BARRING A MIRACLE fish, a New Yorker is in line to take the B’laster Walleye Fall Brawl — touted as the largest walleye tournament — this Sunday.
Edwin L. Hatten, Jr., of Hastings, N.Y., actually already has the winning fish ... in the Fall Walleye Slam. His 12.30-pound walleye at 31.25 inches he caught Nov. 24 won him a Warrior 238 valued at $174,000. The Slam finished last Sunday.
Hatten and his partner Len Heffron entered both tournaments. On that Sunday, the partners launched out of the marina in Huron, Ohio, headed toward Vermillion, Ohio, just doing some trolling in an area Hatten did pretty good during past events in 2021.
They had been out since 6 a.m. that Sunday morning, when Hatten’s wife got him on his cell about 1 p.m. to ask how it was going. They had just endured a twisting 16-inch shad and were wondering if this is how the day would continue. The team from Hastings, which is about 100 miles east of Rochester, was left with a two-day window to fish.
After a brief, cheery conversation with her that ended on how the next big fish could happen at any time, he looked behind the boat and just like that, a board had been hit hard.
“It hadn’t even been three or four minutes since we got off the phone,” Hatten said.
They battled it for 15 minutes and knew they had on something nice for sure.
“It kept taking line and we don’t tighten the drag once set,” Hatten said. “It did not run like a sheep [sheepshead]. You normally know pretty quick if it’s a sheepshead. This one was steady, stayed down till the boat and just gave head shakes.”
Just as it landed in the net at the back of the boat, the lure popped out of the fish’s jaw. Hatten and Heffron just looked at it for a moment in awe and at their luck.
Their first scale said it was 8 pounds, then 11 pounds, 14 ounces.
Hatten didn’t believe it.
They got a second one and it had it over 12 pounds. They took out the divider in the well because it wouldn’t even fit in one side and it dwarfed the other fish.
“I said, 'Oh my god, this is a great fish. Dude, we need to pack up and get this fish weighed,’” Hatten told Heffron, who have been fishing together for 24 years. “We always had a plan in case this ever happened.” That plan was to wrap things up, take off for the official scales, and no waiting to fish longer.
After the hour or so ride back in, they made a beeline to Erie Outfitters in Sheffield Lake, Ohio, which is another 40 minutes away.
They were greeted by owner Craig Lewis and Lewis was tickled as he saw the Bandit they caught the fish on was custom painted by his employee Mike Chaffin.
The store closes at 4 p.m. on Sundays, and they got there just in time at 3:45.
“We have a good weight, this fish could hold up, and the weather is in our favor,” Hatten said. “It’s exciting. At the end of day I’m ecstatic with where we are at. It was one hell of a day.
“If somebody else comes along and moves in front, it’s still a story I’ll have the rest of my life.”
The likelihood of this is growing less and less as the days draw down after talking with ODNR fish biologist Matthew Faust, who noted to me that when they are working they “rarely pull in 12-pound walleyes in our gill nets in the central basin or Huron or anywhere really.”
Hatten praised the entire Lake Erie fishing community on how it comes together and puts on these tournaments behind Fall Brawl creator Lewis and LEWT Director Jason Fischer and all benefit.
“Two New York guys who fished some LEWT events placed against all these Lake Erie anglers,” Hatten said.
Not bad for a guy who started out in a 14-foot jon boat with a 15-horsepower motor 14 years ago.
Now he faces a dilemma of whether he takes the Warrior 238 or the Ranger 622 FS Pro boat.
Anthony X Yu remains in second with his fish that he had weighed on Nov. 19, which weighed 12.17 pounds and 31 inches long.
First and second place will bring home 2024 Ranger boats. The top prize is a Ranger 622 FS Pro with a 400 V10 Mercury motor valued at $140,000. Second is a Ranger 621 FS Pro with a 300 Mercury motor at a $110,000 value. Both are outfitted with Aqua Traction, Lowrance, and Cisco Fishing Systems.
The remaining prizes are based on entries to sixth place. Third will pay out $60,000; fourth, $50,000; fifth, $40,000; and sixth, $30,000.
Leaping into third late on Dec. 3, was Steve E. Griese, at 11.98 pounds and 31.62 inches; in fourth, is Samantha M. Krause, at 11.78 pounds and 30.75 inches; fifth is Enrico W. Simone at 11.24 and 28.75; and sixth is Owen R. Miller at 11.10 and 29.75.
LEWT’s Fischer said in a previous text to me that the Hatten fish is “right on par” with past Fall Brawl winners dating back to 2011.
The tougher weather conditions have slowed the number of anglers bringing fish in this week, but there are some still, despite the lake being angry, Fischer said.
This year more than $461,000 is being given away in cash and prizes. In addition there are daily prizes and sponsor giveaways.
The winner is determined by the heaviest fish with length used as a tiebreaker. And then passing a polygraph test.
The Fall Brawl tournament ran from Oct. 19-Dec. 8.
For tickets to the Fall Brawl awards banquet, which is Friday, Dec. 13, from 6 to 10 p.m., go to lakeeriefallbrawl.com. The Fall Slam’s banquet follows on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 6 to 10 p.m. For tickets, go to walleyeslam.com.
OHIO DEER hunters are having a good season from what I’m seeing on social media sites so far during the first couple of days of the state’s first deer gun season, which began Monday, Dec. 2, and ends Sunday, Dec. 8.
It appears the cold front that came through this past week really got the deer up on their hooves and moving, along with the continued rut, which is the whitetail’s breeding season.
And it’s also in line with what the Division of Wildlife was reporting on the opening day figures, which was the highest harvest since 2012, according to a news release. Monday’s tally of checked-in deer was 26,667, which was slightly below 2012’s 29,297.
Last year’s take on opening day was considerably lower at 19,363. The season typically opens the first Monday after Thanksgiving.
Already nearly 128,408 white-tailed deer have been harvested through the archery and firearms seasons, according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife figures through Dec. 2.
For those who are unsuccessful, they can hold out hope for the two-day deer gun weekend later in the month on Dec. 21-22. And of course there is the muzzleloader season, Jan. 4-Jan. 7, 2025. Ohio’s archery season — one of the longest archery seasons in the nation — runs until Feb. 2, 2025. It began on Saturday, Sept. 28, this year.
First Published December 7, 2024, 9:04 p.m.
