Smile, Tom, you’re on Leech Lake

Wisconsin pro takes big lead on day one

WALKER, Minn. – With a victory and 10 top-10s, Tom Keenan has had plenty to smile about in his professional walleye fishing career.

But seldom has he smiled more than on Wednesday afternoon in this north-central Minnesota town on the shores of Leech Lake. With amateur partner Darrell Martin of Forest Lake, Minn., Keenan caught 19 pounds, 15 ounces of walleyes to take a commanding 4-pound, 5-ounce lead on day one of the Walmart FLW Walleye Tour event on Leech Lake.

“This is probably the happiest I’ve been in seven years of competitive fishing,” said Keenan, who in 2003 won a tournament on the Mississippi River, last year placed second on Bays de Noc and, also in 2008, placed seventh on the Missouri River. “I haven’t had a day like this in a long time.”

Consider that second through 10th places are separated by 3 pounds, 8 ounces to grasp the magnitude of Keenan’s lead.

But best of all, the Hatley, Wis., pro is convinced he can do it again Thursday.

“We fished eight or nine spots, and every one had decent fish,” Keenan said.

Each two-man pairing at this tournament can keep three fish measuring more than 14 inches but less than 18 inches, and two fish longer than 26 inches – a feat Keenan and Martin accomplished with ease. Their first two keepers measured 17 1/2 inches.

“Perfect,” Keenan said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

At 11 a.m. Keenan pulled a 29-incher, which was about the heaviest fish anybody caught all day, though it can’t be said with certainty because individual fish are not weighed at Walleye Tour events.

Several moves and two hours later, Martin caught another 29-incher, and Keenan knew exactly what he had.

“The biggest weight for sure,” he said. “I don’t think you can beat that out here.”

Yet the bane of a tournament fisherman’s life looms over Keenan as the sun sets tonight over Leech Lake, and that is the swiftness with which a poor day can follow a good day in tournament fishing. Keenan said he’s had other tournaments where he did well on the first day only to falter on the second. But he’s confident that won’t happen here.

“I think I can do this again for the next three days,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of spots, and I can keep moving and moving. I think the key to this tournament is to move until you find nice fish. If you don’t find big, active fish, move again.”

How Leech is stacking up

Leech met pretournament expectations today despite a change in the weather that altered the bite significantly. While the cloudy, cool conditions of the past week made for a great prefish, today’s sunny, warm weather sent the fish deeper or led them to vacate previous haunts. Fifty-three of 93 boats caught limits. Four boats got skunked.

The average fish weighed 1 pound, 12 ounces. It was expected that a box weighing 12 pounds would be needed to crack the top 10, and that’s exactly what happened, with 10th place requiring 12 pounds, 2 ounces.

“It sure didn’t start fast,” Brian Brosdahl of Max, Minn., said of today’s bite. Brosdahl’s in third place with 15 pounds, 4 ounces. “Too bad the wind didn’t start to blow until the last hour.”

Yet walleye fishing always makes its exceptions, and today it was made by Dennis Jeffrey of Garrison, N.D., who’s fishing Leech Lake for the first time and who’s in second place with 15 pounds, 10 ounces.

“It took us just over an hour to get three 16-inchers,” Jeffrey said of the work he accomplished with amateur partner Larry Oleson of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. “I said, `That’s it, let’s go. We can upgrade later.'”

Like nearly everyone else, Jeffrey and Oleson were live-bait rigging with leeches and night crawlers. The torrid jig and minnow bite that had prevailed here since opening day either has lost steam or been given up by the majority of the tournament field.

Also rigging with live bait were Rick Olson of Mina, S.D., and amateur partner Bruce Frevert of Centerville, Iowa, who are holding fourth place in their respective divisions with 14 pounds, 13 ounces.

“We caught seven fish over 25 inches, but those over-26s were hard to come by,” Olson said, echoing a statement made by countless anglers who crossed the stage today.

Yet Olson and Frevert got two over 26 inches: one on a crawler and the other on a minnow. They discovered, along with many others, that there was no distinct pattern to pursue today.

Perhaps day one can best be summed up by a familiar saying of Gary “Mr. Walleye” Roach, who unfortunately is not competing here due to a prior commitment.

“The fish are shallow, deep or somewhere in between.”

Professional top 10

1. Tom Keenan, Hatley, Wis., 19 pounds, 15 ounces

2. Dennis Jeffrey, Garrison, N.D., 15 pounds, 10 ounces

3. Brian Brosdahl, Max, Minn., 15 pounds, 4 ounces

4. Rick Olson, Mina, S.D., 14 pounds, 13 ounces

5. Ted Takasaki, East Gull Lake, Minn., 14 pounds, 8 ounces

6. Chris Gilman, Chisago City, Minn., 14 pounds, 6 ounces

7. Joe Whitten, Toledo, Ohio, 14 pounds, 2 ounces

8. Michael Kirkland, Welch, Minn., 13 pounds, 5 ounces

9. Toby Kvalevog, Brainerd, Minn., 12 pounds, 12 ounces

10. Lynn Jurrens, Watertown, S.D., 12 pounds, 2 ounces

Co-angler top 10

1. Darrell Martin, Forest Lake, Minn., 19 pounds, 15 ounces

2. Larry Oleson, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., 15 pounds, 10 ounces

3. Jeff Burns, Wabasha, Minn., 15 pounds, 4 ounces

4. Bruce Frevert, Centerville, Iowa, 14 pounds, 13 ounces

5. Justin Steinke, Birnamwood, Wis., 14 pounds, 8 ounces

6. Gerud Hetland, Maple Grove, Minn., 14 pounds, 6 ounces

7. Tim Renner, Spicer, Minn., 14 pounds, 2 ounces

8. Rory Jensen, Madison Lake, Minn., 13 pounds, 5 ounces

9. Mike Taylor, Midland, Mich., 12 pounds, 12 ounces

10. Dan Soehren, New Ulm, Minn., 12 pounds, 2 ounces

Thursday’s takeoff is set for 7 a.m. at Walker City Park off Highway 371 in Walker. Weigh-in is again scheduled for 3 p.m. at the park. Both events are free and open to the public.