Overs are easy

Vanderweide claims final FLW Walleye Tour qualifier on Bays de Noc

ESCANABA, Mich. – Pro Josh Vanderweide had everything going for him after three days of competition on Lake Michigan’s Bays de Noc. He had a 5-pound lead, an area full of big fish and a state law that allowed anglers to keep only two walleyes per day over 23 inches in length.

With that rule in mind, Vanderweide knew it would be difficult for any angler to catch him so long as he boated his two “overs.” On day four of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event, the 27-year-old dentist did just that and threw in one slot for good measure – earning $100,000 for his first tour-level victory.

“The morning started out fast, but I knew things had changed,” Vanderweide said of the wind switching from southwest to northwest. “We got fish on our second, third and fourth pass. Our last fish went in the box at 9:50 this morning. After that, the water cooled down and the fish left. It was cold when we got there, and it continued to plummet throughout the day. We were fortunate to get the fish when we did.”

Oftentimes open-water trolling tournaments resemble a game of bumper boats as anglers concentrate around select pods of active walleyes. That was not the case in this one. Vanderweide found the winning area on Wednesday during practice, and the fish never moved. Vanderweide and his father, Thomas, who finished 15th, had the entire area to themselves.

That spot was located at the beginning of Big Bay – roughly seven miles east of Peninsula Point and 20 miles east of Escanaba Harbor. The depth in the area varied anywhere from 16 to 30 feet, and Vanderweide presented his baits in the middle of the water column.

“It’s a natural stopping point on their migration south,” said the pro winner.

Like most of the field, Vanderweide trolled at 1 mph with spinners and crawlers. Under overcast conditions, he would use gold and copper blades. Under blue-bird skies, he preferred silver.

“It was nothing special with the presentation; it was the location.”

Vanderweide won by a 4-pound, 10-ounce margin with a four-day total weight of 78 pounds, 14 ounces. In 2004 at the MWC team tournament on Saginaw Bay, Vanderweide and his father came back from 111th place to earn the first-place purse of $20,000. For winning the final FLW Walleye Tour qualifier of the 2008 season, the Jenison, Mich., dentist earned $100,000.

“The other one was done in a more dramatic fashion, and there was no expectation of winning. I was winning in this one, so there were more expectations. To get the job done is a relief. I can pay off most of my dental school loans with the winnings.”

Keenan rallies to second

Chevy pro Tom Keenan made the most of the final day on Bays de Noc. He began the day in fourth place and moved all the way to second via four walleyes that weighed 23 pounds, 6 ounces, the heaviest catch of the day. While he was never a serious threat to unseat Vanderweide, he did cash a $30,860 check for a four-day total weight of 74 pounds, 4 ounces.

Before the day began, Keenan felt he was fishing for third place. But after boating two perfect slot fish, his thinking quickly changed.

“It was very challenging today, but we did what we needed to do,” said Keenan, who grew up in Rapid River, Mich., and still considers himself a Yooper. “The wind was so bad we had four drift socks out just to slow us down. We did everything we could to maintain that 1.3 to 1.5 mph zone.”

Keenan fished two areas – one was located near the Ford River, 11 miles south of the launch site. The other was Peninsula Point, located 10 miles east of the Ford River spot.

“Every fish I caught was on spinners. The good colors were metallic purple and gold.

“I really can’t complain. I’ve had a great tournament. I haven’t won one of these in five years, and there’s no place I’d rather win one. Before I quit this sport, I will win one here.”

Chief third

Despite having only one fish on day four, Kim Papineau maintained third place in the Pro Division. That one keeper weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces, giving Papineau a four-day total of 60 pounds, 13 ounces.

“The north wind returned, and it just blew all the warm water out of the bay,” said the Escanaba, Mich., native.

The fisherman known as “Chief” wanted to run to find warmer water, but the high winds and rolling seas prevented him from doing so.

“I knew I couldn’t win, so there was just no reason to run in that wind. There was such a drastic difference between today and yesterday. Where I was at, 18 miles east towards Big Bay, we had 6- to 7-footers. It just was not happening – what a heartbreaker.”

In terms of presentation, Papineau was fishing differently than the majority of the field.

“I trolled into the waves with deep-diving cranks 80 feet back.”

For his efforts, Chief earned a check worth $8,832.

Schilling fourth

Heading out this morning, it looked like a two-man duel between Vanderweide and second-place pro Chad Schilling. Unfortunately, the Akaska, S.D., pro never received a single bite. His total weight over four days was 58 pounds, 1 ounce, good enough for $13,227.

“I was fishing the south end of the Ford River,” said the Walleye Tour rookie. “There’s a series of points and humps, and I just kind of jumped around and picked the ones I liked.”

Schilling was helped immensely by his teammate and practice partner Tom Gatzke. Last year at the PWT qualifier on Bays de Noc, Gatzke took third and Schilling took eighth. This year the pupil outdid the teacher as Gatzke finished the event in 21st place. Both anglers qualified for the prestigious year-end championship.

“We ran strictly crawler harnesses and constantly changed the depths. Our speed was 1 mph to 1.2 mph, and our best blade colors were gold and silver.

“When the water was deep, we slowed it down, and when the water was shallow, we sped it up. I pulled cranks during practice and only caught sheepshead, so it was nothing but crawlers.”

Hanisko fifth

Coming in second place among the local contingent was Lynn Hanisko, who earned $8,386 and finished in fifth place with a four-day total weight of 54 pounds, 7 ounces. On Saturday, the Bays de Noc veteran boated two walleyes that weighed 12 pounds, 2 ounces. The day could have been considerably better had the Escanaba, Mich., resident not had electric problems at 9:30 in the morning.

“Both of my electric motors stopped working, and my kicker engine is still at the dealer,” he said. “I got to make two passes, and I caught two fish. After that I tried trolling with my 250 (horsepower of his main engine).”

Hanisko used a mix of crawler harnesses and No. 13 Rapala Husky Jerks to catch his fish. On Saturday, both keepers came off the deep-diving crankbaits.

“We just couldn’t slow down to where we needed to be.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pro finalists at the FLW Walleye Tour event on Bays de Noc:

6th: Rick Franklin of Bemidji, Minn., 52-15, $8,822

7th: John Gillman of Freeland, Mich., 50-7, $7,939

8th: Pete Harsh of Sauk Centre, Minn., 49-8, $5,736

9th: Pat Byle of Colgate, Wis., 48-13, $6,173

10th: Nick Heelein of Genoa City, Wis., 39-3, $3,091

The $650,000 FLW Walleye Tour Championship is slated for Sept. 24-27 on the Missouri River in Bismarck, N.D. Only the top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers from the regular season advance to the no-entry-fee championship. New for 2008, the pro and co-angler champions from each of the four Walleye League Divisions qualify as well, bringing the total number of competitors in each division to 54.