Bodinger Brothers Win AIM Weekend Walleye Series Wisconsin Division Nitro Boats Open On Wolf River Chain of Lakes
Category: npaa
Apr 30th, 2015 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Apr 30th, 2015 at 12:00 AM
Two teams kept it all in the family, placing first and second in Sunday’s AIM Weekend Walleye Series “Nitro Boats Open” on the Wolf River Chain of Lakes.
First place went to the Bodinger brothers; Steve and Dan, both from Chilton, WI, were fishing from a Nitro boat. This is the second consecutive AIM tourney won in a sponsor’s boat.
“We felt that as long as we had a lure in the water we had a chance to win,” Steve said. and that thought was good for a $7,300 check.
“I’ve been fishing out of Nitro and Tracker boats for years,” said Steve, now in his 24th year of tournament fishing. We had six fish on our camera card,” he said. The brothers fished Lake Winneconne trolling purple flash Salmo and Berkley Flicker Shads from Off Shore planer boards with tattle flags.
“We were getting a bunch of small white bass. Those tattle flags let us know when something was on a crank so we could reel in, clean it off and get right back out there,” Steve said.
Steve’s brother Dan pre-fished on Saturday. By Sunday, they stayed in the area he prefished all day.
“Instead of running, we spent most of our time with our lures in the water,” Steve said. Trolling at 2 mph in stained water, bites were mainly reactionary.
“Dan caught one or two fish on a turn on the outside board, meaning the fish preferred a faster trolling speed”
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“We had nice weather considering it blew hard Saturday,” Dan said. “The water in this area is normally stained but the wind caused it to stain with dirt even more.”
Stained water didn’t seem to bother the McPeak crew that finished in second place. Dad Tom and son Brandon, from Waupaca, WI, were fishing the upper lakes of the Wolf River System. Their second place win was good for $2,250.
“There was a lot of wind and waves when we pre-fished during the week,” Tom said. “We kind of figured the bite would be a trolling bite.”
Trolling between 1 and 1.7 mph with Offshore Planer Boards, the pair pulled No. 5 fire tiger Flicker Shad crank baits.
“Once we began getting fish on those cranks we put the same ones on all four rods,” Tom said. “We targeted anywhere from four-and-a-half- to six-feet-deep. Most fish were in five feet of water but not tight to the bottom,” Brandon added. “The bite wasn’t that good, it was a fish here and there. At 9 a.m., the water warmed to 50 degrees. We started catching fish when it warmed up,” he said.
Rounding out the top 5 in order;
3rd Place Matt Johannes and Dan Vukovich with 3 fish for 16.53# and $1,700.00
4th Place RJ Harwood and Brad Skupas with 5 fish for 15.70# and $1,400.00
5th Place Jeff Nuechterlein and Ryan Foster with 5 fish for 15.56# and $1,250.00
In total $20,500.00 was awarded to 14 teams.
Stay tuned on Thursday for the “Navionics” Big Fish Thursday award winners.
This was the first of 4 qualifying events in the Wisconsin division. The team’s next stop will be Green Bay out of the Metro Park Launch on Sunday May 17th where the largest recorded weight in an AWWS event was set last year. The D2 Sports Bar in Green Bay, WI will host the rules meeting on Saturday. Go to www.aimfishing.com for more information.
Contact: Denny Fox, AIM National Tournament Director, (920) 505-0122, mailto:[email protected],
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™) is a unique tournament organization created and owned by many of the most accomplished and recognizable professional walleye anglers, along with others who share the mission of advancing competitive walleye fishing and making it sustainable into the future. AIM is committed to marketing excellence on behalf of its tournament competitors, the tournament host communities, and the brands that partner with it. AIM is also committed to maintaining healthy fisheries across the nation by the development of the exclusive AIM Catch-Record-Release™ format which is integral to its dynamic events and unparalleled consumer engagement. For more information about AIM™, AIM Pro Walleye Series™, AIM Weekend Walleye Series, AIM sponsors and AIM anglers, visit www.aimfishing.com.
AIM Presenting Sponsors: Yamaha Motor Corporation U.S.A. and Warrior Boats.
AIM Supporting Sponsors: Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Starcraft Marine, Amsoil, Navionics, Powrtran, Power Pole, Worldwide Marine Insurance, Off Shore Tackle, Team Lodge, National Fleet Graphics, Gemini Sport Marketing, The City of Oconto, Eagle Bay Marina and Eagles Landing Casino, Montevideo MN Chamber of Commerce, Randall’s Milan Beach Resort