Duo stands out in a crowd, wins walleye tournament at Milford Lake

Ed Klepacki and Jim Miller of Illinois survived three days of fighting rush-hour boat traffic on the northern end of Milford Lake, and came away with something big to show for it Saturday.

Fishing in a crowd, they won the Cabela’s National Team Walleye Championship.

Klepacki and Miller landed 10 walleyes weighing 43 pounds, 9 ounces in three days of fishing. That was enough to edge Scott Willis and Ben Seim of Nebraska, who had 12 walleyes weighing 42 pounds, 7 ounces.

“I don’t think I’ve ever fished in that kind of traffic before,” said Miller, who lives in Ingleside, Ill. “On the second day, someone counted 75 boats up on the north end where we were fishing. It was crazy.

“We found a little place off the side where we could catch fish. But for the most part, we were right where everyone else was.

“We couldn’t move. We knew that’s where the fish were.”

It got better Saturday, when the field was reduced to the top 25. But even then, there was traffic; 22 of the teams in the championship round were jockeying for prime fishing water.

But in the end, Klepacki and Miller made a move that earned them the championship prize, $30,000 in cash and a Ranger walleye boat and Evinrude motor valued at $68,000.

They got out of line in a string of boats trolling crankbaits in 8 to 10 feet of water and headed for the shallows where they had room to fish. There, they trolled Shad Rap and Flicker Shad crankbaits and caught two walleyes weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to seal the deal.

They made their big move Friday when they landed five walleyes registering 24 pounds, 2 ounces, then made their lead hold up on Saturday.

So what did Klepacki and Miller do to make their lures stand out in a crowd? Miller credited finding the right trolling speed and the right colors of their crankbaits.

“We used lead-core line to get our lures down to the bottom, then trolled close to the boat,” Miller said. “You don’t want to have your crankbaits too far back when you’re in that kind of a crowd.

“We used different color combinations that would show up in that murky water and it worked.”

The northern end of Milford Lake is known for its fishing … but for big blue catfish, not walleyes.

But Klepacki and Miller knew that’s where they were going to fish. And the spot wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret.

“We really wanted to come back to Milford and redeem ourselves,” said Klepacki, who lives in Wonder Lake, Ill. “We fished here in this tournament in 2003 and we were disappointed with how we did.

“We fished with different partners and I was 31st and he (Miller) was 16th. But we decided to come back to same spot we were fishing in 2003 and we did better.

“The fishing was tough this week. I think the cold front and the wind really affected the walleyes today (Saturday). But we figured out a way to get a couple to bite.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2015 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Duo stands out in a crowd, wins walleye tournament at Milford Lake."