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ARNOLDUSSEN WINS WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR EVENT ON LAKE ERIE
PORT CLINTON, Ohio (April 30, 2005)
Former Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour champion Dean Arnoldussen
of Appleton, Wis., held on to his lead at the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye
Tour stop presented by Yamaha on Lake Erie Saturday to win $88,000
cash. Arnoldussen and anglers from 21 states endured hail, sleet
and 20 mph winds on opening day and the cancellation of day
two before conditions improved Friday and Saturday, allowing
Arnoldussen to amass a winning catch of 15 walleyes weighing
85 pounds, 9 ounces. “This is awesome,” said Arnoldussen, who
won the 2001 FLW Walleye Tour Championship in Green Bay, Wis.,
and pocketed a record $400,000. “We got on a couple of good
runs then it slowed down awhile before picking up again in the
afternoon. The top three finishers were all fishing within 200
yards of each other, and we watched the other guys catch some
nice fish, so we knew it was going to come down to the very
end.” Arnoldussen finished opening day in sixth place with five
walleyes weighing 25 pounds, 15 ounces that he caught with co-angler
Charles Dahl of Burlington, Wis., while fishing the north side
of Bass Island. He fished about a mile northwest of his opening
day location on day three with co-angler Jackie Perry of Milaca,
Minn., and landed five more walleyes weighing 30 pounds to take
the lead. On day four he returned the productive area north
of Bass Island with Joseph Fallaw of McHenry, Ill., and caught
five walleyes weighing 29 pounds, 10 ounces for the win. “Trolling
speed was a key factor for us,” Arnoldussen said. “Minn Kota
sent me a prototype electric motor to use in this event, and
it worked perfectly. The motor mounts directly to the main outboard,
and it allowed us to control our speed very precisely.” Arnoldussen
and his partners pulled crawler harnesses with holographic Northland
blades. Rounding out the top five pros are Russell McDonald
of Dryden, Ontario (14 walleyes, 81 pounds, 4 ounces, $41,000);
Patrick Neu of Forestville, Wis. (15 walleyes, 70 pounds, 9
ounces, $22,500); Richard LaCourse of Port Clinton (15 walleyes,
70 pounds, $17,700); and Mark Schuitema of Jenison, Mich. (11
walleyes, 67 pounds, 7 ounces, $10,800). Fallaw won the Co-angler
Division and $13,800 with 15 walleyes weighing 92 pounds, 15
ounces. Fallaw fished with LaCourse, on opening day, Steve Carlson
of Clinton on day three and Arnoldussen on day four. “I’m no
longer a one-day wonder on Erie,” said Fallaw, who was making
his first top 10 appearance in three FLW Walleye Tour events
on the lake. “This feels absolutely great. I never thought I
would be here on this stage.” Fallaw landed a key 9 1/2-pounder
Saturday, which helped seal the win for himself and Arnoldussen.
“The fish hit once, and I set the hook and missed,” Fallaw said.
“I dropped the board back, and it hit again. It made several
runs, and when I final got it to the boat, it was barely hooked.”
Arnoldussen and Fallaw caught 16 walleyes and lost at least
five fish Saturday en route to their winning limit. Rounding
out the top five co-anglers are Dale Todd of Janesville, Wis.
(15 walleyes, 81 pounds, 5 ounces, $4,850); Daniel Maix of Oregon
(15 walleyes, 70 pounds, 15 ounces, $3,350); Dan Coyer of Plymouth,
Ind. (15 walleyes, 67 pounds, 10 ounces, $2,400); and Corey
Rost of Madison, S.D. (15 walleyes, 66 pounds, 11 ounces, $2,100).
The full field fished the shortened opening round on Lake Erie
for one of 10 final-round slots awarded based on the heaviest
accumulated weights. Weights carried over to day four, with
the winner determined by the heaviest cumulative weight for
the tournament. The next FLW Walleye Tour stop will be the May
18-21 tournament on Green Bay in Green Bay, Wis., followed by
the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Open on Devils Lake in Spirit
Lake, N.D., June 15-18
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