Michigan Division veteran claims co-angler title

Laveque lands kicker, wins G3 V185F powered by Yamaha

WINONA, Minn. – In 2005, co-angler Tom Laveque traveled 600 miles from Saginaw, Mich., to Winona, Minn., to fish the Walmart FLW Walleye League Finals. At that tournament, he learned a lot about fishing on the Mississippi River and cashed a nice check for placing ninth. Three years later he returned to Winona for the year-end championship and this time he drove home with a $38,000 boat.

Laveque had a slow start to the tournament – catching one walleye on day one weighing 1 pound, 2 ounces. On day two he caught a huge 18-pound, 13-ounce limit with boater Daniel Christensen. While most competitors used willow cats, Laveque and Christensen pulled most of their weight on leeches in Pool 7.

On the third and final day he fished with Avoca, Wis., native Galen Bremmer and the two caught a five-walleye limit weighing 20 pounds, 5 ounces, the heaviest stringer of the day. He finished the event with a three-day total of 11 walleyes weighing 40 pounds, 4 ounces.

“I’ve gotten real comfortable with the fishing here on the river,” said Laveque, who also won the 2006 Michigan Division qualifier on Saginaw Bay. “I really enjoy rigging with live bait, it takes patience but it suits me well.”

In Walleye League tournaments, boaters and co-anglers work together for a combined weight. Sometimes co-anglers simply man the net as the boaters do most of the fish catching. That wasn’t the case with the veteran Laveque. On day three, the co-angler champion popped a 6-pound walleye while fishing a wing dam with a willow cat on Pool 6.

“We really struggled today until we returned to our second spot. Then the bite picked up and we were able to catch most of our fish in about one hour.”

For winning the FLW Walleye League Finals, Laveque earned a $38,000 G3 V185F powered by Yamaha. He’s not entirely sure if he’s going to keep or sell the boat – he’ll use the 600-mile trip home to decide.

“I’ve been thinking about it for awhile, but I just might use the boat and fish on the boater side next year.”

Rest of the best

Fishing with Christensen on day three, Dan Miller of Poynette, Wis., turned in the day’s third-heaviest limit – 13 pounds, 2 ounces – to take second place with 37 pounds, 6 ounces. Miller, who was fishless at 1:30 p.m., collected $2,500.

In third place was Jerry Manning of Maquoketa, Iowa, with 14 walleyes over three days weighing 34 pounds, 9 ounces, good for $1,200. Forrest Melton of Albany, Minn., and Thomas Kaus of Lake Zurich, Ill., round out the top five with 32 pounds, 7 ounces and 31 pounds, 11 ounces. Melton earned $700 and Kaus $500.

Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists at the FLW Walleye League Finals on the Mississippi River:

6th: Paul Delaney of Baileys Harbor, Wis., 31-6, $650

7th: Brian Trainor of Winona, Minn., 28-10, $400

8th: Steve Keller of Beloit, Wis., 28-5, $350

9th: Chris Kuehn of Osseo, Wis., 27-15, $300

10th: Carl Adams Sr. of Hines, Minn., 27-9, $250