Steven Szymczak and Jordan Felten (Osceola) won the Michiana Walleye Association Wayland Marine Walleye Challenge last weekend on the St. Joseph River at Maggies Landing.
The winners ($375) had 8.87 pounds they caught by trolling Berkley Flicker Shads along sharp breaks.
Rick and Jeremy Nichols (South Bend) were second ($188) with 7.04 pounds caught on 3/8-ounce firetiger jigs with crawlers and pink/chartreuse floaters rigged with crawlers. They were slow trolling upstream in 8 to 12 feet of water.
Ed Szymczak (Osceola) and Dallas Dunn (Indianapolis) were third ($113) with 6.76 pounds caught on Salmo F4 crankbaits (perch and firetiger) while working shallow water close to deep water. The ClearH2O Tackle Big Fish prize ($285) went to Randy Hamilton (Granger) and Dean Cates (Jimtown) with a 3.50-pound walleye.
Fuzzy Bear, captained by Carl Stopczynsk of North Liberty, claimed the Hoosier Coho Club Pro/Am title in at Michigan City last weekend by a mere 15/100s of a pound.
The Fuzzy Bear team, a perennial favorite in Michigan City salmon contests, edged another former winner, Blue Fairways (captained by Wally Laaksonen of Ludington), 156.55 points to 156.40.
Ron Fabiszak (South Bend) proved why he ranks among Michianas top anglers.
Despite fishing alone, Fabiszak set an R&B Circuit record and won the circuits season opener on Webster Lake last weekend.
He caught 21.44 pounds (5 fish) despite freezing temperatures, snow and high, muddy water to win $748 for first plus $344 for the Money Mouth Baits Big Bass, a 5.98-pound beast. All of his fish were caught with a chatterbait in and around lily pad fields only two feet deep. Interestingly, he was the only member of the top 5 that did not fish in the Backwaters. The victory is also the most lopsided victory in R & B history.
Phillip Duracz (Chesterton) and Steve Coleman (Whiting) caught a limit weighing 10.26 pounds in blustery weather to win the Hoosier Pro tournament on Tippecanoe Lake.
Second place ($156) went to Dan Milligan (Bremen) and Kris Shipley (Syracuse) with 9.73 pounds and they also won the big bass prize ($65) with a 5.79 largemouth. Rick Rogers (Warsaw) and Dan ONeil (Winona Lake) were third ($104) with a limit weighing 8.06.
The next tournament is June 15 at Manitou.
Robert Cook (Osceola) and Lou Beisel (Mishawaka) won the Michiana Walleye Association season opener on Lake of the Woods at Bremen last weekend.
The winners ($300) only caught one fish but it weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces, caught by Cook on a yellow/orange Heddon Sonar jigged off the bottom in 18 feet of water.
Only 12 legal fish were weighed in by the 16 teams under tough fishing conditions.