Team Docktor has Prescription
For a Win!
When
most people aren’t feeling so well about a situation they usually ask
for a little help and doctors are no different in that respect. Team
Docktor found they needed a little help to get things into shape.
Twelve
year old Zach Docktor and his fishing partner/dad Shawn from East Grand
Forks had limited time to prefish as the wind on Friday was extremely
intense and the rain on Saturday dampened many a spirit. Having never
been on Big Stone Lake before and after only 2 hours of prefishing in
the cold rain they decided they would need help and who better to offer
help than the locals. After visiting with several locals and a stop at
Ken’s Fireworks, Team Docktor was prepared with the information they
would need.
Sunday
morning dawned cool, but very fishable. Armed with Ken’s Fireworks info
and that from the locals, Zach and his dad would head for the north side
of Manhattan Island and the Twin Silos area. This area consists of rock
and gravel adjacent to deep water. The perfect prescription for holding
large walleyes needed to win a tournament. Add a 12 year old with a
nightcrawler and a dad to coach the 27 ¼”, 7.71lb walleye into his
waiting net and you get well in a hurry. Zach and Shawn would catch
only one legal walleye for the tournament but it was the right one.
Team Docktor were pulling spinners and crawlers over the rocks in 11’ of
water when the big one hit Zach’s rig. Zach had given his multi-colored
blade with a silver back and good luck kiss the previous night before
they went to bed and it paid off. Paid off to the tune of over $3,000!
Team Docktor would claim the first place check for $2,500, receive $500
from the Big Fish Pot and grab a Beckman Landing Net for the largest
walleye of the event.
Finishing in second place were Bill Bednar and Shane Gilbertson from
Montevideo. Bill and Shane made the 25-mile run up to the north end of
the lake to find 3 walleyes that would weigh a total of 5.34lbs. Once
there they would deploy 4 planer boards and pull spinners with hatchet
blades and crawlers at a very slow speed to entice a bite. They found
no preference for a blade color but did find that the inside boards
would produce more bites as they slowly maneuvered through S turns at
1–1.3 mph. Their 50 mile boat ride would earn them $1,500.00 and the
second place plaques on this day.
Cranking out a third place finish would be Mark Daschner from Armstrong,
IA and partner Troy Behsman from Cleveland. The pair would boat 2 legal
walleyes for the day. One each on #4 Salmo Hornets in a blue and chrome
combination and a black and gold pattern trolled along at 2mph. Mark
and Troy trolled the outside tips of some rock spines, which topped out
at 7’, in an area between Cameron Cove and Madsen’s Beach to find their
fish. They earned $1,250 plus the third place wood for their efforts.
Sonny
and Mary Arndt from Ortonville would land only one tournament legal fish
during the day, but it was a 3.54lber. That walleye was good enough for
5th place worth $900 and second place in the Big Fish Pot for
an additional $220.
