Tour Championship Finals

Day 4 of the championship and I am sitting in Second Place with one day left to make a run at the Championship.  This is the place that we all dream about being in.  Except, in my dreams I am never 8.5 pounds behind the leader and the leader isn't usually my travel partner and teammate Tony Renner.  Oh well, no matter who it was, it was a mountain to climb considering all the changes that take place on the final day.

On day 4 we no longer get a co-angler in the boat, which means we are short 2 rods that we had the 3 days previous.  Also, we don't have anyone to net fish or steer the boat while you are fighting a fish.  Basically, it ends up as you against the fish and that can be tough, especially while trolling into the current and wind.  But, I knew I needed a good weight to stay in second and a HUGE weight to catch my partner Tony.  In addition, to a huge weight I would need some help from Tony, which rarely happens.

On Day 4 I started North of Hazelton on the trolling line that Tony and I caught our fish the previous day.  However, because of the strong North wind the water level had dropped a foot in the River and the fish were not there, at least that is how it seemed.  In my first trolling pass I was able to box a nice 22 inch sauger, which was a great start to the day but for the most part the fish weren't where they were the previous day.

So, I started zig-zagging my trolling passes across the river looking for fish on my Humminbird.  It didn't take long to find the fish out a little deeper, back where they were on day 1 in this same spot.  So, I set up a troll working my day one line and immediately hooked into a nice fish.  This was by far the biggest fish I had hooked into during the tournament.  After a long battle and almost losing the fish at the net 3 times I netted a huge 26.5 inch monster.  This is just what I needed to solidify my second place and make a run at 1st.

Having figured out the trolling run I set up to make another pass and hooked into a 24 inch walleye in the exact same spot as the previous big fish.  With 3 great fish in the boat the bite really went down hill.  I struggled for the next hour to get bit and finally caught a 19.5 incher.  I was really happy to catch this fish and there was no question it was going in the livewell.  I now had 4 fish and needed on more to round out my limit.  Despite 2 more trolls in the same area I could not get that 5th fish so opted to make a run down to the Hazelton landing to make a troll.

While trolling along the shore near the Hazelton landing I marked very few fish on my Hummbird and I was starting to get a little concerned.  What would my next move be?  I kept trolling waiting for a clear plan to come me.  I decided to pull up the lines and head back where we started and make a really long troll through the entire area.

We set up to troll and with the camera rolling in the boat I missed a walleye.  It hooked up and tore off, just like a lot of fish had done the day prior.  We went another 50 ft and I got hit and it was a good one.  I slowly dialed my speed back on my Minn Kota Engine Mount and continued to fight this fish that would not come up from the bottom.  I kept saying over and over "be a walleye, be a walleye" and it was.  When it came up I netted a nice 25 inch fish that rounded out my limit for the day.  Not only did I have a limit, I had a big limit.  The kind of limit you dream about on the final day and it was going to make things interesting.

What most people don't understand is that on the final day if you kept a fish you had to weigh it.  Meaning, once you caught your 5 fish you were done fishing for the day.  It was now noon and I was done!  What a good feeling, but now the waiting game began.  As I sat at the landing with the other anglers that had kept their 5 fish I kept looking for Tony who I thought would have been done.  Tony needed to keep the first 5 fish he caught to win and I figured he would be at the landing.  While feeling excited about my chances I was also worrying that Tony may be struggling to get his fish.

In the end I weighted 21.5 pounds of fish and that meant Tony needed to weight 13 pounds to beat me.  Tony was only able to catch 4 fish for 10 pounds on day 4 and that made me the 2010 FLW Champion.  It was a great tournament for Tony and I.  We had a game plan going into this event and we executed it to perfection. To finish 1 and 2 is very special and will be one of those things in life we will never forget.  Tony is a great fisherman and there is no doubt his time will come.

Thanks to all my sponsors here on the Blog and those that support me on Tour as I could not do it without you.  I hope everyone that enjoys this Blog takes the time to visit my sponsors.  A huge thanks to my family for their unconditional support.  Whether it be my wife and kids, mom and dad or grandparents, I am fortunate to have such great family support.  Also, a big thanks to my employees at Steil Insurance Services who cover for me while I am gone and allow me to fish professionally.  Lastly, thanks to everyone who reads this and sends me those email support letters all the time.  Thanks again!