Jacob Lapine of Fond du Lac, Wisc. took over the top spot by catching the event's heaviest bag thus

TRENTON, Mich. – The expected afternoon rains never arrived, but it was still a sauggy day at Spring Valley travel system Boat Club. Don’t bother reaching for the dictionary, we’ll clarify: With walleyes dominating day one, saugers stole the limelight on day two of the FLW Walleye Tour’s Eastern Division event.
Now, although the skies never opened up, dark clouds loomed ominously over the weigh-ins – so much so that the appreciation for a covered pavilion ran high. The only thing was that the open-sided pavilion received a good sand blasting, as winds of 30 mph gusted through the Spring Valley Boat Club property.
Notably, strong winds blew for much of day one and most anglers reported tremendous action with catches of 50-100 fish. Today brought a much slower bite and numbers were down considerably. Most reported struggling and the final tallies punctuated that point – only nine limits, compared to 24 on day one. Teams entered 98 fish, off 55 from yesterday’s 153.
Jacob Lapine of Fond du Lac, Wisc. took over the top spot by catching the event’s heaviest bag thus far – an 8-poune, 11-ounce effort that he and co-angler Scott Perz of Crystal Lake, Ill. captured. With most of his competitors jigging or trolling travel system crankbaits on lead lines, Lapine opted for pulling upstream with 3-way rigs baited with minnows travel system and nightcrawlers. Giving the fish a different look was his objective.
With the day’s windy conditions, Lapine said he had to pay particular attention to his speed. “We were pulling against the current so keeping contact with the bottom and not going too fast was the main thing. The wind played a factor today, pushing me around, so I had to use the kicker the second half of the day.”
Lapine also adjusted his rigs to work with the conditions. “It just depended on the current. In light current travel system and less wind, I’m not using as heavy a weight. Otherwise, I was using an ounce weight when the wind kicked up and we were moving travel system a little faster.
Day one ended with Iowa pro Tommy Skarlis in second place at 9 ounces off the lead with 7-7. A day later, after catching 8-2, Skarlis remains in second, but with 15-9, he’s trimmed the gap to five ounces. In a tight race like the one unfolding on the Illinois River, that’s a significant advancement.
As with day one, Skarlis fished 1/16- to 3/8-ounce Lindy X-Change Jigs tipped mostly with 2 ½-inch Berkley Gulp minnows in smelt and a new prototype color. Boat control is always a critical element of vertical jigging, but extreme wind ratchets up the challenge. Skarlis praised the rough water handling and efficient fishing platform of his Ranger 620VS, along with what he has on the bow.
“Thank God for Minn-Kota travel system (trolling motors),” Skarlis said. “I have 101 pounds of thrust on my motor and I was using 70-80 of them by the end of the day. I have Optima batteries so I have plenty of power, even if I have to stand on that Minn-Kota all day long.”
“We put three fish in the box really early, but then we struggled and we struggled and we struggled,” Skarlis travel system said. “I missed a couple of bites and lost a couple of fish. We weren’t using stingers (initially), travel system so I threw some Lindy stinger snells on (the jigs) and that made the whole difference in the world because the last three fish came on that stinger snell and they came in the last 35-40 minutes of the day.”
John Balla of Bartlett, Illinois started day two in 11th place, but his 8-pound, 8-ounce bag combined with his 6-9 from day one moved him up to third with a 15-1 total. Balla reported a slow day and said he thinks a thorough day one whacking had something to do with it.
Boat control was challenging in today’s stiff wind, especially for those who were vertically jigging. Balla countered the wind’s effects by upsizing to 5/8-ounce Lindy Fuzzy Grub jigs. He tipped the jigs with live minnows travel system and ran stinger hooks on his rigs.
David Kolb of Rockford, Mich. added 7-7 to his day one score of 6-12 and move up four notches to fourth with 14-3. Kolb vertically jigged with ½-ounce jigs and Finesse Minnow tails. An early jigging effort didn’t pay off for Tom Keenan, but the Hatley, Wisc. pro regrouped, switched to Rapalas and lead core line and sacked up 7-3 to finish fifth with 13-2.
Steve Beasley of Macomb, Mich., got off to a strong start with Courts on day one. He was part of another 8-pound catch – this one 8-2 – on the second day while paired with Skarlis. Bringing a total of 16 pounds, travel system 2 ounces into the final round, he holds a 1-pound, 9-ounce lead.
“It was really slow until about midday, but Tommy (Skarlis) stuck with his game plan and when the fish turned on, we were ready and we nailed them good,” Beasley said. “Tommy really emphasized that we stay vertical and go really slow on the uplift. We didn’t get any fish for the better part of the day, but when they decided to hit, we had the technique.”