DenHerder, Alverson Win South Dakota State Championship of Walleye Fishing
Title and $10,000 in cash and prizes, including the $4000 Skeeter Boats
Award
By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
$10,000 is quite a payday! That’s exactly what the team of Jeff
DenHerder from Sioux Falls, SD and Steve Alverson from Chester, SD earned on
their way to capturing the South Dakota State Championship of Walleye
Fishing title on Sunday, August 28 at Angostura Reservoir.
The South State Championship of Walleye Fishing is the fourth of seven
such tournaments on the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) circuit.
DenHerder and Alverson’s two-day total weight of 28.31 gave them over a
four-pound margin of victory. They pocketed the $4600 first place check, the
$4000 Skeeter Boats Award for the top placing team fishing from a Skeeter
Boat and for winning the tournament, and the Lowrance “YOU WIN!” award of
two Lowrance LMS-332C color sonar/GPS units valued at $1400, making their
total first place winnings worth $10,000.
Second place and a check for $1500 went to the team of Troy Barthel from
Tea, SD and Dean Jacobson from Watertown, SD with a two-day weight of 23.67
pounds.
Third place and a check for $800 went to the team of Bryan Gaikowski
from Watertown, SD and Mike Dorris from Madison, SD with a two-day weight of
21.23 pounds.
The Cabela’s Big Fish Award of a $200 shopping spree and the optional
Big Fish Pot of $380 went to the team of Gordon West and Mel Reilching from
Watertown, SD.
“The bite this weekend was really a lot better than most people
predicted. Pre-fishing was really slow, but we had some really nice fish
brought to the scales,” said GNWC Tournament Director Greg Liebel. “I really
want to thank the community and the Chamber of Commerce in Hot Springs for
all that they did for the GNWC.”
What a weekend for DenHerder and Alverson, as they took the lead on
Saturday with a six-fish limit weight of 19.64 pounds and held it all the
way to the end. They pulled plugs in 25 feet of water and found that by
using lead core they could get the plugs to hug the bottom and actually
bounce off the bottom, which actually helped trigger the fish.
“We started out on Saturday with our limit by 8:30 in the morning. We
actually turned back three fish over 20 inches. Our first two fish were over
24 inches,” said Alverson.
DenHerder noted that the plug of choice was a Bomber Flat A, but that it
was an older model. “It was actually a Specialty Mark Davis color, a green
back and a white belly.”
Although Sunday was a slower bite, it was still an early one. Alverson
said, “We had three in the first hour and a half. Then it went flat calm,
and things really shut down.”
DenHerder added, “What a weekend. I run a ZX 2050 Skeeter with a 225 hp
Yamaha. It’s great to win the Championship and the $4000 Skeeter Boats
Award.”
Barthel and Jacobson also pulled plugs with lead core, but they went
with white jointed Shad Raps and orange Rip Shads. According to Barthel, the
key depth was 20-25 feet of water. “We trolled at 1.5 to 2.0 miles per hour
and worked anywhere from 22 to 35 feet of water. Our best bite came between
11 a.m. and 1 p.m.”
Gaikowski and Dorris also pulled lead core and crankbaits. However, they
felt their bite got better as they downsized and went to #4 and #5
crankbaits. Rip Shads, Tail Dancers and jointed Shad Raps all caught fish.
Dorris said, “There was no one bait that worked best. We caught nine fish on
eight different plugs.
Gaikowski added that he tried for suspended fish during pre-fishing. “I
would pick one up once in a while, but nothing consistent. It was really a
great weekend. It was lots of fun, the weather was good and we’re very happy
with the way things turned out.”
Several other special awards were presented at Sunday’s weigh-in.
The “Yo So Close” award of a Yo Net folding net valued at $80 went to
the teams that placed just out of the money. They include Dennis Womeldorf
from Wall, SD and Shaun Johnson from Pierre, SD in 8th place; Gerald Meyer
Carlyle Schliem from Sioux Falls, SD in 9th place; and Doug Iverson from
Pierre, SD and Rolfe Behrend from Brookings, SD in 10th place.
The Towtector Comeback Award of a Towtector boat protector valued at
over $269 went to the team advancing the most places from the first day to
the second day. This award went to the team of Troy Erickson from Rapid
City, SD and Ryan Weekly from Pierre, SD, who moved from 12th place on
Saturday to 5th place on Sunday. They ended up with a two-day total weight
of 12.98 pounds.
The Top Family Angler Award presented by the FoodSource Lure Company of
$200 in FoodSource Lures went to Jack and Jim Ellenbecker from Pierre, SD.
Those interested in checking out the standings, reading the releases
about any of the seven regions or simply learning more about the circuit can
access the GNWC website at http://www.walleyecup.com.
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.