Batterson, Sundet Enjoy Victory at Spirit Lake Fun Tournament
By Steve Weisman
I.O.W.A. Publicity Director
The team of Cory Batterson from Pleasant Hill and Scott Sundet from Urbandale took the $1800 first place check at Saturday’s Spirit Lake Fun Tournament on the I.O.W.A. Team Walleye Tournament Trail. They boated a five-fish limit weight of 7.08 pounds.
“This fun tournament was the result of a weather-related cancellation at Lake Rathbun last spring. We gave the teams the option of getting their entry fee back or applying it to this Saturday tournament with a 100 percent payback. We had 25 teams take the opportunity to participate today,” explained I.O.W.A. Executive Director, Dean Higgins.
Higgins added that the bite was a tough one. “It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow when we have our fourth and final qualifier with some big awards on the line. It was fun seeing the top three teams fighting for the Team of the Year honors watching the weigh-in today – thinking about what might happen tomorrow.”
In addition to winning the tournament, Batterson and Sundet also won the $300 Net Your Cash Award from StowMaster Nets for being the highest placing team using a StowMaster net and the Smooth Moves Seat Mounts Award of two $100 certificates.
Meanwhile, David Murray from Carlisle and Jason Lee from Denison captured second place and a check for $1100 with a three-fish weight of 3.93 pounds.
Third place and a check for $950 went to the team of Ron Mason and Arnold Zerke from Estherville with a two-fish weight of 3.30 pounds.
In addition to taking the fourth place check of $850, the team of Carl and Dan Griese from Dolliver won the Berkley Big Fish Award of two IM7 Graphite Berkley Tactix rods and two Mitchell Avocet Gold Series reels for their 1.89-pound walleye. They also won the optional Big Fish Pot of $210 and the $100 Cabela’s Family Team Award as the highest placing family team.
The Need Mack’s Lure Award of two $100 Mack’s Lure certificates went to the team of Darrell and Mary Hinderaker from Lake Mills.
Batterson and Sundet noted that they caught a lot of fish on Saturday. Batterson said, “I would like to see the wind lay down tomorrow, but I feel confident the fish will be there again tomorrow. It’s if we can take advantage and catch them.”
Higgins encouraged the public to come out and watch Sunday’s weigh-in. “The weather is supposed to be nice, so it will be a great opportunity to witness the fish that the teams bring to the scales and to find out the tactics used to catch the fish.”
Corporate sponsors for the 2007 I.O.W.A Team Walleye Tournament Trail include Lund, Mercury Outboards, ShoreLand’r Trailers, Algona Marine and Sport, MinnKota, Humminbird, Berkley, Cabela’s, Mack’s Lure, Smooth Move Seat Mounts, StowMaster, Hooters and FCIS “Anglers Choice” Insurance of Forest City.