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Good Morning,
The Illinois Walleye Trail hosted the 3rd Qualifier of the 2012-13 season yesterday in Spring Valley, Illinois. The IWT anglers were greeted with very cool temps and sunshine yesterday, which made for a beautiful day on the water.
Thirty one teams braved the chilly start and a river that is just beginning to improve in terms of water conditions. Last weeks inch and a half of rain on top of all the snow melt had the river at flood stage earlier in the week. Water levels were near the 19′ mark prior to yesterdays start and slowly falling and the clarity is getting better everyday as well. Some anglers spoke of nearly 10″ of visibility, which is great and will continue to improve as the week goes on.
Despite the changing river conditions and the cool air and water temps the IWT anglers were able to put together some very respectable limits! A total of 113 fish crossed the scale yesterday with 99 of them being males and only 14 females. Twelve teams weighed a 6 fish limit and only five teams were unable to bring a fish to the scales.
Most of the teams had success either pulling live bait or cranks on three way rigs upstream really slow. Productive depths ranged from 14′-16′ feet of water and worked the baits up and down the break lines to connect with the fish.
The father and son team of Tom Giachetto Sr. and Tom Giachetto Jr. brought in a six fish limit weighing 11.26 pounds earning them the top spot in this event. Their efforts earned them $1,800 for first place and an additional $500 for being the highest finishing Lund Boats team in the money. The father and son duo pulled live bait on three way rigs, focusing on one area all day to find the right fish. Congratulations!
2nd Place-Dave Puetz and Jason Thies 6/10.84 $1,075. In addition to their 2nd Place finish they also earned a $100 Gift Certificate to Hennepin Marine for 2nd Place Lund Boats team in the money!
3rd Place-Steve Sandor and Paul Durdan 6/10.73 $825
4th Place-Gary Merkel and Bruce Merkel 6/10.45 $620
5th Place-Doug Yohe and Charlie Brant 6/10.13 $420
6th Place-Randy Carroll and Shawn O’Malley 5/9.95 $220
7th-Bob Horvath and Mike Thomas 6/9.75 Doc’s Custom Jig Bonus 1st team out of the money
8 Chris Clemmons & Bob Hausler 6 6 9.31 Case Zippo handwarmers 2nd team out of the money.
9 Dave Zurawski & Dave Kleszyk 6 6 9.1
10 Maury Schmerbach & Marty Berns 6 6 8.87
11 Tim Aherns & Carl Holten 6 6 8.83
12 Ryan Feldott & Steve Stone 6 6 8.35 0.00 8.35 2.01
13 Max Actis & Mike Stuckert 6 6 8.32 0.00 8.32 0.00
14 John Dalzot & Joe Perez 3 3 7.22 0.00 7.22 4.19
4.19 Walleye Big Fish of the event $310
15 Brian Mazur & Mark Mazur 5 5 6.59 0.00 6.59 0.00
16 Glenn Daugherity & Kay Hohn 5 5 6.55 0.00 6.55 1.65
17 Jim Preissner & Doug Lampen 4 4 5.95 0.00 5.95 0.00
18 Roy Perez & Troy Tregoning 4 4 4.99 0.00 4.99 0.00
19 Ken Dage & Dawn Dage 3 3 4.71 0.00 4.71 0.00
20 Mike Swalec & M Como 3 3 4.58 0.00 4.58 0.00
21 Paul Mathews & Cheryl Mathews 2 2 3.43 0.00 3.43 2.27
22 Steve Jones & Steven Jones 2 2 3.38 0.00 3.38 1.85
23 Ted Mathews & Nick Mathews 2 2 3.14 0.00 3.14 0.00
24 Scott Anzulas & Bob Jones 1 1 2.58 0.00 2.58 2.58
25 Dan Palmer & John Reynolds 1 1 1.86 0.00 1.86 1.86
26 Jason Wrosch & Joe Quattrochi 1 1 1.49 WoodStock Line Bonus/Lowest Weight
27 Jerry Reyburn & Lanae Reyburn 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
27 Mike Hanson & Matt Wohead 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
27 John Smith & Dave Hall 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
27 Adrian Cliffe & Josh Elsohoff 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
27 Chris Payne & Michael Payne 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
I would like to thank everyone who participated in this event and all of our sponsors who make the IWT possible!
Hennepin Marine, Lund Boats, Mercury Marine Worldwide Marine Insurance, Woodstock Fishing Line
and Doc’s Custom Jigs!
Also I would like to thank the Spring Valley Walleye Club, Rick Bushman with the Illinois Department of Resources and all of my crew who made this event a success!
