South Dakota shootout
Jurrens, Joy lead tight race among anglers
PIERRE, S.D. – Slot tournaments generally come down to who makes the best decision in keeping fish over the slot or letting them swim with hopes to catch a bigger one. With just 1 pound, 2 ounces separating the top five anglers it seems many are making the right decisions. The duo of Ranger pro Lynn Jurrens and his co-angler from Bemidji, Minn., Lowell Joy made the right choices and brought in 17 pounds, 11 ounces worth of Lake Oahe walleye. They lead the tournament going into day two with only an 8-ounce lead over second place.
“I don’t get to lead a tournament often, so I’m going to soak it all in and enjoy it,” said the Watertown, S.D., native.
“We started our day making a run to the dam early and pitching Reel Bait Flasher Jigs with plastics. Then we moved and started to do some rigging with 2- and 3-ounce bottom bouncers for our slot fish. We made another switch to go troll after that which worked the best today, but may not work so well tomorrow.”
Jurrens caught somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 fish today and said he had a blast. They caught five over fish and made the right call by throwing back first couple 22-inchers. That patience paid off when they scored two nice over fish to help boost them to the top of the rankings.
“I got about eight spots that I’m working,” said Jurrens. “The biggest thing for me is using my Humminbird electronics to mark the fish and show me the right contours. My Minn Kota Terrova with i-Pilot makes it nice and easy to stay on the contours I want to be on.”
Despite the heat, Jurrens managed to keep his fish alive with a combination of ice and Rejuvenade livewell treatment. Without that he was not sure how long his fish would have lasted.
For tomorrow the Ranger pro plans to stay confident and just go have fun.
Przekurat, Yancey sit in second
Just 8-ounces behind the current leaders sit Chevy pro Jason Przekurat and his co-angler Kevin Yancey of Newport, Mich., with a total weight of 17 pounds, 3 ounces.
Just as many other anglers today, the Chevy pro is staying tight lipped about the presentations he is using. But he does feel confident about the bite he has found.
“You just need to keep moving until you find the right fish,” said the Stevens Point, Wis., pro. “I expected to get our two overs on our first spot which worked out for us today. We even caught a nice slot fish too in that area. After that it was just time to run different spots until we came across a good school of nice fish at the end of the day. It was a nice way to end the day especially since we kept them biting.”
“Tolling to rigging, we did it all today. The big factor is the type of spot you are fishing that dictates the presentation you use.”
Jirik, St. Sauver idle in third
Ryan Jirik from Rhinelander, Wis., and his co-angler Col. Scott St. Sauver from Little Falls, Minn., brought 17 pounds, 1 ounce to the scales today helping to put them right in the hunt for the top spot.
Unlike many of the anglers who are catching lots of fish – just not the right size – Jirik only received 12 bites all day.
“I was fishing one general area all day,” said the Evinrude pro. “It was a tough day, caught two nice 22-inchers right away. We kept one and let the other go then just stopped getting bit all together. I was a little worried especially when we just kept catching pike. We lost some fish that were just barely hooked and finally caught our big over who only had one hook in its mouth.”
Jirik did not want to disclose any more information but has high spirits for tomorrow.
Steffen, Salmonson settle in fourth
Mercury pro Paul Steffen and co-angler Craig Salmonson of Timmins, Ontario, managed to find some nice over fish to bring their total weight to 16 pounds, 15 ounces. This has them sitting in fourth place going into day two and just under a pound behind the leaders.
“Well we started off the morning fishing with live bait and caught two good slot fish,” said the Pierre, S.D. pro. “After that we made a run and started to pull crankbaits. Ended up pulling two good overs out of that spot and left it right away.”
Like many pros, covering water with different baits is the main plan for Steffen. With a solid limit and local knowledge, Steffen has potential to be very dangerous for the remainder of the event.
“I couldn’t have been more pleased with my day and my co-angler Craig. I learned some new stuff from him today and having a great co-angler just makes the day go by really smooth.”
Olivier, Balka hold down fifth
For it being his first National Guard FLW Walleye Tour event, you wouldn’t guess it. Curt Olivier of Yankton, S.D., and his co-angler Chad Balka of Schererville, Ind., round out the top five on day one with a 16 pound, 9 ounce limit.
“It took a little bit to figure out what the fish were doing on my spot today,” said Olivier. “The fish weren’t quite where I thought they would be so I moved shallower and started to catch them. I used my Lowrance to help locate the fish, because when you find them, they bite.”
Olivier was also reluctant to give away too much information this early on in the event. He did say that he was pulling crankbaits most of the day, and did switch up to other presentations when necessary. The team caught around 30 fish today and only three overs. Luckily, the overs came in the right order making the decision to keep them even easier.
Olivier is calm and collected going into tomorrow, not letting the fact that he is going up against the best anglers out there get to him. He plans to run the same area using the same techniques, and hopefully yields the same results.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top-10 teams:
6th: Brian Regelin of Cozad, Neb., and co-angler Dale Janota of Gillette, Wyo., 16-6.
7th: John Campbell of Marco Island, Fla., and co-angler Kenny Brenner of Moline, Ill., 16-1.
8th: Mark Courts of Harris, Minn., and co-angler Keith Keivens of Toledo, Ohio, 15-13.
9th: Danny Plautz of Madison, Wis., and co-angler Christopher Hanson of New Hope, Minn., 15-7.
10th: Chad Schilling of Akaska, S.D., and co-angler Charles Fields of Pierre, S.D., 15-6.
Walleye fans take note
Anglers will take off from Spring Creek Resort & Deep Water Marina located at 28229 Spring Creek Place in Pierre at 7 each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart located at 1730 North Garfield in Pierre beginning at 4 p.m.