GREEN BAY, Wis. – Pro Pat Neu of Forestville caught a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 96 pounds, 1 ounce to lead the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event on Green Bay. A field of 133 pros and 133 co-anglers were cut to 10 anglers in each division at the conclusion of Friday’s weigh-in. The top-10 pros and co-anglers will compete for top awards of $87,000 and $16,700 respectively in the third event of the most lucrative walleye tour in the world.
For the first time in a week, the clouds gave way to sunny skies. While many pros worried that sunny skies could hamper what has been a great bite this week, the great fishing on Green Bay continued under the ever-changing conditions.
“It was rough Friday morning,” Neu said. “But, it calmed down by mid morning, and the sun came out for the first time in a while.” Neu boated nine walleyes but made all the right decisions on which five to keep. “I threw back a 23-inch and a 26-inch walleye earlier in the day,” he said. “It didn’t matter because we caught 27-inch and 28-inch walleyes later, so it turned out to be the right decision to throw those early fish back.”
Rounding out the top-five pros are Pat Schuette of Manitowoc (15 walleyes, 90 pounds, 4 ounces); Mark Keenan of Appleton (14 walleyes, 83 pounds, 5 ounces); Troy Morris of Bismarck, N.D. (14 walleyes, 78 pounds, 6 ounces); and Dan Stier of Pierre, S.D. (15 walleyes, 74 pounds, 10 ounces).
A total of 383 walleyes weighing 1,579 pounds 12 ounces were caught Friday.
Mark Cottingham of Green Bay leads the Co-angler Division with a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 91 pounds, 10 ounces. He fished with pro Greg Darsow of Billings, Mont., on Friday.
“We didn’t get our first walleye until 10 a.m.,” Cottingham said. “Then we went another two or three hours without any fish.” By days end, however, Darsow and Cottingham grinded out a five-walleye limit weighing 24 pounds, 7 ounces.
Rounding out the top-five co-anglers are Randy Peterson of Omro (15 walleyes, 82 pounds, 11 ounces); Kevin Adams of Shawano (15 walleyes, 79 pounds, 10 ounces); Scott Tipton of Box Elder, S.D. (15 walleyes, 77 pounds, 12 ounces); and Richard Konrad of Brillion (15 walleyes, 76 pounds, 11 ounces).
Saturday’s takeoff at Green Bay starts at 7 a.m. at Metro Park Boat Launch. Saturday’s weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 2440 West Mason Street in Green Bay. The community is invited to attend the takeoff and weigh-in, which are free and open to the public.
At the $650,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Mississippi River in Moline, Ill., Sept. 28 – Oct. 1, pros will fish for as much as $140,000 cash and co-anglers will chase as much as $22,000.
Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight and are randomly paired each day. The full field competes during the three-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day accumulated weight. Weights carry over to day four, with the winner determined by the heaviest four-day weight.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.