Right place, right time for Beaulieu and Rehberg at Red Wing Tournament
By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
With nearly a five-pound average and a six-fish weight totaling 29.35
pounds, the team of Jim Beaulieu from Elk Mound, WI and Eric Rehberg from
Eau Claire, WI won the first tournament on the Minnesota Region of the Grand
National Walleye Cup (GNWC) held at Red Wing on Sunday, May 8.
Not only did Beaulieu and Rehberg pocket the $1600 first place check,
they also claimed the Cabela’s Big Fish Award of a $200 Cabela’s shopping
spree with an 8.36-pound walleye.
Bill Shimota and Mike Wieben from Montgomery, MN took second place and a
check for $800 with a six-fish limit weight of 19.38 pounds.
Third place and a check for $520 went to Tom Diercks from Hager, WI and
D. J. Siewert from Lake City, MN with a six-fish limit weight of 19.10
pounds.
According to GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer, 11 teams brought
six-fish limits to the scales. “Fishing had been pretty tough, but it’s been
gradually picking up. The top teams were able to put together a consistent
pattern that helped them bring limits to the scales. Jim and Eric’s total
weight was especially impressive.”
It was a long run for Beaulieu and Rehberg, all the way across Lake
Pepin, as a matter of fact, to fish the river system. However, to clinch a
victory by almost 10 pounds definitely made the long trip worth it.
The winning combination was long-lining jointed Shad Raps in 18-22 foot
of water along a rocky shoreline. “Our go-to colors have been firetiger and
crawdad,” said Rehberg, “but today there was no one color that stood out.”
Beaulieu and Rehberg combined Fireline with the jointed Shad Raps in order
to get the baits to run at that 18-22 foot depth. They tried to target their
speed at a little over 1 mph at 1.2 mph.
Rehberg summed up the victory by saying, “We really didn’t do anything
special. It was a matter of being in the right place with the right bait at
the right time.”
Shimot and Wieben spent the day hand-lining jointed Rapalas in the main
channel, while Diercks and Siewert used lead core to pull Shad Raps
The Yo So Close Award, provided by AMFYOYO, manufacturer of the
innovative stowable folding landing net, went to the three teams just
finishing out of the money. They include Jamie Lindseth from Eveleth, MN and
Ken Lindseth from Bemidji, MN in 12th place; Quentin McCarthy from Minnesota
Lake, MN and Bryan Pietig from Olivia, MN in 13th place; and Tony Belken and
Kelly Cook from Spencer, IA in 14th place.
Next tournament for teams on the Minnesota Region is the Whitefish Chain
tournament on Sunday, June 12. For those interested in entering this or any
of the remaining qualifiers, call 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or email the GNWC
at [email protected].
“Now that the tournaments are underway, I encourage people to check out
our website at http://www.walleyecup.com. I think they will find it extremely
interesting to see how the teams do in each of the seven regions,” added
Barringer.
Major national sponsors for the GNWC include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
Outboards, Lowrance Electronics, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, Aqua-VU,
Aqua Innovations, Cabela’s and UpNorthOutdoors.com. National championship
sponsors are Towtector Shield and the VIB”E” Lure Company.
