Steve Sarley: Tournament fishing with a walleye legend

Last week I was recalling my experience from a walleye fishing tournament in April 2003 on the Illinois River.

When I left off, my first day hadn’t gone well and things appeared to be getting worse when I was teamed up with walleye legend Ron Seelhoff for Day 2.

I met Seelhoff for breakfast at the restaurant connected to his hotel. A good night’s sleep really seemed to have smoothed out the rough edges in Seelhoff’s personality ... or not.

I introduced myself and told him I was a writer. He chortled, “Now I get it. It’s no wonder you couldn’t catch a single fish yesterday. I’ve never met a writer yet who was worth a damn at catching fish.”

Seelhoff was sitting somewhere around 75th place after a rough first day. My sparkling personality broke down the walls, and I was able to get some good conversations going with the man throughout our day together.

I asked how he got into walleye fishing, being from Colorado, a state which really doesn’t have many walleye waters within its borders.

He told me, “I’m the kind of guy who might be sitting home during the winter and get the urge to pick up the phone and call my bookie to lay down a bet on an NBA game. I like to gamble a little. These walleye tournaments pay pretty good, and I think I have a better chance of a payoff than I do betting basketball games.”

Usually when you ask a fishing tournament angler about the quality of the competition, you get a canned answer. It probably would be something like, “Everyone in this tournament has a chance at winning. These are the best anglers in the world. I’ll have to be at the top of my game to beat great guys like these.”

That’s not Seelhoff’s style.

He told me, “Half of the guys in these tournaments don’t have a chance in the world at cashing a check. They have no right being here at all. They are here because their wives paid their entry fees as a birthday or Christmas present. They don’t belong here, but I am happy to take their money. They’ll quit after a year or two, but others will take their place.”

Anyway, Seelhoff told me that we’d start out by trolling crankbaits in the dark waters of the Illinois River after the sun came up. We were looking for walleyes or sauger, which is a species similar to a walleye but a bit smaller. We trolled for a few hours and caught a bunch of fish, but almost all of them were smaller than the 14-inch size limit. Seelhoff threw back everything under 14 1/4 to eliminate the chance of a difference between our ruler and the official measurement. That left us with three legal fish in the livewell that barely weighed 3 pounds.

We then alternated fishing jigs tipped with either minnows or night crawlers vertically or switching to trolling Rapalas. Nothing seemed to work, although it certainly wasn’t the fault of Seelhoff’s efforts. He tried everything in the book, and it was a pleasure to watch the way he worked his craft. He was a true master, but the walleyes were not cooperative. Seelhoff jigged up our fourth fish, another walleye barely passing the 14-inch mark on the scale.

With about an hour left to fish, Seelhoff motored to an oxbow on the river where about a dozen other boats were fishing. He said we were going to jig in this area, and we’d need to use two rods each to increase our chances of catching fish.

I have a hard enough time catching walleyes using one rod. I really need to focus all of my intensity on the one rod to feel a walleye’s light bite. Juggling two rods and then having to put one down if I get a bite on the other rod usually leads to disaster for me. I am a one-rod type of fisherman, and that is what I told Seelhoff.

He was having none of that.

“You’ll fish with a rod in each hand and like it, my friend,” Seelhoff said. “Now pick up those rods and try to catch a fish.”

Well, to be honest, he didn’t really call me “my friend,” but this is a family newspaper, you know.

Within 15 minutes I had a bite and set the hook. I told Seelhoff to get the net ready because I was reeling in a quality fish. I cranked and cranked and brought the fish to the surface. It was a sauger, and it was a rather large one at that. It had to be close to 4 1/2 pounds. That is large for an Illinois River sauger.

Suddenly, the lure flew out of my sauger’s mouth. I wasn’t happy about this, of course, but my unhappiness soon was replaced by fear. I felt Seelhoff’s stare burning a hole in my back like laser beams. He was trying to control his temper, but I heard a steady stream of words that sounded like they began with the letter “f” coming out of his mouth. I mumbled a weak apology, what else could I do?

I’ll save the payoff to my tale for next week.

FISHING REPORT

Northern Illinois: Dave Kranz from Dave’s Bait, Tackle and Taxidermy in Crystal Lake reports: “The dams at McHenry, Algonquin and Carpentersville are experiencing more stable water levels at this time. Fall fishing can be great for walleye, white bass and crappie. Live bait works well for all of these fish. Remember that waterfowl season is here and to be careful and respectful of the hunters by staying away from the decoy spreads and blinds.

“McHenry County Conservation District has Lake Atwood in the Hollows. This site stays open all year, and even ice fishing is allowed when we have safe ice. Remember that this is a no-minnow area.

“Crystal Lake’s Three Oaks Recreation Area marina is closed for the season on Vulcan Lake. Bank fishing is allowed. Ice fishing is not available at this site.”

Fox Chain O’ Lakes: Chris Taurisano of T-Bone Guide Service (www.tboneguideservice.com – 630-330-9090) sends word, “Panfishing has been very good as of late. The fish are in shallows and on drop-offs. Crappie minnows and plastics are good baits for most species of panfish. A few walleyes seem to be starting up with the cold weather. Muskie fishing has been fair with a few good ones reported caught this week.”

NEWS AND NOTES

Walleyes Unlimited meeting: All are welcome to attend Walleyes Unlimited’s next meeting Wednesday at the Gurnee American Legion, 749 Milwaukee Ave. in Gurnee. The October speaker will be an excellent one, B.A.S.S. Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament Angler Chris Groh, and his topic is “Dissecting New Waters Quickly.” The fun starts at 7 p.m. Soft drinks are provided and hard beverages are available for purchase. Check walleyesunlimitedusa.org for information, or call Bob Clark at 847-274-8247.

Source: http://www.nwherald.com/2018/10/25/steve-sarley-tournament-fishing-with-a-walleye-legend/a6qae7l/