There are many measures one can use to figure out who’s hot in Indiana bassin’ circles. Certainly one of those would be to look at who is qualifying for the State Team consistently. A closer look over the past several teams reveals one angler who has been on the team 3 years in a row, Walter Wynn of the P.O. Pluggers bass club. That’s a pretty strong statement of performance, especially when combined with the fact that Walter was the top man for the Indiana Team at the Northern Divisional this past summer. When I recently ran into him at one of the local fishing shows, I took a few minutes to get his insights on what went down this past year out on the trail.
Q. You’ve come out of the east regional qualifier (Geist/Morse) as the top man 2 years in a row, and made the State Finals the past 3 years. Has it been the same bite every spring that has propelled you, or have you had to change up patterns each time?
A. “It’s a combination of somewhat of the same, and you got new baits and stuff that you can come through the same little areas. The fish set up year after year almost on the exact same stuff. It’s a mixture of the tried-and-true baits and a mixture of some of the newer stuff that’s out there. But for the most part it’s about the same.”
Q. Do you have a preference for either of those lakes, or have you just taken what’s been dealt to you?
A. “It’s whatever is given to us. They’ve changed the format up. It used to be split up to where half the field was on Geist, half the field was on Morse. But now they have it where all the boats are on the same lake. This year, it just all came down to the right decisions, and I had a pretty good Top-8 showing.”
Q. The State Finals last year were at Tanner’s Creek on the Ohio River. Tell me a little about your practice and tournament there.
A. “I had never been there. I put one practice day in on Friday before the tournament, found a few fish, and ran 39 miles the day of the tournament. The water was gin clear when I got down there, and never got bit, and then ran about another 20 miles back up toward the ramp and went up into a creek on the Kentucky side, and they were there.
On the second day went I back to the same creek, stayed there all day and ended up catching 2 or 3 fish. I didn’t have much, only about 8 to 9 pounds, but it was just enough to qualify to make the State Team. I was throwing small spinnerbaits and small crankbaits. My co-angler did pretty well throwing baby brush hogs, but I’m not much of a dropper. That’s not my forte.”
Q. Qualifying for the State Team moved you on to the regionals which were held in LaCrosse, Wisconsin this past year. Describe that fishery and your patterns.
A. “It’s a hell of a fishery up there. It’s like two or three lakes within a river. I went up into Pool 7, and they had a pool up there…one area up there was the size of Lake Monroe, and it was just cattails, wild rice, pads, just amazing. Then you come down into Pool 8 and run down toward Iowa and it was just another big vast opening down there. I stayed somewhat closer to the ramp, and just went looking for stuff that I was comfortable fishing.
They gave us 3 days of practice, but I went up 2 days prior and practiced and got out there. I was just running mostly small creeks off the main river and fish would just set up off the wood. Then as the teams started showing up, I’d sit there and look and see guys doing the same thing, everybody hitting the wood and burning the fish up (there) in practice. The last day of practice, I got on a little crankbait deal – I didn’t see anybody doing any crankin’ for the most part. I just went to looking and fish were relating on that crankbait deal, little points that came out with shell beds on them, and it was just crazy. Each little point you’d come to, you could sit there and catch a limit in 5 casts. Nobody was on it.
The current there helped position the fish. I noticed the third day of the tournament, the first two days I’d go back and in 15 minutes, I was heading out, carrying the guys (co-anglers) to where they wanted to fish. For the most part, I was in the back of the boat the majority of the day because I was pretty much done. There was one little point/shell bed where I could go later in the day and upgrade. It just worked out. It was just the right decision, I guess.”
Q. You’ve now qualified as the top man on the Indiana team, giving you a shot at the Federation National event. Tell me a little about that upcoming event.
A. “Nationals is the first week of April on Grand Lake. It has 2 rivers coming in on it, the upper end up there. I’m really excited about it. They changed the format on us. Some of the guys were saying they couldn’t afford to go and do the practice, and then go and drive back down and do the tournament, so they put it off-limits to us from Feb. 8 - April 8. You can go down before Feb. 8, but they’re giving us 3 days of practice, so I’m just going to go down and put in my 3 days of practice.
I’m absolutely going to be looking for something shallow. I can slow down and throw Senkos and stuff, but hopefully I don’t have to do that. I just like to fish what I’m comfortable fishing.”
We’ll be watching in April as Walter represents Indiana in the Nationals. The highest finisher in each region will qualify for the All-American later this year. And for those that think Walter is going to rest on his laurels, he stated that he’ll be back out on Geist/Morse this spring again in Top-8 looking for another chance at the State Finals regardless of what happens down in Oklahoma.