NAIFC

Glenn Delorme Jr. and Brock Baldweg

Big panfish and “ten year snowstorm” greet anglers at Richmond Lake event

By Ted Pilgrim

Aberdeen, SD – Just in time for the recent NAIFC Qualifying Tournament on Richmond Lake, South Dakota, Mother Nature delivered what officials dubbed “the ten year snowstorm.” Wind, cold, heavy snow and classic coldfront conditions met competitors, many of whom had never fished the lake before, during the January 10 ice fishing tournament.

Thankfully, despite the adverse conditions, competitors were pleasantly surprised with the quality of fish available. Unfortunately, another problem emerged. Due to the excess of snow and slush on the lake, tournament fishermen couldn’t access many of the best spots. Some anglers had located large panfish in impressive numbers during prefishing, but poor conditions kept them from reaching their honey holes on tournament day. Noteworthy is that in 2011, the anglers will get another crack at the lake’s secrets; NAIFC officials have already scheduled a follow up event here.

Richmond Lake is a long narrow 830-acre reservoir on the Foot Creek in northeastern South Dakota. Constructed in 1938, the Richmond Lake dam created a waterbody whose maximum depth is approximately 28 feet, with an average of nearly 15 feet. As with most reservoirs completed during this period, obstructions in the new lakebed were removed, resulting in a relatively featureless underwater landscape. To enhance fish habitat, a walleye club placed several hundred conifer trees into Richmond Lake about a decade ago. While some of the sunken trees reportedly attract panfish during certain yearly periods, these cover objects did not ultimately figure into the strategies of anglers.

Instead, most of the successful teams fished main lake points that tapered into 15 to 20 feet of water. Among them were Glen Delorme and Brock Baldweg, who had traveled to Richmond from the Devils Lake region in North Dakota. “We basically just skipped from point to point,” said Delorme, a former professional fishing guide. “During prefishing, we found one spot that was loaded with fish. I drilled two holes there, my flasher light up with activity, and we left it alone for the tournament.”

“Our snowmobile made a big difference, letting us run all over the lake to check spots,” he continued. “We were hoping to find some weeds on the points, but struck out. Luckily, though, it only took about ten holes to find our fish. On Sunday, we quickly caught nearly our limits of both crappies and sunfish in shallower water near the point. But we soon realized that the bigger crappies, as well as the bluegills were deeper, in about 19-feet, near the middle of the basin.”

Despite the miserable wind and cold, Delorme and Baldweg stayed aggressive with their presentation, even while other anglers approached the situation like the severe coldfront it was. “We fished 1/8-ounce pink-blue-white Jig-A-Whopper jigs tipped with a single wax worm. Using 2-pound test with a spring tip on our St. Croix rods, we were able to play cat and mouse, making the aggressive crappies chase, while toning it down for the more reluctant bluegills.”

Applying their knowledge of panfish in similar prairie reservoirs, the team went on to win the event convincingly, weighing a limit of eight crappies and eight sunfish for 8.46-pounds. In second place was the team of Todd Waagmeester and Terry Dvoracek of Sioux Falls, who also weighed the maximum 16 fish limit, finishing with 7.7-pounds.

Like many of the anglers, these longtime ice tournament competitors were pleasantly surprised both by the size and quality of Richmond’s panfish. Biologists noted that Richmond hosts the highest density of crappies in South Dakota, while big numbers of 8 to 9-inch sunfish abound, as well.

Coming in for another strong finish was the perennially dangerous team of Jacek Gawlinski and “Zibi” Wojcik. The native Poles, known for their prowess with microscopic tungsten jigs and tiny plastics, felt they had found the tournament winning spot in prefishing. However, problems with their ATV prevented them from reaching their ace locations on Sunday. This kept them on foot for the second straight event.

Their nearby “backup” spot was a point and two inside turns in 18 to 20 feet of water. “We found that the ‘gills were glued to the bottom,” said Gawlinski, “But our MarCum LX-5 let us zoom in and separate them, which allowed us to identify them and coax them to bite. We used special Swarowski Crystal jigs in a glow pattern on 3-pound test Sunline Fluorocarbon. For bluegills, we tipped the jig with a single wax worm, while a glow red Little Atom Macro Nuggie accounted for our crappies.

“The crappies were very aggressive, you just had to keep them chasing the jig up. The ‘gills, on the other hand, were so finicky that any little change in action spooked them. Just a very steady, almost deadstick approach caught most of the bluegills.” With another 16 fish limit, Gawlinski and Wojcik weighed 7.54 pounds for a solid third place finish.

“It was some of the toughest conditions we’ve ever fished in,” Gawlinksi reported. “Two of my fingers got nipped by frostbite—sure hope they work before our next tournament.” Judging by their consistently high finishes (including a recent 6th in the NAIFC Championship), it’s a good bet their competitors are praying for a slightly slower recovery.

Next stop on the 2010 NAIFC Tournament season—Little Lake Wissota, Wisconsin, Sunday, January 24.