September 25, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. — EverStart pro Dan Stier seemed to be backsliding after the opening day of the 2011 National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship – he endured diminishing weights, fish counts and his place in the standings. But he never gave up on his spot or his game plan, and he was greatly rewarded for his tenacity Sunday with his first championship win. READ MORE »
September 25, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. – EverStart Pro Dan Stier of Mina, S.D., caught five walleyes weighing 18 pounds, 14 ounces to win the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Missouri River. Stier had a four-day catch of 18 walleyes weighing 69-4. He won by more than 4-pounds over his closest competitor in an event featuring the top 40 pro and 40 co-anglers from the 2011 National Guard FLW Walleye Tour season. Stier took home $70,000 for his efforts. READ MORE »
September 25, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. — It has already been a championship to remember, with big bags of fish weighed and beautiful weather gracing the 80 anglers who competed on the Missouri River at Bismarck, N.D., this week to close out the 2011 National Guard FLW Walleye Tour season. But today marks the moment the walleye world has been waiting for: the crowning of a pro champion. READ MORE »
September 25, 2011
They said it couldn’t be won from that spot. They said it would dry up in four days. Stier said otherwise. And he has the trophy to prove it. READ MORE »
September 24, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. — Evinrude pro Tommy Skarlis won the 2008 championship on the Missouri River at Bismarck, N.D., and on Saturday he positioned himself to make National Guard FLW Walleye Tour history by sacking another strong limit weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces. He now has a three-day total of 58 pounds, nearly a 5-pound lead heading into the final day and a solid shot at a repeat performance. READ MORE »
September 24, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. – Tommy Skarlis of Waukon, Iowa, and co-angler Todd Dankert of Anoka, Minn., caught five walleyes weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounce Saturday to maintain the lead on the third day of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Missouri River. Skarlis’ three-day catch of 15 walleyes weighing 58-0 gives him a solid 4-pound, 14-ounce lead over his closest competitor in an event which started with the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers from the 2011 FLW Walleye Tour season. Pros are fishing for a top award of up to $70,000. READ MORE »
September 24, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. — Todd Dankert of Anoka, Minn., has come close to a tournament title before with three prior top-10 finishes in walleye events operated by FLW Outdoors, including a runner-up finish on Lake Oahe last year. When he finally got his win Saturday, it was a big one – a championship title. READ MORE »
September 24, 2011
As a good championship should, this one continues to change. The Missouri River’s water level continues to drop, the temperature continues to climb and the fish continue to move. Virtually all the pros have changed tactics several times, at least slightly, since day one. READ MORE »
September 23, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. – Tommy Skarlis of Waukon, Iowa, and co-angler Daniel Leach of Linwood, Mich., caught five walleyes weighing 21 pounds, 1 ounce Friday to take the lead on day two of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Missouri River. Skarlis’ two-day catch of 10 walleyes weighing 40-14 gives him a 3-pound, 5-ounce lead over his closest competitor in an event featuring the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers from the 2011 FLW Walleye Tour season. Pros are fishing for a top award of up to $70,000 and Co-anglers are vying for up to $12,000. READ MORE »
September 23, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. — The community hole that powered most of the top-10 performances on day one of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship dried up for almost everyone Friday – everyone but Evinrude pro Tommy Skarlis, that is. The walleye veteran from Waukon, Iowa, brought an impressive 21 pounds, 1 ounce to the scale today for a two-day total of 40-14 and first place. READ MORE »
September 23, 2011
It’s about 3 p.m. on moving day here at the championship, and you can believe there will be some moving going on at weigh-in. I watched Tom Keenan and Paul Meleen put on clinics today on the Missouri River. READ MORE »
September 23, 2011
I expected gray skies, chilled air and conditions more suited to autumn ducks and pheasants than the sunshine I was greeted with today when I rolled into Bismarck, N.D. It’s borderline T-shirt weather with enough sun to scald a balding head. READ MORE »
September 23, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. — The day-one weigh-in of the 2011 National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship revealed it: There’s a hot spot on the Missouri about 25 miles downriver from the takeoff site at Hazelton Access Point. At least the top seven pros fished there for all or part of the day Thursday, and early reports indicated that probably half of the 40-boat field was trying to mine the same 30-yard stretch again Friday. READ MORE »
September 22, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. — He may be a first-year FLW Walleye Tour pro, but make no mistake – Keith Kavajecz is far from a rookie. The Freshwater Fishing Hall of Famer from Kaukauna, Wis., took a commanding lead on day one of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Missouri River with five walleyes weighing a staggering 26 pounds, 12 ounces. READ MORE »
September 22, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. – Keith Kavajecz of Kaukauna, Wis. and co-angler John Mickish of White Bear Lake, Minn., brought in five walleyes weighing 26 pounds, 12 ounces Thursday to lead day one of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Missouri River. The pair now holds a solid 5-pound, 6-ounce lead over their closest rivals in an event featuring the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers from the 2011 FLW Walleye Tour season. Pros are fishing for a top award of up to $70,000 and Co-anglers up to $12,000. READ MORE »
September 22, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. — Though the FLW Walleye Tour has visited the Missouri River at Bismarck, N.D., for three championships in the past four seasons, the nation’s best marble-eye anglers will work a distinctly different fishery in 2011. To borrow a phrase, the playing field has been evened. READ MORE »
September 8, 2011
BISMARCK, N.D. — The National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship is headed to the Missouri River in Bismarck, N.D., Sept. 22-25. Hosted by the Bismarck-Mandan Convention & Visitors Bureau, the championship tournament will feature the top 40 walleye anglers in each of the Pro and Co-angler divisions; they will compete for top awards of up to $70,000 in the Pro Division and $12,000 in the Co-angler Division. READ MORE »