Blade Fishing Report: Huskey makes walleye history

Jul. 22—Marianne Huskey made walleye fishing history last week when she bested the field and won the H2H Pro Walleye Series event on the Mississippi River.

It is believed to be the first time a woman angler has won a major walleye tournament.

Huskey, a native of Detroit, took home a check for $35,000 after beating the field of 32 walleye pros that included Lake Erie angler Ronnie Rhodes, winner of the 2014 Lake Erie Walleye Trail championship.

She averaged just under three pounds per fish over the course of the event, modest numbers by Lake Erie standards but not so for a tough bite on the upper Mississippi River just southeast of the Minneapolis metroplex. Huskey focused her efforts on a backwater bay casting jerkbaits and crankbaits.

On the path to this historic win, Huskey certainly put in the time and paid her dues. When the 2010 AIM tournament season ended, her fellow pros, not surprisingly all men, voted her the AIM Series "Sportsman of the Year." That distinction is given to the angler who, over the course of the season, has demonstrated the most professionalism and sportsmanship.

In 2012, Huskey became the first woman to win Angler of the Year honors from a major professional walleye or bass fishing organization when she was named to that honor by the AIM Pro Walleye Series. She remarked at the time that she hoped winning the top award from that competitive series would prompt other women to become involved in professional tournament fishing.

"A lot of women just feel like it's not their place," Huskey said in a publication put out by one of her sponsors, Mercury Marine. "I hope this helps change the mindset for some women."

Huskey moved to the northwest Michigan town of Charlevoix when she was young, and soon was fishing on Lake Michigan with her grandfather. "I had a love of the water since I was very young, and I was the oldest grandchild, so I was the first one to jump in the boat and go with him," Huskey commented in the Mercury publication. "Having my grandfather so close to where I grew up was wonderful. We spent a lot of time on the water together."

She later moved to the Upper Peninsula where she did a lot of ice fishing and became hooked on walleye. "I started doing some ice fishing and caught my first walleye," Huskey told Mercury.

"After I bought my first boat, I found out there were small side tournaments and bar tournaments and I started competing in those," said Huskey, who now lives near Green Bay. "And just like that I was addicted. I started keeping notes and keeping track of dates, times, water clarity, temperature. It almost became an obsession."

—Lake Erie: The staff at Netcraft reports that walleye fishing on the big lake remains steady and productive. Some of the best areas have been from Cedar Point to the north side of Kelleys Island and the waters around the cans of the Camp Perry firing range. The winning approach has been pulling spoons and worm harnesses behind jet divers at a variety of depths. Deep-diving crankbaits are also putting fish in the cooler when worked behind planer boards at 60-100 feet back. Some larger walleye have been taken using this method. Walleye fishermen on the Michigan side have reported spotty catches in recent days, with vegetation washed down from Lake St. Clair via the Detroit River proving problematic as it fouls trolled baits with consistency. There have been a few reports of good yellow perch fishing around the Toledo water intake and off the tip of Catawba Island. Spreaders or crappie rigs dressed with emerald shiners and fished just off the bottom have proven over the decades to be the best perch game plan.

—Maumee River: The largest watershed in the Great Lakes region is still in recovery mode after the recent heavy rains. The river is running high and muddy with a lot of debris in the flow. About the only anglers tackling these conditions are the catfish loyalists and even they are reporting it is a struggle to work the river right now. Once the water level drops and the clarity improves, the evening bite for resident smallmouth bass should start to heat up. One of the best places for late-day fishing has been found around the weed beds and along the narrow runs in the Weirs Rapids area.

—Sandusky River: With the river running nearly four feet above normal stage after several rounds of heavy rain about a week ago, conditions are tough, at best. The water is heavily stained by runoff. The only sound reports on the river that Bernie Whitt from Angler's Supplies bait shop can relay concern catfish action downriver from Fremont. Anglers working the high water with shrimp, nightcrawlers, or cut baits and heavy gear are getting some bigger cats.

First Published July 21, 2021, 12:55pm