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Dan & Darrin “Herd”em Up at
the State Championship
It could almost have been a repeat of last year’s
State Championship. Unseasonably
warm temperatures into the mid to upper 80’s, clear skies, very little
breeze, a lack of big fish, and tight lipped weighable walleyes.
Lake Bemidji has a very nice population of walleyes – however
convincing the 15” + fish to bite can be frustrating.
Day One began with clear skies and a SSE breeze at 7
mph and would remain that way for the remainder of the day. Teams were scattered throughout Lake Bemidji’s 6,420 acres
with most people slowly working the deeper humps with live bait
presentations through areas that had produced at least some fish for
them during pre-fishing. As
the Day One weigh-in progressed it was becoming evident that the legal
sized walleyes were not cooperating.
Jesse Bogatzki of Dassel and teammate Ben Oporto of Watkins found
4 walleyes that would weigh at total of 7.97 lbs. for the lead.
Less than one pound back, with a 6 fish limit at 7.14 lbs.,
defending State Champions Tony Renner of Hutchinson and Mike Ingebretson
of Brownton, would be in close second. Tim Servin and Dean Grochow
would find themselves in a familiar position, 3rd, as
that’s where they placed in last years Championship at Serpent Lake.
They caught 4 walleyes for 5.71 lbs..
Bogatzki and Oporto would net “Big Fish” honors for
the day with a 3.21 lber., and collect $200 cash in the big fish pot,
plus each would receive a Drift Control Sea Anchor.
Eighteen of the thirty teams would weigh at least one
walleye on Day One. With a
modest 7.97 lbs in the lead, a big fish, even a 5 pounder, could easily
move any of the teams into striking distance on Day Two.
Many teams spoke of catching 20 to 30 “short fish” on Day
One, but they would need to find a way to turn them into weigh fish by
Day Two.
Day Two dawned much the same as the first, with the
only difference being a SSW breeze direction.
Most teams had said they would stick with their same patterns but
maybe change locations for the second day, and it appeared as if that
were the case. A late
morning boat ride found most teams had migrated to two main lake
locations - the expansive Grassy Island area, and another area known as
“The Flats”.
Dan and Darrin Herd of Hutchinson, sitting in 9th
place with 3.68 lbs however, did not fish a well known spot.
They had located some sunken logs left over from Bemidji’s past
logging days and worked those over with a white jig and minnow
combination and found walleyes in 8’ to 25’ of water.
Team Herd also worked over some cabbage beds in 10’ of water
for a couple more walleyes. The
pair would bring 4 walleyes to the scale on Day Two for the largest
basket of the tournament, weighing 8.19 lbs, to give them a total of
11.87 lbs. and a check for $4,000.00, as that would prove to be enough
to win the 2003 MWT State
Championship!
In addition to the $4,000.00 check, Dan and Darrin, who
finished the year in 7th place in the “Team of the Year”
standings, also collected the 1st Place plaques, an $1,800.00
Gift Certificate from Warrior Boats, plus a pair of WristSaver Rod &
Reel combos. Congratulations
to Dan & Darrin Herd!
Tim Servin and Dean Grochow would advance one place,
from 3rd to 2nd, on Day Two, with a 3 fish basket
weighing 5.82 lbs., giving them a total of 11.53 lbs. and a check for
$1,500.00. They fished the 10’ to 12’ deep cabbage beds on “The
Flats”. The pair moved
along the weed edges with lindy rigs and nightcrawlers.
One using a green bead on a red hook while the other used a pearl
colored bead on a red hook. Tim
and Dean said they lost a big fish on Saturday, which would have given
them a solid win as they only trailed by less than a third of a pound.
They would take home an extra $200.00, and a pair of Drift
Control Sea Anchors, as their 2.41 lber would be big enough to claim the
“Big Fish” prize on Day Two.
Finishing in third place would be the 2003 “Team of
the Year”, Jeff White of New Brighton, and partner, Steve Resch, Jr.
of Blaine. Moving from 7th
place on Day One with 3 walleyes weighing 4.14 lbs, into 3rd
place, Jeff and Steve would weigh another 3 fish on Day Two tipping the
scales at 6.47 lbs, for a total of 10.61 lbs..
Enough to capture an $800.00 check.
Vertical jigging the edges of the cabbage on the north side of
Half Moon Bar in 22’ to 30’ of water with green or orange/yellow ¼
oz jigs tipped with “Bluewater Bait” fatheads proved to be a
consistent pattern as they weighed 3 walleyes each day. |
