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Lake Sharpe: May
2-9, 2008 (Lake Sharpe, Pierre, SD) |
Diary of a Pro Walleye
Fisherman
Lake Sharpe, SD., May 2-9th, 2008
For the last few weeks I have been planning this trip using my
NavPlanner and HotMaps CD from Navionics. I have many, many waypoints
to investigate and check out.
Day 1, May 2nd, 2008. Departed my home at 7 am for a 213 mile
trip to Pierre, SD. Lake Sharpe. Winds were from 30 to 40 mph. I'm
bucking the wind all the way. Well I get to Pierre at 11:30, windy,
rain and some thunder in the distance. Found the bait shop called
Carl's Bait and tackle. I met the owner of the shop and he had a very
colorful name, Deputy Dan, yes sir you read it right "Deputy Dan".
Well Deputy Dan and I talked for about 2 hours, he showed me different
points on the map to check out, I was curious to see how his points
would marry up with the waypoints I had pick on the HotMaps. Well,
about 90% of his waypoints matched mine, at least I felt that I did my
homework correct. Now the test would be on the water.
It was about 3 pm when I decided to launch the boat and do some
fishing and investigate the river. The weather was not helping much,
wind, rain and thunder. I decided to pull cranks and just look around.
In ten minutes I caught a 15 1/2 inch walleye and then a little later
a rainbow trout. The thunder was getting very loud and then it started
to lighting and I seen 5 tournament boats coming from the south. So I
called it a day. I didn't want to be a statistic. So back to my room
and settle in for the night and make a few phone calls.
Day 2, May 3rd, 2008. Made a few phone calls last night and set
up Sunday to take a couple of friends fishing. The weather today is
cool, partly cloudy and windy out of the east 15 mph. I started North
by the Dam and worked my way south. I figure I'll put on about 40
miles today. The water was nice and clean by the dam. Not a bite in
this area. I'm working my way south. I went to many different
locations and not a fish, I'm not marking any fish.
I decided to fish some rip-rap on the west side starting under a
bridge and drift with the current (jigging and live bait rig). I
drifted the are 5 times and caught 7 walleye 3 were 16 to 16 1/2
inches. The rest were under 15 inch, the state limit is 4 fish per
day. 15 inches or more but only one can be over 20 inches.
I went to a mud flat and caught 15 walleye all under 15 inches. So on
to Antelope island very nice structure here however the winds are now
howling from 25 to 35 mph out of the east. The water is the color of
coffee and cream. Found some nice humps at 17 foot of water. I marked
fish on these hump and marked the location on my Humminbird GPS. Took
a few walleye off the hump, also nothing over 15 inch.
Working my way north to farm island just to get out of the wind. There
is a sand island in the middle of the river. There was some nice
structure here. Caught Sauger after Sauger. A couple of them were 16
inches and the rest, well you know the story. I called it a day, I'm
beat. My knee, shoulder and back were hurting (minor injuries while
serving in the military).
Day 3, May 4th, 2008. Picked up a couple of friends, Pat and
Chris, we tailored down river 37 miles to Joe Creek boat ramp. From
this location we boated about 5 miles south to a steep drop off and
gravel shore line. The weather today was light breeze and warm, about
time. I let Pat operate the MinKota trolling motor with one additional
piece of equipment, the Re-Action docking system which is mounted
under the MinKota foot control. Pat was very impressed with the
docking system. Pat could hold the boat in a slow crawl or speed up
instantly to another location. So anyway we pitched jigs and minnows
to shore. Caught a ton on small mouth bass, some in the 3 to 4 lb
range. On the walleye side we caught about 15 and we ended up keeping
8 fish 16-18 1/2 inches. 5 were over 18 inches. I decided then that
this would be my starting point for the tournament.
I told Pat and Chris that I would like to work my way up river so I
can get the trail on my GPS. There was an area (the locals called it)
called the Bermuda triangle. I was a little intimidated by these
words. It is a area about 4 miles long with a lot of trees and under
growth. I was told a lot of lower units were lost in this area. We
made it through just fine and know I had the route on my Humminbird
987c SI. We tried fishing a few places with no luck. It was about 5 pm
and we called it a day.
Tonight (Terry) a friend of mine and co-angler for this tournament
will arrive so we can pre fish tomorrow and Tuesday.
Day 4, May 5th, 2008. Today Terry and I are going about 30 plus
miles down river and work different locations. The weather is drizzle
and windy. To make a long story short we caught about 10 fish and and
only 3 over 15 and nothing over 17.
My goal today was to find bigger fish and get my route on my GPS. Like
I said earlier, no big fish, but I at least got my route marked thanks
to Navionics HotMap chip which showed the channel.
We got back to the boat ramp and the clouds were coming in and it was
raining. Tomorrow is only a half day fishing, must be off the water by
noon.
Day 5, May 6th, 2008. Well last night through this morning
untill 9 am it was heavy rain and thunder (boomers) and a lot of
lighting. Watching the weather channel and they said there were over
230 (yes, not a misprint) lighting strikes in the Pierre area. Wow. My
major concern now was, did the weather turn the fish off????
We only went down river about 5 miles, the mud flats, We must have
caught over 30 walleye in 2 hours. Once again only 3 keeper fish and
nothing over 17 inch. Not a good sign. But at least the fish were
active.
Got off the water about 11:15. Cleaned the inside of the boat for the
tournament tomorrow. The tournament meeting starts at 4:30 and I meet
my first day co-angler and set up a time and place to pick him up.
Well back at the room I'm thinking I don't have much choice of where I
will start fishing, knowing I must drive 47 miles down river through
the Bermuda triangle, and the question is, what is the weather going
to be like???
Day 6, May 7th, 2008. 1st day of the tournament, excitement in
the air. But you can't help but wonder what the day is going to bring.
Well I'm going to my only location that gave me 18 inch fish, 47 miles
south. I am boat no. 37. There was light wind out of the south. Water
had about a 10 to 14 inch chop and no rain forecasted for the day.
That's unheard of for a tournament day, haha.
Boat 1 left at 7 am and I was on plane at 8 minutes after. We are all
cursing at 50 mph south. The boats were spreading out and the channel
was getting wider and it gave me an opportunity to pass other boats. I
opened up my Ranger 620 Fisherman and 225 HO Evinrude E-tec to 57 mph
and I passed every boat with the exception or 4 boats, they were going
farther south. I got to my destination in 50 minutes or so.
My co-angler and I are now fishing and with in 10 minutes we had our
first keeper, 17 inch. Pitching Jigs towards shore and catching a lot
of small mouth bass and a few smaller walleye. There was a nice chop
on the water perfect for walleye fishing. 1/2 hour later caught our
second keeper. Then a fisherman's worst nightmare, the wind stopped,
dead calm. I stayed there for another 1 1/2 hours, not a walleye to be
had... Packed up and went to a new location 8 miles south on a large
flat. I never pre fished this area however by studying my HotMaps it
looked like a good place to pull cranks.
We put in two planner boards and two rods out the back. Within the
first 1/2 hour both planner boards had a fish on. Only one keeper.
Made a few more passes and once again both planner boards had a fish,
and again only one was a keeper. We had 4 fish in the well and running
out of time. Headed back towards the weigh in area and fished a sandy
ledge across from farm island. Caught 10 more fish and only had two
keeps. 6 in the well and weigh 5. The fish where health in my live
well but when we carried them to the weigh in and put them in the
holding tank I noticed the water was warmer than the river water.
Everyone was struggling to keep there fish upright. One of ours would
not stay upright and then penalized me for a dead fish, lost 1/2 lb.
My weight was 6.5 lbs and the leader was at 9 lbs.
Day 7, May 8th, 2008. 2nd day of the tournament. Winds at 20
mph out of the south. 2 foot waves. I head back down river 47 miles.
It took 1.5 hours to get there. The only way to fish this area today
was to drift fish. We caught a lot of bass and two keeper walleye, my
co-angler lost two walleye before they got to the boat, they might
have been keepers but who know, and that is the way it goes. You land
some and lose some.
Our weigh in was at 4 pm today, I decided to leave my location at 12
noon. The winds know were at 30 plus mph. I didn't know how long it
would take use to get back. The waives now are from 3 to 5 and 6
footers. We where in for a 50 cent ride for 40 miles. The waves were
about 6 foot apart except for one. We were in mid air and it was like
someone pulled the bottom out from under us. It felt like we were 50
ft in the air but it was only 5 ft. We slammed down and my foot hit my
pedestal release and took the cushion out, I jarred everything loose.
My shoulder, neck, back and left knee got punished. After gaining my
composure we continued on. I felt pain but we had to continue. It took
2.5 hours. Pulled into the farm island area to see if we could get 3
keepers. We caught 20 plus walleye and not a keeper. We weighed in
only two fish. Not a good day.
Day 8, May 9th, 2008. This morning I had heard that some of the
boats that took the 60 mile run had problems, a few ran out of gas,
lower unit problems, some of the co-anglers had physical problems such
as knee replacements, pins in the back, etc. they didn't let there pro
know and it is our responsibility to ensure their safety.
The winds today are mild, good walleye chop. I only went as far as
Stony Point. 12 miles. I figured the walleye would be on this point
because the wind was blowing into it the previous day. We pulled
spinners for 1.5 hours and caught 2 small walleyes, no keepers.
Moved about 1/2 mile north and pulled reef runners and raps. Caught 4
walleye, no keepers.
Moved again to Antelope Island. On my Humminbird 987 I spotted some
fish on a double hump at 17 ft. My partner snags one, 16.5 in., we
made several more passes over the hump and pulled out about 12 walleye
and we had 3 keepers. All were 16.5 inches. I worked the hump for
another 45 min. and didn't mark or catch another fish.
Move up river about 4 miles on the river channel and trees with a
beautiful steep ledge. We are catching small walleye while I was
working the ledge, going up and down. I marked 3 big fish at 12 ft
right on a drop off. I told my partner I'm going back over it. I
spotted the fish in the same location and when I thought my bait was
in their location I pulled on my line to simulate a bait fish getting
away. When I stopped the bait I felt that little tick. Set the hook
and landed a 17.5 inch walleye. Four in the well. I went over the same
location 4 times from different directions and the fish moved off the
ledge. Didn't mark a thing. We finished up the day with only 4 fish.
All in All this last tournament took its toll on my body, I talked
with my doctor and I have a torn tendon in my shoulder and some
bruised lower back muscles. It will take a few months to heal the
back, however the shoulder will need repair. Will wait until winter
for that. Can't just give up fishing, but I will not be able to
complete the FLW tour. My heart was set on fishing the championship
here is Bismarck. I will be doing a few local tournaments. Also I will
be volunteering my boat and time to take kids fishing. This Monday,
May 19th I'll be in Garrison, ND. taking 6th graders and there
guardians fishing. Also I will be getting in touch with Sporting
Chance and help them out with there fishing day. There will be
articles in the near future on these two event and also local
tournaments.
See you on the water...........
The FBO staff Author would like to thank the following sponsors:
Ranger boats (www.rangerboats.com),
Evenrude motors.(http://www.brp.com/en-CA/Innovation/Technology/Evinrude.E-TEC.htm)
Johnson motors (http://www.johnsonoutdoors.com)
Humminbird (www.humminbird.com)
Minn Kota (http://www.minnkotamotors.com/index.asp)
Troll Masters (http://www.troll-masterpro.com),
Amsoil (http://www.lubedealer.com/amerilube)
Navionics G (www.navionics.com)
Re-Action systems (http://www.re-actionsystem.com/)
Gibbons Fiberglass, Bismarck, ND.(www.gibbonsfiberglass.com)
Donavon Sales & Consulting, INC. (www.donavonsales.com)
Moritz Sport and Marine (www.moritzmarine.com)
Hook Line and Sinker, Beulah, ND. 701-873-2899
New sponsors are always welcomed.....
Chris Kuntz
www.kuntzwalleye.com
if you are to busy too fish, then you are just too busy,
TAKE A KID FISHING
If everyone did the most important thing in life, there would be a
shortage of fishing poles.
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