Doty Sticks with Frog for Victory

Sukowatey claims co-angler title

Ryan Doty of East Dubuque, Illinois, weighed three bass totaling 9 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the fourth Walmart Bass Fishing League Great Lakes Division tournament on the Wolf River Chain. For his victory, Doty earned $4,507.

“It’s very exciting to finally win a tournament,” said Doty of his first victory in FLW competition. “It’s not every day that I’m able to do what I love and be rewarded for it.

“During practice I hit a 1,000-yard stretch on Fox River pretty hard, so I knew that I would be there on tournament day,” continued Doty. “I just went in there and did my best to figure out what was going on.”

Doty said he targeted grassy areas using a yellow Booyah Pad Crasher Frog.

“I didn’t have a single bite until 10 a.m.,” said Doty. “After the sun came up, things started to heat up. I reeled in my biggest fish around 11:30. I caught my two other fish before 1 p.m. – all in about a foot and a half of water.”

Doty said he caught approximately 15 keepers over the course of the day.

“I probably had 70 fish hit the frog but it was hard to catch them,” Doty said. “It ended up being those three big bites that pushed me to the top of the standings.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Ryan Doty, East Dubuque, Ill., three bass, 9-7, $4,507

2^nd:         Tom Cordes, Dakota, Minn., three bass, 9-2, $2,253

3^rd:          Andrew Behnke, Fond Du Lac, Wis., three bass, 8-14, $1,277

3^rd:          Casey Goode, La Crosse, Wis., three bass, 8-14, $1,277

5^th:          Jeff Ritter, Prairie Du Chien, Wis., three bass, 8-9, $901

6^th:          Clayton Reitz, Morton, Ill., three bass, 8-8, $826

7^th:          Mark Myers, Cedar Falls, Iowa, three bass, 8-4, $751

8^th:          Jeff Benson, Holmen, Wis., three bass, 8-3, $676

9^th:          Rick Bosshard, Hartland, Wis., three bass, 8-2, $563

9^th:          Rick Miller, Eastman, Wis., three bass, 8-2, $563           

Complete results can be found here.  

Cordes caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 3 pounds, 13 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $655.

Sukowatey wins co-angler title

Art Sukowatey of Greendale, Wisconsin, weighed in three bass totaling 10 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to win $2,253 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Art Sukowatey, Greendale, Wis., three bass, 10-1, $2,253

2^nd:         Kevin Anderson, Ettrick, Wis., three bass, 8-5, $1,127

3^rd:          Adam Douglas, Tripoli, Iowa, three bass, 7-12, $751

4^th:          Pelli Lee, La Crosse, Wis., three bass, 7-11, $526

5^th:          Cody Hackett, Stoddard, Wis., three bass, 7-7, $432

5^th:          Matt Knox, Metamora, Ill., three bass, 7-7, $432

7^th:          Jared Greninger, Rockford, Ill., three bass, 7-5, $376

8^th:          Tom Lyskawka, Arlington Heights, Ill., three bass, 7-4, $319

8^th:          Tony Seiler, River Falls, Wis., three bass, 7-4, $319

10^th:        Paul Vonwald, La Crosse, Wis., three bass, 7-1, $263

Sukowatey also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $327.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 15-17 Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.