63-year-old rookie enjoying pro walleye tour

At age 63, in his first year of professional walleye tournament competition, Cedar Rapids angler Gary Speicher has qualified for the lucrative National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship to be held next week on the Missouri River in North Dakota.

“A lot of the pros have called and congratulated me. It's going to be a great experience,” said Speicher, who has competed as an amateur co-angler on pro circuits since 2000.

Speicher, the proprietor of a popular walleye fishing website (www.walleyewisdom.com), said his move this year to pro status has been a quantum leap.

“My biggest ‘aha!' has been discovering just how much time the pros spend getting ready for a tournament,” he said.

While co-anglers “just show up and jump in the boat,” the pros are responsible for all the equipment and a sound game plan based on extensive pre-tournament scouting and practice, he said.

Speicher, who has never fished the Missouri River in North Dakota, said he hopes to have a week of practice under his belt when the tournament starts Thursday.

The tournament field consists of the 40 pros who compiled the highest cumulative finishes in the four FLW qualifying tournaments. Speicher placed 25th with 408 points. The only other Iowan in the field, Tommy Skarlis of Dorchester, finished 21st with 443 points. The FLW angler of the year, Tom Keenan of Hatley, Wis., racked up 577 points.

The world champion will win a $50,000 cash prize, with an opportunity for a $15,000 bonus from Evinrude and a $5,000 bonus from Ranger if he wins using those brands.

Speicher, who fishes from an Evinrude-powered Ranger boat sponsored by Bob's Marine of Bellevue, would be eligible for the bonuses.

The FLW's 2011 top prize pales beside the $150,000 check Skarlis claimed after winning the 2008 FLW title on that same stretch of Missouri River.

The full field of 40 pros and 40 co-anglers fish the first two days of the tournament. The top 20 in both classes advance to the third day, and only the top 10 pros compete on the final day, Sept. 25.

Though Speicher will turn 64 next month, he said he has not felt disadvantaged in competition with generally much younger anglers. “As long as I can get to bed by 9 p.m., I will feel pretty good the next day,” he said.

Nor, he said, have the burdens of a professional angler taken the fun out of the sport. “My thinking right now is that I will be back next year doing it all again,” he said.

His pro experience, about which he posts videos, photos and articles on his website, has also spurred an increase in the number of hits on walleyewisdom.com.

“So far it's all been good,” he said.