,” added the Washington, Mich., co-angler. “I’m familiar with the river, and I’m familiar with jigging, so this was just a blast. If I could get half the amount that we had today each of the next two days, that would be great.”

Rounding out the top five co-anglers on day one on the Detroit River:

2nd: Buboltz of Ham Lake, Minn., five walleyes, 21-8

3rd: Stephen Gaston of Montegut, La., five walleyes, 21-5

4th: Robert Dekorne of Newaygo, Mich., five walleyes, 20-11

5th: Shannon Larson of Rice Lake, Wis., five walleyes, 20-1

Day two of FLW Walleye Tour competition on the Detroit River begins 7 a.m. Eastern time Thursday as the field of 150 boats takes off from Elizabeth Park Marina, located at 202 Grosse Isle Parkway in Trenton, Mich.