Sarley: Meeting the pro who always fished with his schnauzers

Thanks to all who reminded me that I owed you the conclusion to my tale about my first-time entry into the world of professional tournament fishing.

My first day found me partnered with a nameless pro who had no idea about what to do. We fished on the Illinois River out of Spring Valley in a major event on the FLW Trail. We were one of seven boats that caught no fish for the day. That is right, zero fish. How embarrassing.

They pulled the names for our partners for the second day of the event. I was paired with Ron Seelhoff. Seelhoff, a crop duster by trade from Colorado, was the all-time money leader in professional walleye fishing. He was a legend in the sport and was also known to be one of the crankiest so-and-sos to ever pick up a walleye rod. I was petrified.

I had never met Seelhoff or even talked to him. I had seen him fishing and he was always accompanied in his boat by a pair of schnauzers. How mean could a guy be who fished with a pair of schnauzers?

I called Seelhoff on the phone and he said, “Oh great, I get stuck with one of the only idiots in the tournament who doesn’t know how to catch even one stinking walleye. My luck is going from bad to worse.”

I guess I learned how mean a guy could be, schnauzers or not.

I was sleepless for the night and woke early to meet Seelhoff at a diner. We met for breakfast and he asked me what my previous day’s partner had told me about him. I said that he told me that Seelhoff was nasty and wouldn’t talk to me in the boat.

Seelhoff exploded. He told me that my first day partner was a terrible fisherman and was the reason we caught no fish. He told me that he personally was a really a good guy and he’d prove it that day. We’ll see.

We talked a little, but I wouldn’t call our conversation warm and fuzzy. Seelhoff warmed up to me as the day went on.

We began the day by trolling. We were only able to scare up four walleyes that were barely able to crack the 14-inch limit. We’d need six for a limit and hopefully they would be larger fish. Seelhoff had not had a very good first day but not as horrible as mine. He would need an excellent bag limit to finish in the money.

Seelhoff seemed to warm up to me the longer we spent in the boat. He was very open. He told me a number of things that I never expected to hear. Pro fishermen are a lot like other pro athletes. They give the same trite answers all of the time.

I was amazed that Seelhoff told me that he had never been paired with an amateur co-angler who was worth a hoot as a fisherman. He wished they would do away with the co-angler program entirely.

He told me that three-quarters of the pros on the tour didn’t ever have a chance at cashing a check. He said that they were only fishing because their wives wanted to get them out of the house. He said he enjoyed collecting their entry fees and they didn’t have a chance of ever collecting a dime.

Seelhoff told me that the reason he fished tournaments was to quell his thirst for gambling. He thought he had a better chance at cashing a check in a walleye tournament than he did when he placed a bet with his bookie on an NBA game. Interesting guy.

The conversation filled a totally unproductive day on the Illinois River, but I knew that Seelhoff would never throw in the towel. I’ll finish the story next time we meet.

• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.