Day 3 kicked off the GREAT8 bracket as our anglers look to advance and keep fishing for the first-ever PWS Championship title!
Our entire field of 16 anglers fishing this week has what it takes to put on a great show, but only eight could make it to Day 3! Yesterday, the action picked up as anglers started putting more pieces of the Chautauqua puzzle together. A definite trend is that the fish are not super shallow, nor are they super deep, rather they are in transition areas staging for cold weather.
Isaac Lakich vs. Corey Heiser
Today’s first matchup was between Isaac Lakich(1) vs. Corey Heiser(8) seemed to start in Corey’s favor. Corey was around walleyes all day and even caught several fish that weighed under 2 pounds before 10 AM. Corey’s competitor, Isaac, did not catch a single fish before 10 AM, which put Corey and Isaac into DINKFEST. Like we’ve seen from Isaac before, he had a DINKFEST spot, and Isaac went to work catching several fish weighing under 2 pounds. Isaac had found a spot in practice with shallow weeds and lots of smaller walleyes. Isaac went on to win his DINKFEST matchup against Corey with a score of 6lbs-1oz compared to Corey’s 15 ounces.
Josh Wiesner vs. Max Wilson
The Josh Wiesner(5) vs. Max Wilson(13) match started on the slower side, however, Josh Wiesner stayed focused and around fish all morning. Josh ultimately ended up catching a fish that weighed 2lbs-3oz. Josh’s fish was caught before 10 AM, which forced Max to continue to search for legal walleyes instead of possibly fishing a dink spot. Max could not connect with a walleye, even fishing the spots he had success during practice. Josh’s one and only legal fish will send him into the FINTASTIC4 where he will face Isaac Lakich!
Joe Okada vs. Marianne Huskey
The Joe Okada(2) vs. Marianne Huskey(7) had two anglers that are no strangers to top finishes in the PWS going head-to-head. Marianne Huskey came off a Day 2 against Jarrad Fluekiger where either angler found any fish. Marianne’s day was looking very similar today until she caught her first legal fish of 2lbs-8oz. Marianne also caught two other walleyes under 2 pounds today. This matchup was fun to watch, but every angler knew that Joe Okada was a force to be reckoned with this week after he came off of a great Day 2 performance. It took Joe just a few minutes after being set up to catch his first legal fish. After that, Joe settled in and started dialing his program in with a fine-tooth comb. Joe quickly put Marianne in a deficit catching six fish for 19 pounds trolling crankbaits today!
Nick Schertz vs. Justin Scheider
The Nick Schertz(11) vs. Justin Scheider(14) featured two anglers that started in similar areas with similar casting programs today. Schertz was able to show some rhythm yesterday by catching some legal fish early, but that momentum stopped on Day 3 where he was unable to hook into a walleye. Justin Scheider on the other hand, had the cards fall in a different direction for him. Despite catching some fish outside of the mouth, Justin connected with a nice 3-pound fish to give him the advantage today over Schertz. Not the day Justin thought he would have, but enough to win. Look for Justin to move out deeper as he must face a confident and dangerous Joe Okada at the start of our FINTASTIC4.
This is my home lake, I’ve been watching every minute of this awesome tournament and enjoying it immensely. Especially because I know so much about this incredible fishery, including the fact that she can be incredibly humbling, especially to those who have very limited time to figure her out. My question is; I’ve been trying to be careful with my comments during the tourney, as I don’t wave to give out any information at the cost of any angler getting a leg, because I thought that kind of thing was discouraged by the tournament staff and officials. So after reading this summary of today’s events, I see there is quite a bit of info that could help competitors who may be struggling at this point. So does that mean the contestants are free to garner and info they can between events via articles, updates, social media comments, etc.?
Hello John! Thank you for following the stream and great question. Anglers are not allowed to watch the stream (or read comments from the stream) from the start of the event until they are eliminated. So feel free to post any info you’d like!
John, I have lived on Chautauqua and fished the walleye for 40 years and have a few suggestions for the remaining four myself.
I believe it is best to let them figure it out for themselves and not inject our opinions at this time.