RED WING, Minn. (July 24, 2006) - Boater Terry Green of Mason City, Iowa, earned $3,375 as winner of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Minnesota Division's two-day Super Tournament on the Mississippi River. Green caught eight walleyes weighing 26 pounds, 2 ounces which was two fish less than the second place finisher with a 10 walleye limit.
"It was a tournament fisherman's dream," said Green. He was able to land several trophy-sized fish to fill his nearly 30-pound two-day weight which was comprised of seven saugers and only one walleye. He was trolling with leadcore tipped with an array of No. 7 Rapalas in 18 to 21 feet of water. The fish were sitting over a hard sandy bottom close to the breakline.
"I went with the intention of catching only five saugers and help my co-angler get a decent stringer; I had no intentions of winning. The weather was great with hardly any wind, so it made for easier boat control; but with a recent mayfly hatch, the bite was tough," said Green.
"FLW has blown me away; if I get this excited again, I hope they have EMT's on site."
Rounding out the top five boaters are Richard Young of Dover, Minn. (10 walleyes, 25 pounds, 15 ounces, $1,875); Dan Krukow of Rochester, Minn. (nine walleyes, 25 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,687 plus a $400 contingency bonus); Doug Gardner of Eagle Lake, Minn. (nine walleyes, 22 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,500 plus $300 contingency bonus) and Joseph Schuur of Plymouth, Minn. (seven walleyes, 21 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,200 plus a $250 contingency bonus).
Jonathan Jundt of Sioux Falls, S.D., earned $1,688 as winner of the Co-angler Division. Co-angler competitors share weight with their boater partner. On day one Jundt was paired with the third place finisher Dan Krukow catching a five walleye limit weighing 18 pounds 13 ounces. On day two he was fishing along side the fourth place finisher Doug Gardner where the team reeled in a bag of four walleyes weighing 12 pounds and 6 ounces brining his two-day total weight to nine walleyes weighing 31 pounds and 3 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Craig Saeger of Lake Elmo, Minn., (seven walleyes, 26 pounds, 3 ounces $938); Bryan Bayerkohler of Eagan, Minn., (six walleyes, 22 pounds, 6 ounces $844); Jamie Ritter of Hastings, Minn. (six walleyes, 21 pounds, 14 ounces $750) and Erick Anderson of Ostrander, Minn. (eight walleyes, 21 pounds, 11 ounces $600).
Three FLW Walleye League divisions - Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin - each feature three one-day events and one two-day Super Tournament during the regular season. Every angler who receives weight credit earns points, with 100 points awarded to the winner, 99 for second, 98 for third, and so on, except for Super Tournaments, which award 150 points to the winner, 149 for second, 148 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings.
The top 35 boaters and 35 co-anglers from each FLW Walleye League division advance to the $141,950 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Finals, set for Sept. 7-9 on Lake Michigan in Escanaba, Mich. Anglers finishing in the top 10 in each division also receive priority entry into the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour for 2007.
The Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League was created to provide the grassroots walleye angler a chance to compete in professionally administered, close-to-home tournaments with lucrative cash awards.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about 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 an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.