Local Teams Top GNWC’s Lake Okoboji Qualifier
By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
Using the same technique that helped them win the 2001 Okoboji Walleye
Classic, the team of Marvin Hansen from Ocheyedan and Neil Houge from
Okoboji took top honors on the third qualifier of the Grand National Walleye
Cup’s (GNWC) Iowa Circuit, Sunday, May 25 on the Okoboji chain of lakes.
Hansen and Houge weighed a six-fish limit of 9.57 pounds to cash the
first place check of $2000. Second place finishers, Wes Rose and Todd Hough
from Graettinger, were right behind with a six-fish limit weighing 9.49
pounds. They took home a check for $1000.
Chris Scholl from Manly and Kevin Hulsing from Cedar Rapids took third
place with another six-limit weighing 9.20 pounds and cashed a check for
$750.
A total of seven teams caught six-fish limits while the payout extended
through the top 14 teams.
The Abu Garcia Big Fish award of two 6500 Linecounter went to Russell Mann
and his son from Gilman for their 3.01 pound walleye taken on a slip bobber
and a chub in 15 foot of water on East Okoboji.
Meanwhile David Tolk from Sioux Falls, SD and Stephen Tolk from Lake Park
captured the Berkley Family Angler Award of $250 in Berkley product for
being the top family team with 7.20 pounds.
Although the top two teams used a slip bobber and a leech presentation to
catch their fish on West Okoboji’s gin clear waters, Hansen and Houge
deviated from the traditional slip bobber presentation. Instead, they worked
their slip bobber rigs along a 15 foot weedline in Hayward’s Bay, nudging
themselves slowly ahead with their front trolling motor. Hansen said, “This
is exactly what we did to win the Okoboji Walleye Classic two years ago. We
found we can cover a lot of area doing this.” As they bump themselves ahead,
the key is to still keep the leech in the strike zone.
Rose and Hough slip bobbered a rock pile in Hayward’s Bay for their first
three fish and then headed across the lake to finish out their limit in the
afternoon.
Scholl and Hulsing, on the other hand, showed that other techniques also
work as they trolled 14-foot water near Parks Marina on East Okoboji with
silver spinners and nightcrawlers.
GNWC Tournament Director Dean Higgins was elated with the 58-team field and
the weather conditions. “After the driving rain and wind at Clear Lake, this
weather was awesome. The teams once again showed their versatility, however,
with a change to clear, high skies on Sunday after a cloudy, drizzly day on
Saturday. We had a nice crowd at the weigh-in, and now we’re down to the
last qualifier at Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi River on Sunday, June
22″
In the race for the Mercury Team-of-the-Year, Rodger Clark and Dustin Clark
from Albert Lea, MN lead Dave Smithburg from Libertyville and Joel Shaw from
Fairfield by four points going into the last qualifier.
Interested anglers can call 1-800-890-3474, email the GNWC at
[email protected] or check out the official GNWC website at walleyecup.com
for all of the latest in GNWC information.
Major sponsoring partners for the GNWC include Ranger Boats, Mercury
Outboards, Berkley, Abu-Garcia, The Sportsman Channel and
UpNorthOutdoors.com.
Television viewers who do not have The Sportsman Channel and want to
watch the GNWC’s television series Walleye Wisdom, are encouraged to call
their cable company or satellite television provider and ask them to include
it in their package.
Cutline: The top three teams at Lake Okoboji: 1st place, Neal Houge and
Marvin Hansen; 2nd place, Todd Hough and Wes Rose; 3rd place, Kevin Hulsing
and Chris Scholl.