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Jim and Jeremy Hackman Claim Lake
Minnetonka Qualifier
The wind has
definitely played a major role in this spring’s weather and it also
played a major role in Team Hackman’s planning for their Lake Minnetonka
tournament fishing location. Jim and son Jeremy Hackman, who have been
fishing the MWT since 2003, used the wind to their advantage by
choosing Casco Point in the East Upper Lake for their prime location.
Team Hackman, who, despite living in the Twin Cities metro area town of
Oakdale, had never fished Tonka prior to pre-fishing for this
tournament, thought that Casco Point, which has similar features on all
three sides, would be less dependant on wind direction than most other
spots.
They could sleep well
knowing that as long as the wind kept blowing from any direction other
than the straight north, that their spot would produce walleyes. And
produce it did. Registering the only tournament limit of the Minnetonka
Qualifier, Team Hackman took a commanding win in a tough bite by almost
five pounds.
With only 17 of the
75 team tournament field registering walleyes, of which only 5 teams had
more than 1, makes Team Hackman’s 6 fish limit all the more impressive.
Their catch would weigh in at 15.16 lbs and earn them a $2,500 check
along with the first place plaques. Second place honors, worth $1,500
and plaques, would go to Dan Jochum and Brett Lilienthal, from
Burnsville and St. Bonifacious, respectively, with a 3 fish catch
weighing 10.29 lbs. Capturing third place were MWT veterans Tim
Servin and partner Dean Grochow, both from Dassel with a 4 fish basket
weighing 6.49 lbs. They earned $1,250 and the third place plaques.
Big Fish honors and
$500 cash would go to Mark Willand from Dawson and partner Dan Lee from
Madison with a 5.56 lber. Willand and Lee would also finish in 4th
place for an additional $1,000. Second largest walleye of the event
would go to brothers Frank and Chuck Sterzinger from Eagan and Cottage
Grove with a 5.52 lb walleye worth $230 in cash. Team Sterzinger also
took 5th place worth $900.
Team Hackman would
fish Casco Point throughout the entire day with only one other
tournament team within sight. They felt their moderate bite would hold
up over the course of the day as long as the wind continued to blow.
Using a live bait rig anchored with a 1½ oz pencil weight, the Hackman’s
would work crawlers and leeches on plain hooks decorated with a green
bead as vertically as possible in 19’ of water along the weed edge. Jim
felt that the west wind blowing into their shoreline was critical to
their success and credited son Jeremy with much of the win for his
ability to backtroll into the wind and maneuver along the weed edge
without continuously getting hung up. They would catch only 8 walleyes
of which only 6 were tournament legal sized. Five would succumb to
crawlers and one to a leech. The pair lost a big one about 2:00 that
afternoon but as it turned out they wouldn’t need it for the win.
The Hackman’s
decided at the rules meeting on Saturday night to dedicate tournament
day to their father and grandfather who passed away 22 years earlier to
the day on Sunday. Jim said his father was a good fisherman also. What
a great way to pay tribute! Congratulations to Team Hackman!
Second place
finishers Dan Jochum and Brett Lilienthal used slip bobbers with
chartreuse angle jigs and leeches on fluorocarbon line in the clear
waters of Smithtown Bay and west upper lake. They concentrated their
efforts along the 13’ weedlines.
Tim Servin and Dean
Grochow finished in third by working a 300-yard stretch of weeds in
Wayzata Bay. They worked the 15’ – 17’ inside turns in the weed line
with pink Phelps floaters on an 8’ snell and had caught all of their
fish by 10:30am. One of their 4 walleyes was caught on a leech while
the other 3 came on crawlers. |
