Joe and Kathy Kirk Win I.O.W.A.’s Clear Lake Qualifier
By Steve Weisman
I.O.W.A. Publicity Director
With an empty livewell and only three hours left, Joe and Kathy Kirk made a crucial decision that changed their luck and propelled them to a five-fish limit weight of 13.25 pounds and the $1700 first place check on the I.O.W.A. Walleye Tournament Trail qualifier held at Clear Lake on Sunday, May 14.
“We had fished all morning trolling spinners and live bait and only caught short fish,” said Joe. “We switched to pulling #5 Firetiger Jointed Shad Raps and started catching keepers.”
Second place and a check for $950 went to the team of Greg Lowenberg and Dale Frederick from Fairfield for their five-fish limit weight of 10.92 pounds. Combined with their sixth place finish at Prairie du Chien three weeks ago, Lowenberg and Frederick are now in the lead for the Humminbird Team of the
Year honors.
“After the strong cold front, rain and wind, I was somewhat surprised that the bite was this good. At the same time, I also know that the I.O.W.A teams know how to adapt to different fishing conditions,” said I.O.W.A. Executive Director Dean Higgins. “I am really happy for Joe and Kathy. They have fished tournaments for four years, and this is their first check. Then to win it all is just awesome!”
Third place and a check for $670 went to the team of Dan Barrett from Charles City and Gary Barrett from Walker, MN with three fish weighing 10.71 pounds. Their 8.05-pound kicker fish also earned them the Cabela’s Big Fish award of a $100 certificate.
The Kirks, however, won the $350 Big Fish Option Pot with their 6.71 pounder and also the Berkley Family Team Award of a pair of rod and reel combos valued at $100 each for the highest placing family team.
The TowTector Shield award of two $75 certificates for the team that finishes just out of the money went to the team of Ron Mason and Arnold Zerke from Estherville for their 11th place finish. They weighed a five-fish limit weight of 7.49 pounds.
The Stow Master Award of $200 to the highest placing team using a Stow Master net went to the team of Terry Mitchell from Woodward and Adam Claussen from Long Grove with their 17th place finish.
The Need Mack’s Lure Award of $200 went to Mark Everett from Klemme and Keith Dakin from Forest City.
For many of the 43 teams, it became a crankbait bite. The winners worked the north side of the lake. “As we started pulling cranks, we came off the reef and got our first strike on the south side of the reef in about 12 feet of water. We just kept working the length of the reef. We caught our big fish as we came off another hump farther down.” The bite was good enough that they were off the water by 2 p.m.
Lowenberg and Frederick also worked the north shore in 13-14 feet of water, pulling gold/black and silver/black Rip Shads and Little Rippers. They keyed their speed at 2.4-2.7 mph.
The third place team went with live bait and worked near the state dock in 9-15 feet of water, using orange jigs tipped with leeches.
“We’ve had two excellent tournaments so far in this first year of the I.O.W.A circuit,” said Higgins. “I can hardly wait until our third qualifier.”
Next up on the I.O.W.A. circuit will be the Lake Rathbun Towtector Shield Qualifer on Sunday, May 28. “This is really exciting, because there will be an additional $500 for the winners of this third qualifier. Towtector Shield is putting up $500 to help sweeten the pot for first place,” added Higgins.
All of the latest news on the I.O.W.A. circuit can be found at the I.O.W.A. website (www.walleyepromotions.com).
Anglers interested in learning more about the I.O.W.A circuit can call (515) 571-8946 or they can email the I.O.W.A. staff at [email protected].
Sponsors for the 2006 I.O.W.A. Walleye Tournament Trail include Lund Boats, Mercury Outboards, Yacht Club/Custom Eagle Trailers, Algona Marine and Sport, Berkley, MinnKota, Humminbird, Cabela’s, TowTector, Stow Master, Smooth Moves Seat Mounts, Mack’s Lure, Hooters of Iowa, Motor Inn Auto Group, Toy Town Collectables, Fort Dodge Ford and the Iowa Walleye Magazine.