Sarley: Receiving kudos from a professional fisherman for reaching our limit

Finishing my tale of my walleye tournament with champion Ron Seelhoff on the Illinois River.

We trolled various baits all day with no success. After three hours Seelhoff decided to give up on pulling lures and told me that we would jig with minnows. Seelhoff ran the boat perfectly, slipping slowly along with the moderate current and keeping our presentations almost vertical. Yet the walleyes and saugers did not want to cooperate.

We fished all day with no luck whatsoever. Finally with about a half-hour of fishing time remaining, Seelhoff headed to a new spot. The oxbow area was littered with tournament boats. Seelhoff told me to fish with two rods, one in each hand, one off both sides of the boat. I told him: “Ron, I prefer one rod. I’m not a multi-tasker. I have a hard enough time fishing with one.” His response was: “I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. Use two rods.” Great.

All of a sudden, I felt a tap on the left-hand rod. I set the hook sharply and set down the other rod. It was a nice sauger and I reeled it in until it got to the surface about 6 feet from the boat. Seelhoff was next to me, waiting with net in hand when the fish shook its head and flipped itself off of my hook.

I was afraid to turn around to look at Seelhoff. I could feel his cold stare on my back. I heard him grumbling a long, steady stream of foul expletives. My hands were shaking. I hoped he wasn’t armed, I was that intimidated by him. I did nothing wrong but offered no excuses. I knew they’d fall on deaf ears.

We resumed fishing. Seelhoff shouted, “Got one.” I turned around to watch as he set the hook and began reeling. I was very nervous. I figured a fouled-up net job would cause me to be to be deposited in the muddy Illinois River for a long swim back. I didn’t have to worry about blowing the net job because Seelhoff’s sauger shook off of his hook about the same distance from the boat that mine did.

I could barely stop myself from smiling, no, laughing. Vindication and redemption had come to me, at least in my own mind. Seelhoff swore at himself with the same vigor and passion that he had turned on me. I hate to say it, but it felt good.

We resumed fishing with about 15 minutes to go. I got a bite, set the hook and reeled in a 2½-pound sauger. A nice fish to be sure. The best fish of the day for us.

Five minutes later a 3½-pound sauger introduced itself to my bait and was in the boat in short order. We had caught our limit. I felt proud. I was no longer the angler who couldn’t catch a fish, I was a valuable contributor to Seelhoff team’s efforts.

When we got on stage for the weigh-in, the emcee asked Seelhoff how the day had gone. He answered: “We got our limit. I guess I should say that my partner got our limit. He was the one that caught the fish. I was just the guy who drove the boat and handled the net. We wouldn’t have gotten near a limit if it wasn’t for Steve here. He’s a damn good fisherman.”

When all was said and done, Seelhoff finished the tournament in 27th place, which was good enough to win a small check that covered his entry fees and expenses at the very least. My excellent Day 2 vaulted me from dead last all the way up to 122nd place. Nothing to brag about on an overall basis, but Seelhoff’s kind words will be etched in my memory forever. It was a remarkable experience.

Seelhoff and I remained friends up until his passing in 2015. We talked about fishing often. I will never forget my day on the water with him.

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