Baker & Lura Win FM Walleyes Fall Classic
Category: npaa
Oct 3rd, 2012 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Oct 3rd, 2012 at 12:00 AM
September 23, 2012-Big Cormorant Lake, MN
The team of Dan Baker and Shawn Lura weighed in 30.08 pounds to win top honors and $2,783 in cash at the 28th Annual Cormorant Fall Classic Walleye Tournament hosted by FM Walleyes Unlimited, Inc.
They brought in a 12-fish limit to top the field of 72 two-man teams competing in the two day event. The win earned them the $2,500 first place purse, plus $168 bonus pot and $115 big fish pot.
Day one started out with classic cold front, “smoke on the water” conditions, all indications the bite was going to be tough. A persistent wind and cool temperatures, anglers had to be prepared to maintain focus competing against the best anglers in the region. Day one concluded with the 2011 Fall Classic Champs, Schlieman and Nygaard in the lead with a 6-fish limit weighing 15.31 lbs, closely followed by Baker & Lura’s limit at 15.16 lbs. 20 teams brought in their 6-fish limits to the scale.
Day two greeted anglers with below freezing temperatures, eventually turning into a calm, sunny fall day. As usual in any tournament, day two is moving day. Several teams that found a limit on day one struggled on day two. Only 9 teams were able to find their 6 fish limit. The team of Baker & Lura brought in 14.92 lbs, the biggest bag of day two, to post a 3 lb margin over the second place team of Brian and Darren Fitch.
Most anglers fished deep structure points as fish were transitioning into fall patterns. The past several years, winning weights have come from shallow water. Depths exceeding 20 feet were common this year as angler’s slowed their presentations, using rigs and jigs. Baker and Lura shared with the crowed that they found their fish in shallow water. Locating and staying with a pod of fish was key for them.
The favorite fall bait for walleye anglers is the Redtail Chub. Unfortunately, the areas drought conditions have created a supply shortage throughout western Minnesota. If there was a bait store within 100 miles that had Redtails, it was unknown to the anglers. Teams traveled as far as Elk River, MN and paid up to $18/dozen for their prized walleye tournament bait.
Rounding out the top 10:
3rd-Chris and Gene Schroeder, 4th-Tim Noteboom and Steve Meyer, 5th -Mike Huber and Dan Anderson, 6th -Bob Schlieman and Shawn Nygaard, 7th-Jon Wiser and Rob Bahr, 8th-Kyle Anderson and Dave Longtine, 9th-Steve Garten and Bruce Ridgway, and 10th-Victor Klosterman and Todd Tableman.
FM Walleyes Classic Cup Tournaments are proudly sponsored by Scheels, Ray’s Sport and Marine, Lund Boats, Asplin Excavating, Berg Auto Supply, State Bank of Fargo, Crystal Pierz Marine, Vision Bank, Ranger Boats, and Mercury. Complete results can be found at www.fmwalleyes.com and on the FM Walleyes Facebook page.