Four Bismarck anglers to vie for PWT Championship

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[#ff0000][size 5]Four Bismarck anglers to vie for PWT Championship[/size][/#ff0000]
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By RICHARD HINTON, Bismarck Tribune

Shannon Kehl credits the broad assortment of North Dakota's angling opportunities for sending four Bismarck fishermen into the 2004 Professional Walleye Trail Championship field.

"We've got everything here -- rivers, lakes. On the tour, the same stuff comes into play," Kehl said last week. "Take the guys from out East. They basically grew up trolling. In Minnesota, 90 percent (of tournament anglers) didn't know what a crankbait was.

"We've had every kind of method, and it's kind of helped us guys." [url "http://oas.lee.net/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/bismarcktribune.com/sports/outdoors/10.030822690133245123/930696965/Middle1/default/empty.gif/64313365653065303431346261353930"][/url][url "http://oas.lee.net/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/bismarcktribune.com/sports/outdoors/Middle1/1@Right,Middle1,Middle2,TopLeft,TopRight,BottomLeft,BottomRight,x05,x06!Middle1"][/url]
Joining Kehl on the Keweenaw Waterway at Houghton, Mich., will be Greg Ehli, Dave Kraft and Les Vietz. The three-day championship begins Friday.

Kraft and Kehl are familiar with the area, having plied those water in last year's championship event. Ehli is making his first PWT Championship appearance, and Vietz is competing in his second.

Four Bismarck anglers in a PWT Championship is believed to be a first, but the PWT could not confirm it.

The foursome finds it rewarding that Bismarck is represented by so many anglers.

"We're always friendly," said Kraft. "If you get into a real bind, you can usually get a bit of information to get you by."

"It's pretty good," said Ehli. "They are people you can talk to. If I need help or they need help, I'm sure we would share information.

"Five from Bismarck fished, and four made (the championship)," said Kehl. "It's pretty good odds they are pretty good fishermen."

Since the waters will be new to Vietz, he has been doing some homework. He also qualified for the big show in 2002, the last year it was held in Bismarck.

"It doesn't look like there has been a lot of fishing activity. The water has been pretty cold, but somebody always catches something," he said. "I hope it's me."

Ehli, in his third year on the PWT tour, also has been looking for information.

"It's always tough. Everybody is after the same thing you're after," he said. "The biggest thing is locating where the big fish are. They will be suspended, and we will be trolling them."

Kraft, in his 11th championship, intends to check out the new areas that the PWT has opened for fishing this year.

"I'll go look and see if there are fish in it or not," he said.

Kehl, who also will fish the RCL Walleye Championship on Sept. 29-Oct. 2, isn't keen on the new fishing spots.

"I don't think the new water is going to amount to much," he said, explaining that in last year's event, one area held the bulk of the fish. "There is a canal system and a couple of other little lakes, but they were pretty much void of fish. Everybody was (fishing) on top of everybody."

Kehl said the winner will have to stand out by weighing 50 pounds of walleye.

"The fish caught were nice ones, when you caught them," he said of last year's championship. "Of the 50 boats, I think only three guys caught their limit every day. There weren't a lot of fish."

Ehli also said the angler weighing walleye in the 50-pound range will emerge on top, but "it could be a lot more if the lake is turned over and settled down a bit."

Said Vietz: "Last year it took the lower 40s, but it was a slow bite last year. I'm expecting the same thing this year. The water temperature is about the same."

Vietz also expects a more competitive field this year. Thirty percent of the field has been there before, and the water will be new for the rest, he said.

"It should turn out be a pretty close tournament," he said.

As always, skill will be important, but luck also may play a part.

"The bite last year was so hit or miss," Kraft said. "Last year I caught a limit, and another angler took a zero. We were fishing the same. You have to be there at the right time and in the right place."

Kraft finished ninth in last year's championship.

"I hope to pick up where I left off," he said.

Kehl also said luck will play a role.

"It's not that big of a place. At a lot of tournaments, something is going on, and only a few guys find out," he said. "(There) everybody knows the same things, and the one who wins is the one who gets the lucky bite."

Kehl, who finished in the middle of the pack last year, intends to go for broke again this year. The payoff for top-10 finishers is worth gambling, he said.

"I'll fish like last year, basically trolling cranks and using spinners and worms," he said.

Vietz, who fished the PWT's Eastern Division this year so he could see new walleye waters, will find himself on more unfamiliar water.

"You don't know what to expect," he said. "You just do the best you can."

Ehli welcomes the chance to try a new fishery.

"The more new water you fish, the more you learn," he said.

But the biggest thing for him is making the championship field.

"You're fishing with the top 50 in world," he said. "Hopefully a guy can come out of there on top."
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BEST OF LUCK TO THEM!!
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