Tour Championship Day 1

Many of you have emailed me, especially from the Bismark area that wanted me to talk about the fishing.  Specifically what I was doing, what I was using and what my thoughts were going into each day.  I have to say, I am amazed by the interest in fishing from the people in Bismark, ND.  I have been fortunate enough to fish in a lot of different areas, but there are not many places where the local residents have as much interest in fishing.

On Day one we were greeted with 40 MPH winds from the Southeast which was holding back a lot of water in the river.  Upon arriving at my first spot near Fort Rice South of the Hazelton access I was greeted by very little current.  The good thing was the conditions were exactly the same the day before for prefishing and I knew the fish were going to be in the deep troughs.  I set up my Leadcore trolling rods with 4 Berkley Flicker Shads and set our trolling speed at 1.2 MPH into the current in 26 feet of water.  I could see on my Humminbird 1197 C SI that the fish were all laying in the trough.  There were 10 other boats in this area but most were focusing on the East Sand edge versus the trough I was fishing.

We went approximately 50 yards and had our first 20 inch walleye in the box.  This was a good start and just the size fish I was looking for.  By the end of our 1/4 mile troll upriver we had boxed 3 fish in the 20 inch range.  We pulled up our lines and decided to set up for a shorter troll just to got over the area the fish were holding, at the main bend in the channel.  We set our lines and got the speed set using my Minn Kota engine mount trolling motor.  It didn't take long for the action to begin and in the next short pass we caught 3 more fish, of which we kept a 19 incher and a 18.5 incher.  It was 9 AM and we had our 5 weigh fish, so I decided to head North to our next spot a few miles North of Hazelton at Eckroths Corner.

We pulled into Eckroth's corner and there were approximately 15 boats working this area.  This area was our big fish area but the bites were not as frequent.  In our first trolling pass we boated 3 fish of which we kept one 22 incher.  We now had our 5 fish that average 20 inches or better.  This was my goal for each day of the tournament and we had it done by 10 AM.  We spent the rest of the day looking for upgrades for a 20 incher and went through 21 fish over 17 inches but couldn't find what we were looking for.

In the end I weighed 14.7 pounds which was good enough for a tie for 4th place.  My teammate Tony Renner weighed 15.13 and that was good enough for 2nd place.  It was a good start to the tournament as we both were in the hunt and in that ever important top 10.  Todd Riley set the bar very high with a weight over 23 pounds.  Todd showed everyone what the right bites can do for you on a system like this and that would come into play later in the tournament. 

The keys to success for the day were having several spots within 7 miles of each other and being able to jump between them as the bites changed.  Also, speed control!  This was my first year running a Minn Kota Engine Mount Trolling motor and it alone has made me a better fisherman.  I can control my speed and set it exactly where I need it based on the conditions and current.  It was a huge benefit on day one as we fishing areas where the current changed constantly.  Also, my Humminbird 1197 C SI does not lie, when I got to my spot I marked the fish deep and I caught them deep.   Lastly, confidence.  I was very confident going into day one that we were on the right program and the right fish, it was just a matter of executing and Tony and I both did what we said we would.  Everything worked according to plan!