Gone Fishin'

The Hankla family know a lot of fishing stories. Someday, when Steve and his son, Jeremy, talk about the time they won a Nebraska Walleye Association tournament, it’ll be a whopper.

And, it will be true.

Steve, of Clearwater, and Jeremy, of North Platte, reeled in the catch of the day: first place in a sea of 27 teams at the 2020 Lewis & Clark tournament, Aug. 29 and 30 at the lake near Yankton.

The Hanklas caught five walleye worth keeping, combining for a total weight of 13.88 pounds.

Steve said the weekend consists of two one-day tournaments. He and Jeremy only fished Sunday.

“I reffed (football) on Friday night,” Hankla said, adding with a smile,” Jeremy begged me to go. Luck beats all.”

Nebraska fishing rules apply: each walleye must meet the 15-inch minimum and not be longer than 22 inches.

The largest catch on Sunday weighed 5.41 pounds.

“They were nice fish,” Steve said. “They’re not Merrit Reservoir fat, but they were good for the river.”

The Hanklas left the bank at 7 and trolled down river.

Hankla said their usual hot spot wasn’t hot.

“We only had one keeper at 12:30 p.m., and we had to be in at 3,” he said.

Then, 15 miles away from the entry point at Weigand, luck struck.

“Fishing was fun,” Steve said.

The second-place team - Adam Pederson and Taylor Portillo - caught four fish for a total of 10.62 pounds.

They were on the top of the leader board most of the day, until the Hankla duo returned.

Steve is no stranger to the winners’ circle, winning the event twice before. He began fishing tournaments with Virgil Hupp in the 1980s and partnered with Rick Hesse for years.

“We fished that circuit for years,” he said.