Seelhoff off to great start

Colorado pro, South Dakota co-angler lead day one of FLW Walleye Tour event on Lake Sharpe with 10-7

PIERRE, S.D. – If the weigh-in crowd heard it once, they heard it at least a dozen times Wednesday: The second stop of the 2008 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour will be “decided by ounces.” And while that proved true for a vast majority of the 134-boat field after the first day of competition, one pair of competitors wasn’t having it.

Veteran walleye pro Ron Seelhoff of Burlington, Colo., teamed up with co-angler Mark Bucholz of Sioux Falls, S.D., to take a substantial lead in this four-day FLW Walleye Tour event, presented by Berkley, taking place in central South Dakota on Lake Sharpe, part of the Missouri River. Bucking the trend of multiway ties and miniscule weights separating one place from another, Seelhoff and Bucholz brought in a five-walleye limit weighing 10 pounds, 7 ounces, giving them each a 9-ounce lead in their respective divisions heading into day two – a margin that means a whole lot in a tight tournament such as this.

Not only did Seelhoff follow his own stride in terms of weight, he also broke away from the pack regarding location. The longtime FLW Walleye Tour and Professional Walleye Trail pro found most of his success not far from Pierre, the host site, as a glut of anglers fished some 30 miles downstream at West Bend. Seelhoff said he had planned to catch a couple bigger walleyes on the upper end of the lake before venturing farther out.

“I’ve fished here before, so it was no secret there are some nice fish right up around here,” he told the weigh-in crowd.

Within roughly five minutes of their takeoff time, the pair landed their hallowed kicker walleye that measured over 20 inches in length. Seelhoff said they were off to a great start by 8:15 a.m., so they “stayed around here a few more hours, looking for 18(-inchers) and 19s.”

“We were just fishing around the bend here, and (Bucholz) caught this big one … about the third cast,” Seelhoff said, adding that they rounded out their weigh limit in the afternoon near Antelope Creek, about 10 miles downstream. “You can only spend so much time looking for those big bites before you have to fill out your limit.”

Seelhoff was pitching minnows and plastic jigs, including Berkley Power Minnows, in 6 to 8 feet of water. He also pulled crankbaits, including a Rapala No. 7 Minnow Rap, in 10 to 15 feet of water in the main channel of the river to catch more than 50 walleyes on the day.

Smallmouth make for big bite

One angler after another commented on the quantity – and quality – of smallmouth bass being caught Wednesday on Lake Sharpe. Many reported catching 30 or more smallies on the Missouri. Several joked that they would have done better today in a bass tournament, with 5-pounders being a commonly estimated size for a nice single.

Walleye Tour veteran pro Patrick Neu of Forestville, Wis., in 30th after day one, said with at least a sliver of seriousness, “We should do a bass tournament here though;” his co-angler, Michael Tesmer of Eden Prairie, Minn., added, “If you need a bass guide, go with this guy.”

Considering Walleye Tour Tournament Director Sonny Reynold’s rich history in tournament bass fishing – and his apparent enthusiasm for the quality bass bite on Lake Sharpe – could an FLW Outdoors-administered bass tourney be next up on Pierre’s tournament docket?

Walwood sturdy in second

Second-year Walleye Tour pro Troy Walwood of Grand Haven, Mich., emerged from the forest of tournament boats at West Bend in second place with a limit of walleyes weighing 9 pounds, 14 ounces. That weight puts him 9 ounces ahead of the quagmire that is the remainder of the leaderboard and in good shape heading into Thursday’s competition.

“We made a 60-mile run (round trip), and started off our day snagging up a lot,” Walwood said.

Things improved, however, as Walwood hooked into a 19-incher at about 9:30 a.m. About 20 minutes later, he reeled in an impressive 22-incher, anchoring his sack with likely the biggest walleye weighed Wednesday – but then came the big-bite doldrums.

“After that dry spell … we spot-hopped and picked up a fish here and a fish there,” he said, adding that they went through 25 to 30 walleyes to fill out a weigh limit.

Walwood went deep for his catch, trolling leadcore and live-bait rigging with minnows as deep as 35 to 40 feet. He said he was primarily fishing down countours in a few specific locations, starting at about 12 feet deep.

Like other anglers crossing the weigh-in stage Wednesday, Walwood said a little more wind today might have improved the bite, especially in his secondary area. If the breeze kicks up a bit tomorrow as expected, Walwood could be deadly on Lake Sharpe.

Local pro holds down third position

Pierre, S.D., native Brad Richards, a Walleye Tour rookie pro, used local knowledge of the Missouri River below the Oahe Dam to leverage a third-place finish on day one with a limit weighing 9-5. He reported catching myriad walleyes today along with significant quantities of smallmouth bass.

“We caught ’em all day long,” he said, mostly with Rapala crankbaits and Wally Divers.

When the young pro wasn’t pulling crankbaits in 13 to 20 feet of water in the main river channel, he was catching them by jigging in 10 to 12 feet of water. He reported using round-ball jigheads in multiple colors – possibly finding the most success with white or pink. Richards fished along the bluffs fairly close to home and only expanded his search as far downstream as Antelope Creek, less than a dozen miles away.

Bell uses live bait for fourth

Sixth-year Walleye Tour pro Jimmy Bell of Ham Lake, Minn., was all about live bait Wednesday, using it to catch a 9-3 limit good enough for fourth place. He caught about 50 walleyes on the day.

Bell was understandably tight-lipped about the specifics of his primary pattern, but allowed as how he had done “a little jigging” and some live rigging with bottom bouncers. However, his location was far from secret.

“We went down to West Bend with everybody else,” Bell said, estimating that as much as three-fourths of the field is fishing there.

Bell will return to that bend in the Missouri River, some 30 miles from Pierre, but will again take “a nice, easy ride” to his destination in an effort to conserve fuel. Several pros ran out of gas today on the return trip, leaving their co-anglers to hitch rides back to Pierre to weigh in their catches.

Three-way tie for fifth

Fifth place marked the spot on the leaderboard where the tournament field began to bunch up like sardines in a can.

Sharing that position, each with five-walleye limits weighing 9-1, are pros John Campbell of Marco Island, Fla., a nine-year veteran of the tour; Mark Courts of Harris, Minn., another Walleye Tour veteran, who recently has ventured into tournament bass fishing with FLW Outdoors; and John Swanstrom of Superior, Wis., $100,000 winner of the season-opening event on Lake Erie.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Presented by Berkley event on Lake Sharpe:

8th: Robert Crow of Paterson, Wash., five walleyes, 9 pounds and 0 ounces

9th: Bill Shimota of Lonsdale, Minn., five walleyes, 8-14

10th: Scott Steil of Richmond, Minn., five walleyes, 8-10

Bucholz brings in big one for co-angler lead

Mark Bucholz more than earned his keep on pro leader Seelhoff’s boat today, reeling in the pair’s largest walleye shortly after they hit the waters of Lake Sharpe. That fish anchored a five-fish limit weighing 10 pounds, 7 ounces that paved the way for Bucholz to take the day-one lead in the Co-angler Division. Seelhoff gave him credit for the kicker fish, and weighmaster Sonny Reynolds sang his praises onstage, but Bucholz was quick to acknowledge his pro’s talents.

“I think he showed me a few things today, too,” the Sioux Falls, S.D., native said of Seelhoff. “Ron found us a great spot.”

Referring to his 20-inch-plus catch, Bucholz added, “It was a big thrill that early in the morning to catch the big fish. It made the whole day a lot more fun to have one like that in the hopper.”

Two Wood

Fishing with Walwood, Wednesday’s second-place pro, Victor Wood of Rapid City, S.D., helped net a 9-14 limit, good enough for the No. 2 slot among co-anglers after day one.

“We both caught fish pretty equal,” Wood said. “It was a good boat to be in; (Walwood) did his homework.”

The pair’s catch came from much farther away than the leaders’, with Wood manning the back of the boat about 30 miles away in the West Bend area, where a majority of the field fished.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers after day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Presented by Berkley event on Lake Sharpe:

3rd: Francis Beck of Saint Paul, Neb., five walleyes, 9 pounds and 14 ounces

4th: Jim Feller of Blunt, S.D., five walleyes, 9-3

5th: Terry Etzkorn of Pierre, S.D., five walleyes, 9-1

5th: Richard Myers of Pierre, S.D., five walleyes, 9-1

5th: Keith Strauss of Syracuse, Ind., five walleyes, 9-1

8th: Jack Ellenbecker of Pierre, S.D., five walleyes, 9-0

9th: Allen Cleveland of Monticello, Minn., five walleyes, 8-14

10th: Carl Carlson of Altoona, Iowa, five walleyes, 8-10

Day two of Walleye Tour competition begins Thursday when the full field of 150 boats takes off at 7 a.m. near Steamboat Park in Pierre.