PWT Championship Lead Goes to Minnesota Pro Angler Perry Good

    Houghton, Michigan..............All contestants in the 2003 Mercury
Championship fished completely new water.  The best-of-the-best In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail (PWT) anglers fished the Keweenaw Waterway in Michigan¹s Upper Peninsula.  After the first day on the water, 4-time PWT winner Perry Good, Brainerd, Minn., captured the lead.

    With a chance to win $108,000, Good scored 19.55 pounds of walleyes.  He is the only pro angler to have qualified for all 14 PWT Championships.   The top five anglers are within three pounds of Good.  Last year¹s Champion
Keith Kavajecz, Kaukauna, Wis. holds second with 17.90 pounds.  Scott
Fairbairn, Hager City, Wis., in third, netted 17.80 pounds.  Rick Olson,
Mina Lake, SD, had 16.89 pounds and Dan Plautz, Muskego, Wis. weighed 16.82 pounds.  They could weigh a maximum of four fish.

    Anglers fished the Keweenaw Waterway, which included Portage and Torch
Lakes and 27 miles of canal stretching through the peninsula with Lake
Superior waters on both ends.  ³The challenge proved to be making the fish
bite,² Good said.  Kavajecz agreed and said, ³The presentation had to be
exact; they didn¹t want to chase far.²

    The largest walleye weighed 7.95 pounds and was caught by Rookie of the
Year, Kevin Schweder, Janesville, Wis.  His exploits were cheered by the
2,000 walleye fans in the Michigan Tech Ice Arena.  ³They really liked it
when we pulled those fish out of the livewells,² Good said.  The Quantum
$1,000,000 bonus prize to the angler breaking the Michigan State Record
walleye could still be won.

    Former Michigan Tech hockey coach Mike Sertich, a life-long angler,
acknowledged the fans.  He said, ³This is a great activity inside the hockey
rink.²   He enjoyed the spectacle as the top 51 qualifiers fished
head-to-head.  Following the weigh-in, 250 youngsters received Plano tackle
boxes.  Another 250 tackle boxes will be distributed to kids Saturday, with
1,000 Shakespeare rods and reels to the young walleye fans Sunday.

    Weigh-in activities continue at 4 p.m.,  Saturday & Sunday with the
first boat into the Arena at 4:30 p.m. A boat and sport show will take place
in the adjacent Gates Tennis Center from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday and
Sunday, Sept. 13 & 14.

    The PWT is an integral element of the In-Fisherman Communications
Network headquartered in Brainerd, Minnesota, and PRIMEDIA, America's
leading producer of targeted media. PWT sponsors include: Mercury Marine,
Lund, Berkley Gulp!, Trilene, PowerBait, Realtree, Frenzy, Lowrance,
MinnKota, Optima Batteries, Gander Mountain, Blue Fox, Northland Fishing
Tackle, Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle, Coleman, Storm, Eagle Trailers,
Raymarine, Rapala, Matzuo, Pflueger, Ram rod holders, Drift Control, DeeZee, Cotton Cordell, Seal Skinz, Aqua-Vu, IMCO, Plano, KeepAlive, Stowmaster.net, Quantum Performance Tuned rods & reels

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