Locals showing up strong at Lake Winnebago

Heavy winds abate during second day of Walleye Tour action

OSHKOSH, Wis. – Feel that? Or, rather, do you not feel that?

No wind Thursday morning at the start of day two of the Walmart FLW Walleye Tour tournament on Lake Winnebago. That wasn’t the case yesterday, when a heavy southwest wind made day one an endurance test for the 96 pros and as many co-anglers who went forth on Wisconsin’s biggest inland lake. Appointments with hometown chiropractors no doubt will be made when this tournament ends Saturday.

The mild breeze this morning was only a respite. The wind is forecasted to blow from the west at 15 to 25 mph this afternoon. At check-in time this morning, the flag by the check boat hardly stirred. When the national anthem rang out over Pioneer Point Marina, it had started to unfurl. At weigh-in this afternoon, it might well be stretched straight, as the forecast again calls for west-southwest winds up to 25 mph.

So no rest for the weary today. Who will successfully combat the wind and bring a big box to the scales? Will it be Pat Neu, whose 17-pound, 9-ounce box was yesterday’s heaviest, giving him a 1-pound, 8-ounce lead over second-place Brain Deffner? Or will somebody down in the pack make a big jump?

That will be determined starting at 3 p.m. when the weigh-in gets under way at the marina. It’s shaping up to be a Wisconsin-dominated tournament on the pro side, where seven of the current top 10 are from Wisconsin, including Neu, Deffner, Tom Hoinacki, Matthew Jacobson, Brad Davis, Jeff Neuchterlei and Jimmy Hughes.

Hoinacki, who’s in fourth place with 13 pounds, 3 ounces, lives in Waupun, 28 miles south of here, and fishes Winnebago often. He has a summer cottage on Poygan Lake, which is connected to Winnebago via the Fox River, and the cottage serves as his tournament lodging. Being a local who knows the lake well gives him an edge, Hoinacki said, but only to a point.

“There are so many good fishermen out here, they could find the same things I found years ago,” he said.

The last time Hoinacki fished an FLW Walleye Tour event was when the tour last stopped here in 2002. But he’s fished FLW Walleye League events since their inception, as well as the Masters Walleye Circuit, and is considered a veteran pro despite his lack of exposure on the FLW Walleye Tour.

Like everybody else, Hoinacki battled the wind yesterday.

“Especially later in the day, because I got pushed out from where I wanted to fish,” he said. “I kind of like the wind, but that was a little too much.”

Hoinacki added that “everybody was checking out everything” despite 3-foot waves that made long-distance runs a pain. There are places to escape the wind, but most pros are toughing it out on the main lake. And many are trolling with crankbaits. Those who run their cranks on planer boards face an additional problem to big waves. Weeds being blown about on the surface are fouling their boards.

Hoinacki didn’t say if he’s trolling, but he did say the bite was tougher than he expected. He said he has five spots he’s working and that he caught just seven good fish all day, including two 17-inchers he threw back in the morning because he thought he could upgrade.

That wasn’t the case. The bite got tougher, not easier, as the day progressed.

“I was kind of scared when we didn’t get another fish for two hours,” he said. “But then we started to pull ’em again.”

When asked if he’s thought about fishing the tour full time, Hoinacki said this: “It costs money to do that. I can get the time off because I have my own construction business, but it would help to have sponsors. Right now I don’t have any.”

From his own pocket, Hoinacki paid for his ’03 Ranger 621 and Mercury 225 outboard.

“I’d like to get a newer one because this doesn’t qualify for the Ranger Cup,” he said.

Hoinacki has one big plus when it will be time to upgrade his rig.

“My wife wants me to get a newer one,” he said with a smile.

Thursday’s weather

Temperature at takeoff: 58 degrees

Sky: sunny

Wind: NW at 3 mph

Barometric pressure: 29.89 inches and steady

Forecast: partly cloudy and windy with a mix of clouds and sun this afternoon; high temperature of 79 degrees; wind WSW at 15-25 mph