It took Cody Pardon and Josh Gladback 5 ½ hours to get a fish within the boat throughout the first day of the forty seventh annual North Dakota Governor’s Walleye Cup match on Lake Sakakawea over the weekend.
However once they lastly discovered fish, they discovered large ones. And so they landed sufficient of them to beat out 259 different groups and declare North Dakota’s most prestigious fishing trophy and the $15,000 high prize that goes with it.
“It was a tough morning,” Pardon stated. “We had been on 4 to 5 completely different spots that had had large fish (in prefishing) and every part had left. We had been type of out of choices.”
The duo moved to the west-northwest a part of the massive lake and located a sizzling spot.
“We bought all the massive ones in the identical spot,” Gladback stated. “We simply concentrated laborious, made our runs brief and stayed on high of them.”
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By the tip of the day that they had 20.5 kilos of walleye within the boat, utilizing Lindy rigs, reside bait and a gradual trolling velocity, and focusing on fish in deeper and cooler water as a result of weekend’s extreme warmth. They had been in ninth place going into the second and ultimate day of fishing. They caught almost the identical weight on Saturday — 19.48 kilos — however did not assume that they had fairly sufficient going into the ultimate weigh-in at Garrison Metropolis Park.
“We did not count on to be successful it — we thought we would have liked 20 kilos (the second day) for certain,” Gladback stated.
Their match complete ended up being greater than 4 ounces larger than the next-best group.
“When it occurred, it was fairly superior,” Gladback stated. “It was a fantastic excessive.”
Gladback, 39, an auto physique employee in Minot, and Pardon, 30, a heavy machine operator from close by Burlington, have fished the match collectively for 4 years however till this yr by no means got here near successful.
“This time we caught the massive ones,” Gladback stated, noting that a few their fish had been within the 27-inch vary. “The earlier occasions we have misplaced them. We must always have been up there (on the leaderboard) earlier than, however simply had dangerous luck.”
The group of Justin and Brent Racine, of Minot, completed second this yr, with a weight of 39.06 kilos. Marc Beyer of Garrison and Jason Kobes of Bismarck took third, with 37.18 kilos.
“Though the weekend was a sizzling one, we had an superior match with nice weights and wholesome fish,” Match Chairwoman Joyce Pfliger stated. “We additionally had the most important walleye within the Governor’s Cup historical past — 11.08 lbs.”
That whopper was landed by the Racines.
The match additionally has a contest amongst groups that signify states. A group that wins the general match represents its house state in future tourneys till it’s supplanted by one other general successful group from that state. Groups can also signify states that historically have few entries — reminiscent of North Carolina — with out having received the match beforehand.
The Bismarck duo of Ricky Schumacher and Kerry Wentz, who received the match in 2019, had been this yr’s state champions, with a successful weight of 24.32 kilos. They will get replaced because the North Dakota consultant in 2023 ought to Pardon and Gladback return to defend their general crown.