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Last Update 08-08-98 Nebraska Team Captures
Day One Title in Red Ball/MinnKota "Team Challenge"
Saturday, July 18,1998 - Ogallala, NE ....
The Thornton, CO, team of Lonnie Snyder and John Flaherty collected today's Outdoor Technologies Group $500 Big Fish Award. Snyder and Flaherty weighed a 7.66 lb walleye, the biggest fish of the day.Of the 43 boat field, only six teams brought six-fish limits to the Day One scales. The anglers caught a total of 96 walleyes weighing 260 lbs during the first day of competition here at Otter Creek Lodge.Under NAWA's "Team Challenge" rules, Day One catches are not carried over to the second day and everyone starts from scratch on Day Two. The purse is paid in two portions, half on Day One and half on Day Two.Tournament anglers return to the water tommorrow for Day Two of the Red Ball/Minn Kota "Team Challenge", the third of NAWA's seven exciting high-profile two-day team competitions.The action gets underway tomorrow at 7 a.m. Weigh-in activities begin at 3:45 pm at Otter Creek Lodge. Beginning at noon, the public can attend a free mini outdoor sport show featuring products and hands on demonstrations from factory experts representing NAWA sponsors. Sunday, July 19,1998 - Ogallala, NE ....Finding the alewives, a popular forage for walleyes,proved to be the key to success today for Colorado anglers Jeff Meckleburg of Fleming and his partner, Ron Baucke of Uma during Day Two of the RedBall"Team Challenge"here on Nebraska's famous Lake McConaughy. Widely recognized among veteran walleye anglers as "Big Mac," Lake McConaughy continued to dish out heaping servings of bragging-size walleyes, as well as new challenges during the second day of competition. Though failing to weigh a fish on Day One, Meckleburg and Baucke brought a six-fish limit weighing 23.58 pounds to the Day Two scales. The Colorado team stressed at the Sunday press conference that a change in wind direction brought alewives to their fishing area on the south end of the lake, which also attracted the walleyes. While most anglers in the 43-boat field were using live-bait rigs and nightcrawlers, the Day Two winners found their success using bottom bouncers baited with live leeches. "We actually carried these leeches with us the past four days and finally decided to try them today," Meckleburg said. "Thought the changing wind direction played a major role in our success, I also feel that changing from nightcrawlers to leeches also helped." Though daytime temperatures soared above the 100 degree mark during both days of competition, Meckleburg and Baucke caught all of their walleyes from depths of 20 feet or less. The winners, who took home a check for $1,331 said persistence was the key to boating Lake McConaughy walleyes during the hot summer months. "You had to stick with it and concentrate on the task at hand," said Baucke, "The action was slow and it was critical to take advantage of every bite." The fishing patterns were remarkably similar for Day Two runners-up Steve Beck, Lakewood, CO and William Ianiro of Wheatridge, CO, who took home $799. Though fishing bottom bouncers most of the day, Beck and Ianiro also found some success trolling crankbaits during the mid-day hours. "Actually, both methods were equally productive," Beck said. "I really think it was the alewives that brought our success, and not so much the technique." Beck and Ianiro, who weighed four walleyes totaling 17.76 pounds, were fishing near the Boy Scout Camp (the same general area where the first place team boated their fish). This location on the lake's south side has been a long-established summer hot spot for "Big Mac" walleyes. Jake Kraus of Bellvue, CO and Shad Chandler of Almena, KS, weighed the day's third best basket. Kraus and Chandler weighed a six-fish limit totaling 15.74 pounds and collected $719 in Day Two winnings.
North Platte Nebraska Anglers John and Randy Rowland collected the days Outdoor Technologies Group $500 Big fish Award. The team weighted a 8.95 lb walleye the biggest fish of the day. Of the 43 boat field, eight teams brought six-fish limits to the Day Two scales, compared to six teams on Day One. The anglers weighed 209 walleyes totaling 547 lbs during the two-day team competition here at Otter Creek Lodge. The NAWA tournament trail now leads to the famous Lake Sakakawea near Garrison, ND, August 12-16, for the Starcraft/Mercury "High Plains Quest" - a combination Pro/Am and "Team Challenge". Openings are still available for team competitors and interested individuals should call Jim George Cabela's Sportsman's Quest at (800) 224-4990 for more information.
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