Winterfeldt & Herd Crowned 2007 MWT State Champions

   Summer held on past it’s unofficial end of Labor Day for a couple days, but fall was definitely in the air at the end of the pre-fishing period for the 2007 version of the MWT State Championship on the Cass Lake chain.  The northwoods of Minnesota were just starting to show some of their hidden beauty as 31 optimistic teams plied the waters of Cass Lake and it’s connected waters looking for gold.  Walleye gold!
 

   Temperatures in the 90’s earlier in the week had gotten replaced on Thursday morning with temps in the 40’s.  The walleyes hadn’t seemed to have noticed though.
 

   As the anglers gathered Friday night at Stony Point Resort on Cass Lake’s south side for “The Judge Tournament Rules” meeting, smiles were evident everywhere.  Teams congratulated each other on making the Championship, ribbed each other a little and maybe even tried to pry a little extra fishing info out of opposing teams, because Saturday morning it was time to get down to the business at hand.  Each team wanted a fair portion of the $16,000 Championship purse.
 

   Saturday – Day One – opened with 43-degree temps and a sliver of a sunrise before quickly clouding over.  Teams were released shortly after sunrise at 7:00am into the 25,000 acre chain of lakes.  Light winds greeted the anglers as they moved toward their best spots.  The rain held off until just after 10:00am but then continued throughout the remainder of the day and into the evening.  The walleyes seemed unaffected for the most part though, as 27 of the 31 teams would bring walleyes to the scale on a wet 52-degree afternoon.
 

   MWT veterans Bryan Winterfeldt and Darrin Herd would weigh a 6 fish limit at 13.62lbs to take the rainy Day One lead.  Dave and Adam Andersen, who also had a 6 fish limit, would trail by a little under 2 lbs at 11.83lbs.  Bjorn Horgen and Brandon Jestus were close behind in 3^rd with 5 fish weighing 11.65lbs.  Todd Cunningham and Mike Putzier also were in the double digits with a 6 fish basket at 10.85 lbs. for 4^th place.  Curt and Trevor Norenberg would pocket the Day One Big Fish pot of $310 for a respectable 4.68 lber.
 

  Sunday – Day Two – would bring slightly warmer morning temps with the same light north wind and plenty of sunshine.  Matt Yach and Larry Hogan, would had brought in only 2 fish for 4.58 lbs on Day One, returned to their Day One location on the northwest side of Star Island and again pulled Reef Runner Ripshads, just as they had done the day before.  But this time they had much better results.  They would work the 20’ to 30’ depth range of a breakline trolling Gold Clown and Emerald Shiner Ripshads 270’ back.  Attaching a 1 oz or 1 ½ oz snap weight 50 feet ahead of their crankbaits would help them attain the desired depth.  Marking huge clouds of baitfish, the pair would respond accordingly to bring their baits to that level.
 

  Yach and Hogan would weigh 6 fish weighing 15.22 lbs on Day Two, to take them from 16^th to finish in 3^rd.  Their 2 day total of 19.80 lbs would earn them a $2,000 check and the 3^rd Place plaques.
 

  Day One leaders, Bryan Winterfeldt and Darrin Herd, also returned to their Day One location.  They had found a hump on the south end of Andrusia Lake away from the majority of other anglers that held the walleyes they were looking for.  Winterfeldt and Herd concentrated their efforts fishing from 16 feet down to where the gravel turned to mud at 30 feet.  They used both crawlers and spinners and redtails to catch their limit both days. 

  Winterfeldt and Herd would bring another 6 fish limit to the scale on Sunday that was heavier than the day before.  Anchored by a 7.53 lber, their basket would weigh 16.07 lbs – giving them a total of 29.69 and a MWT Championship win!

  They took home a $7,000 check, the 1^st Place plaques, a pair of Oxygenator Livewell Keeper units from O2 Marine Technologies, and a pair of Off Shore Tackle side planer boards.  Their 7.53 lber was also the Big Fish of Day Two worth another $310 cash!
 

  Dave and Adam Andersen finished Day One in 2^nd Place and would remain there after the Day Two weigh-in despite bringing in an even larger 6 fish limit on Day Two than they had the day before.
 

  Fishing on the north end of Cass Lake, just as they had done on Saturday, Team Andersen used 4”-5” redtails on red hooks for their bigger fish.  Working a series of humps and valleys in the 35 ft to 54 ft depth ranges seemed to produce the most action.  The west side of Cedar Bar also produced some slot fish for them on smaller 3”-3 ½” redtails and leeches.
 

  Even though they had a heavier 6 fish basket on Day Two than on Day One – at 15.34 lbs, which included a 5.96lber – they would still trail leaders Winterfeldt and Herd by 2 ½ lbs and have to settle for 2^nd place with a total weight of 27.17 lbs.  Dave and Adam would earn a $3,500 check and the 2^nd Place wood.