WABASHA — Wabasha pro walleye angler Bob Bruegger found the big fish on Lake Winnebago last week and won the Cabela's National Walleye Tour event there, weighing in 42.53 pounds of fish.
He won a total purse of $87,235.
According to the tour web site, Bruegger finished Friday, the first day, with a 4-pound lead, but that day had thunderstorms. Saturday was better and he began catching some smaller fish. "At about 11 a.m., I was preparing to run to the river when it just started pouring rain," he said. "All of a sudden, the bite turned on."
In 15 minutes, Bruegger caught a 26-incher and a 25-incher. "I definitely think the rain triggered the fish," he said. "I'm glad it did, because I was starting to get my equipment ready for the river."
Those two big fish prompted Bruegger to stay put, even though the flurry soon ended.
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Bruegger said he trolled spinners with night crawlers, specifically two colors of Bugsy's Blades — gold (front) and chartreuse (back) and gold (front) and purple (back). "I would let out 20 feet of line and then put the board on. I used a 1/2-ounce weight and would troll at 1 to 1.1 mph. I used bigger crawlers with a three-hook harness."
