I.O.W.A. State Championship Comes Down to the Wire
By Steve Weisman
I.O.W.A. Publicity Director
Two days, that’s 16 hours of fishing, and the weight difference between the top two teams at the Iowa Organization of Walleye Anglers (I.O.W.A.) two-day State Championship held on both East Okoboji and Big Spirit came down to .21 ounces!
At the end of the day on Sunday, the team of Kolby Kester from Earlham and Brandon Burg from Redfield, who led the tournament field by 1.01 pounds after Day I, captured the $3500 first place prize with a 10-fish weight of 19.08 pounds.
They narrowly held off the second day charge of the 2007 Humminbird Team of the Year Mike and Doug Rodwell from Oskaloosa, who came from 13th place on Saturday to the runner-up position on Sunday with a 10-fish weight of 18.87 pounds. They pocketed a check for $2000.
Third place and a check for $1000 went to the team of Lee Kiewiet from Buffalo Center and Tony Holland from Eden Prairie, MN with an eight-fish weight of 18.64 pounds.
“What a way to end the season,” said Dean Higgins I.O.W.A. Tournament Director. “We had two great days of fishing, and for three teams to be this close says a lot about the competition this weekend. Even the heavy overcast and some rain didn’t stop these teams from putting on quite a show.”
In addition to capturing the winning check, Kester and Burg also received a pair of $2500 certificates from Algona Marine and Sport toward the purchase of a Lund and Mercury package, along with two Smooth Seat Mounts.
The Rodwell duo also won the $100 gift certificate for taking the Cabela’s Family Team Award and $250 from StowMaster Nets for being the highest placing team using a StowMaster Net.
Kiewiet and Holland took the Berkley Big Fish Award of two IM7 Graphite Berkley Tactix rods and two Mitchell Avocet Gold Series reels for their 8.47-pound walleye taken on Saturday. “That fish was a beauty,” noted Higgins, “but there were several big fish over six pounds brought to the scales. Plus, during interviews on stage, many teams talked of catching lots of fish in the 17-22 inch slot.”
The team of Joe Kalvig from Nora Springs and Michael Cira from Marion took the Need Mack’s Lure Award of two $100 Mack’s Lure certificates.
A 2006 Arctic Cat Automatic 4×4 ATV, sponsored by J & K Snowmobile Sales in Estherville was raffled off with the proceeds going to the Conservation Fund designed to help improve the fisheries that the I.O.W.A. teams fished during the year. Scott Roelhk from Davenport won the four-wheeler. “I want to personally thank Kenny and Cory Hanson from J & Snowmobile Sales. They not only worked with us to provide this unit, but also let us use an Arctic Cat Prowler to handle our fish release baskets on both days!”
Even though the teams could fish either the East Okoboji chain or Big Spirit Lake, only two teams fished Big Spirit. The reason? One tremendous crankbait trolling bite on East Okoboji, as evidenced by 39 five-fish daily limits brought to the scales over the two-day tournament.
“Everybody that came to the scales kept repeating lead core and crankbaits!” said Higgins. “However, the little presentation subtleties made the difference.”
For Kester and Burg, winning the I.O.W.A. State Championship was a vindication of sorts. Kester said with a smile, “Our radio malfunctioned at Storm Lake and we missed Dean’s call to move the weigh-in up, and then we had motor troubles at Clear Lake. This feels great today!”
Burg noted that they had pre-fished the basin in 18-21 feet of water and marked several key points on their GPS where they found clusters of fish. They used lead core and crankbaits just like so many other teams, but there were also some subtle differences. “We tried to keep our speed between 1.8 and 2.0 mph when the bite was really going, but when it got tough, we slowed down to 1.3 to 1.5 mph. Every once in a while, we would take one of the rods from the rod holder and give it a short, quick sweep. Our big fish (7.86 pounds) on Saturday came that way.”
Kester and Burg also tried to keep their baits 1-6 inches off the bottom. They would let the crankbaits out until they were ticking the bottom and then crank the reel just to try to keep the bait within inches of the bottom. Flicker Shad worked best, but when the fish began to go neutral, they began switching baits and colors just trying to give the fish a different look.
Kester added, “We were lucky enough to put it all together today,” while Burg said with a smile, “This is the best weekend I have ever had!”
The runner up team was over six pounds out of first place going into Day II. “We were doing what everybody else was doing,” said Mike Rodwell. However, they threw in a little wrinkle that made an 8.03 pound difference.
Doug Rodwell said one of the competitors had made a suggestion. “Terry Green said, ‘You know, somebody should try long lining today’ and so that’s what we did! The real irony of it is that is the first big fish we weighed all year!” They ran a #5 jointed Shad Rap back 175 feet and every once in a while held the rod, pumping or dropping the bait back. They had just moved into 15 feet of water when the big ‘eye struck.
For Kiewiet and Holland, it was the tournament of almosts punctuated by a failed GPS unit that had them pretty helpless on Saturday. Holland said, “Without the GPS, it was tough to replicate what we did when we would catch a fish. We just didn’t know exactly where it happened.”
Kiewiet agreed saying, “We needed to catch two more yesterday.” However, that became even more difficult when he lost a special bait. “We did a lot of switching crankbaits, and I had just unclipped the Cheap Sunglasses colored crankbait and put it on the back of the boat. I turned around, looked back a little later and it was gone!” Still Kiewiet and Holland made a strong push and ended up within a few ounces of a championship title.
“This really was a great weekend,” concluded Higgins. “I can’t thank our sponsors enough. Our championship sponsors were a very important reason for the success. We also had tremendous volunteer help that made the weigh-ins go so smoothly. Thanks to everybody!”
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 and the 2008 season can call (515) 571-1085 or they can email the I.O.W.A. staff at [email protected].
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, FCIS “Anglers Choice” Insurance of Forest City and Dave’s KA-BOOM! Baits.