Keeping on the Move Triggers Win for Klemmensen, Hering at Whitefish Chain
of Lakes
By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
On a day when the bite on the Whitefish Chain of Lakes was definitely
tough for the teams competing on the Minnesota Region of the Grand National
Walleye Cup (GNWC), the words heard over and over were “you gotta keep
moving!”
That is exactly what the team of Todd Klemmensen from Edina, MN and
Brent Hering from Maple Grove, MN did as they captured the $1200 first place
check with a four-fish weight of 13.23 pounds.
The team of Brand Stockman from Pine River, MN and Mark Dammann from
Glencoe, MN cashed the $600 second place check with a five-fish weight of
12.07 pounds.
Third place and a check for $550 went to the team of Corey Bohn from
Kensington, MN and Jason Overby from Marshall, MN with a four-fish weight of
7.07 pounds.
The Cabela’s Big Fish Award of a $200 Cabela’s shopping spree and $260
in the optional Big Fish Pot went to the team of Chad Benson and Joe Edlund
with a 6.45-pound walleye.
“This was definitely a tough bite,” said GNWC Executive Director Bernie
Barringer. “It was one of those days where it seemed you had to keep moving
from spot to spot to find the fish.”
According to Klemmensen, he and his partner kept an open mind. “We had
to because we didn’t get a fish until after 10 o’clock.”
Hering agreed, “We had a really slow start, and kept moving from spot to
spot. I’ll be we tried 20 spots before we finally found some fish.”
When they did find active fish, Klemmensen and Hering trolled silver
spinners and nightcrawlers along the edge of the deep weeds in 16 feet of
water. Even after they found a fish, they had to keep moving because “the
walleyes really move around on Upper Whitefish,” noted Hering.
Stockman and Dammann found their fish in 13-14 feet of water fishing the
mouth of the Pine River area. They used Lindy Rigs and leeches, moving along
the edges of the weedline and then working the pockets of the weedbed.
Bohn and Overby caught their first two fish Lindy Rigging along the deep
weed edges on the bar that separates Upper and Middle Whitefish. Then, with
less than half an hour to go in the tournament, they decided to switch to
crankbaits and caught two nice fish in 15 minutes. However, it was too
little, too late to make a run at first place.
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 Ronald and Brian Swanson from Osceola, WI
in 9th place; John Madson from Cokato, MN and Gordon Schreifels from
Kimball, MN in 10th place; and Todd Andrist and Tom Smith from Brainerd, MN
in 11th place.
After the first two tournaments on the Minnesota Region, the team of
Michael Marushin and Jeffrey Clem from Minnetonka, MN leads in the race for
the Minnesota Region’s Yamaha Outboards Team of the Year award with 13
points, followed by the team of Corey Bohn from Kensington, MN and Jason
Overby from Marshall, MN with 21 points.
The next tournament for teams on the Minnesota Region is the Green Lake
tournament on Sunday, June 26. 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].
“We’re at the halfway point in the Minnesota Region, and we have an
exciting race taking place, 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 FoodSource Lure Corporation.