Published: April 20, 2016
Casting with the best
Local men prepare for 3rd season on pro circuit
Daily News
Mike Yamaguchi’s wife, Cassie, jokingly regrets allowing her husband to
help their daughter’s Girl’s Scout troop build a float for the West
Bend Christmas parade in 2010.
The construction took place at Mike McCardle’s house in West Bend. In the garage was McCardle’s boat.
It was like Yamaguchi had fallen in love again.
“My husband was eyeing it up as we’re building the float,” Cassie said. “They hit it off pretty well that night.
“I’ve regretted it ever since.”
No, just kidding.
“I like Mike (McCardle),” Cassie said with a smile.
Six years later, the Mikes have gone on several recreational fishing trips and, for three years, fished competitively.
They each compete in the National Walleye Tour and the tour’s first
event of the season is a two-day competition starting Thursday in
Sandusky, Ohio.
After
that, it’s a pair of home lakes for Yamaguchi and McCardle. On May
26-27, the tour competes on Lake Winnebago, and June 23-24 in Green Bay.
The season concludes Aug. 3-5 at Lake Oahe in Mobridge, South Dakota, with the tour championship.
McCardle is a pro-level angler, while Yamaguchi is a co-angler, or an amateur.
In the NWT a random drawing is done to pair a pro with a co-angler the day before the tournament.
A pro angler is just that — a professional, usually in charge of the
boat. Such as where to take it, where to cast a line. A co-angler does
is like an assistant.
Think of a pro-am golf tournament. It’s the same thing with the NWT.
However, there is a little twist. The Day 1 pairings aren’t the same for Day 2.
How the results are determined is if Yamaguchi and his pro catch 10
pounds of fish on Day 1, then on Day 2 Yamaguchi and his new pro catch
15 pounds, Yamaguchi is scored with 25 pounds.
As for Yamaguchi’s pro on Day 1, that angler takes the 10 pounds they
caught and then adds the weight he or she got with the second co-angler
on Day 2 to come up with that final weight.
It’s a unique setup. Because of the unknown, the pressure can be high,
especially for the pros. There is more money and sponsorship on the
line.
“You’re fighting
for a specific spot and you have a couple hundred boats or, a couple
dozen boats that are trying to get in that one little spot the size of a
coffee table,” Yamaguchi said of the competition. “You’ve got a lot of
people cutting people off.”
It’s also a learning experience, especially for the co-angler.
“A lot of the anglers come up through the co-angler ranks,” McCardle
said. “A lot of them will be future pros. You learn a lot of different
techniques.”
That’s what McCardle did. That’s what Yamaguchi is doing now.
“I wanted to be more in control of the decisionmaking,” McCardle said when asked why he moved to the pro level.
He also believed he had enough confidence to compete with the best
walleye anglers in the country. He just needed to find out for sure.
He’s been in competitive fishing tournaments since 2003.
To get ready for a tournament like the one in Sandusky, McCardle and Yamaguchi left Friday to
get on the water of Lake Erie and pre-fish. The purpose is to scout
the water and the walleye population, learn the characteristics of the
lake.
McCardle and Yamaguchi often travel together to make sure tournament entries stay even.
McCardle competes in fishing tournaments because it’s a nice getaway from work. But it’s hardly a vacation.
“We’re on the water 1214 hours per day,” he said.
One of the first pros Yamaguchi was paired with was Ron Seelhoff, a
veteran of more than 30 years in competitive fishing. It was at the
same place as this weekend’s tournament.
“It was an eye-opening experience,” Yamaguchi said of his first tournament. “There’s a lot of great fishermen.
“Seeing some of their techniques was probably the most interesting thing.”
The Yamaguchis moved to West Bend about seven years ago from New Braunfels, Texas, which is near San Antonio.
Mike Yamaguchi got a job with Harley Davidson as a solution and integration manager.
He started fishing as a kid with his father on the Gulf of Mexico. Today, his father is a guide near Galveston, Texas.
“I’ve always been interested in fishing and I’m somewhat competitive,” Yamaguchi said.
When he got to Wisconsin, he still wanted to fish.
The Mikes met through their children with the Washington County Youth Hockey Association and school.
First it was at McLane Elementary, then Badger Middle School and Silverbrook Intermediate.
The idea of competitive fishing came up when McCardle asked Yamaguchi to help him pre-fish for an upcoming tournament.
“Then it was, ‘Hey, why don’t you sign up as my coangler?’” Cassie said.
Yamaguchi didn’t hesitate.
“I was all in,” he said.
Last season, McCardle finished 62nd in the tour standings out of 188 pros.
“Consistency,” he said when asked how is a good angler is measured.
“To be able to place in the top 25 percent consistently, you’re doing pretty well — top 10, you’re doing wonderful.”
Yamaguchi was 44th in last season’s co-angler standings out of 218 — top 20 percent.
In 2014, Yamaguchi was 54th out of 192 co-anglers, while McCardle was 74th out of 144.
This year, the duo has two home lakes on the schedule. So they like their chances.
“I love fishing and the chance to win some money is even better,” Yamaguchi said.
Reach sports editor Nicholas Dettmann at ndettmann@conleynet.com.
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