FATHER/SON TEAM WIN BERKLEY TRILENE/RANGER BOATS MWC WALLEYE TOURNEY
Ortonville, MN. – A father/son team, Terry and John Oakes put together an
amazing nine fish weight of 35.53 lbs. to best the 142 team field at the
Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit (MWC) Berkley Trilene/Ranger Boats Big
Stone Lake walleye team tournament held May 17-18 at Ortonville, MN. The
winners collected $19,000 plus an additional $975 for Sunday big fish
honors. The 8.01 pound lunker was the largest of the tournament.
According to dad Terry of Big Stone City, SD, “We caught 20 fish on
Saturday using a variety of 1/8 ounce Cabela’s Fire Eye jigs tipped with
three inch fathead minnows, between 2 and 4 feet of water.”
Son John of Ortonville added, “The Sunday bite was a lot tougher
because of all the algae on the surface and the windy conditions. We went
to casting Cabela’s crankbaits into the rocks around the islands. Firetiger
and shad were the best colors. We didn’t think we would win it with nine
fish, but dad’s eight pounder did the trick.”
Second place and $9,500 went to the first day leaders, Time Giese
(Ortonville) and Rich Huebner (Correll, MN) with a MWC ten fish limit of
31.76 lbs. Their first day weight was 20.38 lbs., which included big fish
honors of 7.24 lbs. worth $975. They cast a variety of crankbaits in perch
and shad colors around the rocky islands at mid-lake.
Third place with ten fish and 29.06 lbs. worth $7,250 went to Russ
Brockel (Bloomington, MN) and Chris Conroy (Eden Prairie, MN). They used a
combination of Cabela’s spinner baits tipped with nightcrawlers on bottom
bouncer rigs, along with chartreuse or bright yellow colored Wally Diver
crankbaits.
The top 24 teams shared the $68,700 cash purse. An additional
$4,948 was paid in big fish prizes. Fourth place finishers, Glenn and Carol
Chenier of Gladstone, MI earned $5,000 plus $1,000 as the highest placing
Ranger Boats team in the Ranger Cup series.
The MWC Conservation Fund awarded $2,130 to Wildlife Forever for use
with local shoreline improvement projects.
Approximately 2,000 spectators cheered on the teams who weighed 788
walleyes weighing 1,480.57 lbs. The all-time National Football League
scoring champ, Gary Anderson of the Minnesota Vikings, assisted onstage with
the Saturday weigh-in. Emcee, Bob “Kaz” Kaczkowski joked “Gary really got a
kick out of helping us out.”
The Bays de Noc at Gladstone/Escanaba, MI will be the site of the
next MWC tourney, which will take place September 13-14. Openings still
exist. Tournament entry forms can be downloaded from the MWC website
(www.masterswalleyecircuit.com) or by contacting the MWC, 12301 Whitewater
Dr., Minnetonka, MN 55343 or phone toll free, 877-893-7947.
In addition to Cabela’s, MWC sponsors include Berkley Trilene, Ranger Boats,
Lindy Legendary Tackle, Lowrance Electronics, Mercury Marine, North American
Fishing Club, The Outdoor Channel, Progressive Insurance, Cotton Cordell,
Flambeau, MotorGuide, Panther Marine, Daiichi Hooks, Yum Lures, Optima
Batteries, Lure Eyes, Walleye Assassin Lures and the National Freshwater
Fishing Hall of Fame.
Rank Boat # First Last First Last Day 1 Day 2 Fish
Total Wt.
1 115 Terry Oakes John Oakes 15.6 19.93 9
35.53
2 95 Rich Huebner Tim Giese 20.38 11.38 10
31.76
3 122 Chris Conroy Russ Brockel 7.71 21.35 10
29.06
4 33 Glenn Chenier Carol Chenier 9.1 18.12 10
27.22
5 105 Bill Leonard Wayne Stensrud 13.44 8.96 10
22.4
6 77 Jack Neuman Aaron McQuoid 8.45 12.66 8
21.11
7 136 Jim Hartmen Dan Sunne 11.68 9.41 10
21.09
8 120 Brent Hasslen Ritchie Seidell 15.99 5 8
20.99
9 103 Timothy Tesch Mike Meyers 11.74 8.05 10
19.79
10 80 Arthur Arndt Mary Arndt 12.11 7.59 10 19.7
11 11 Mike Tompkins Dan Stankevitz 11.91 6.98
6 18.89
12 125 Mel Reichling Rick Small 7.77 10.87 10
18.64
13 90 Gregg Erdmann Mitch Stoychoff 7.23 10.96 8
18.19
14 123 Tracy Nilson David Hawkinson 12.19 5.59 7
17.78
15 142 Mike Barrett Mike Finke 5.56 11.88 7
17.44
16 88 Jerome Jakobson Curt Olson 8.51 8.83 10
17.34
17 116 Todd Steffensen Leon Fish 11.89 4.69 6
16.58
18 5 Jim LaPine Jake LaPine 10.79 5.57 9
16.36
19 22 Tony Dowiatt Matt Dowiatt 11.19 5.14 7
16.33
20 68 Scott Steil Adam Adler 8.72 7.36 10
16.08
21 81 Richard Benson Steve Mord 5.94 10.01 9
15.95
22 12 Bob Lauridsen Kim Spigarelli 8.38 7.49
10 15.87
23 128 Daren Medenwald Vernen Christopherson 3.91 11.7
7 15.61
24 21 Steve Tauscher Scott Strangstalien 12.33 3.09
6 15.42
– END –
Thanks, Bill 
