Mercury Championship Day Three
Tom Kemos Claims Mercury Championship $115,500 Victory on the
Missouri River
Wisconsin pro angler Tom Kemos claimed the $115,500 Mercury
Championship
victory. The Chevy Top 25 pros hit the water at 8 a.m. and returned
to the
cheers of nearly 4,000 walleye fans in the Bismarck, ND Civic
Center.
Kemos motored his Optima Batteries boat about 70 miles down
the Missouri
River to the Fort Rice area each competition day, Oct. 13-15.
Most of the
top In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail pros fished from
about 12 miles
south of Bismarck to the state line.
Kemos vertical jigged, as did second-place pro Scott Fairbairn,
Hager City,
Wis., and third-place pro Keith Kavajecz, Kaukauna, Wis. They
preferred
back channels or eddies below or alongside sandbars. "Getting
there was
half the fun," Kemos said.
Only four pounds separated the top five pros. Kemos had 36.90
pounds;
Fairbairn had 35.09 pounds; Kavajecz weighed 34.66 pounds for
$115,500,
$45,000 and $18,000 respectively. Kemos won $75,000 including
a $10,000
Mercury bonus, a Lund/Mercury boat valued at $35,000, a KwikPfyt
mud flap
and a diamond ring from Richardson Jewelers in Escanaba, Mich.
2006 was
Kemos' best year with a first, a third, a fifth and seven-money
finishes in
eight events.
Special Championship awards went to Troy Walwood, Grand Haven,
Mich., with a
6.64-pounder for the $2,000 Coleman Big Fish award. Ron Gazvoda,
Lakewood,
CO won the $1,000 E-Cell Heavyweight award for a third-day catch
of 15.69
pounds. PWT pros could weigh four fish per day. The average
throughout the
event was 2.56 pounds. Jeff Taege, Rhinelander, Wis., won the
Coleman Cool
Under Pressure award. The Optima Top Gun award went to Kemos.
Based on the comments and testimonials of the amateurs and
co-anglers he
fished with all season, Bob Propst, Jr., was selected the Norb
Wallock
Memorial Teaching Award winner. The $500 award honors PWT winner
and
top-ranked pro Wallock's many accomplishments; he died in 2001.
The Budweiser Conservation award of $5,000 went to the North
Dakota Game &
Fish Department. Budweiser and McQuade Distributing were PWT
conservation
partners. The pros donated $500 to Boy Scout Troop 73 for washing
boats
before they were brought through the Civic Center behind new
Chevy trucks.
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 promotional partners include:
Mercury
Marine, Lund, The Outdoor Channel, Berkley, Optima Batteries,
Realtree,
MotorGuide, Lowrance, MinnKota, Trilene, Frenzy, Blue Fox, Powerbait,
Johnsonville Brats, Northland Fishing Tackle, Lindy Legendary
Fishing
Tackle, GULP!, Coleman, Storm, Tommy Docks, Smooth Moves Seat
Mounts,
E-Village, Kwik Pfyt, Raymarine, Mack's Lures, Rapala, Pflueger,
Ram rod
holders, Gerbing's Heated Clothing, Aqua-Vu, Plano, Stowmaster.net,
Navionics, Yellow Bird, Beckman, Drift Control, Gemini Sport
Marketing,
Yo-Zuri , Reef Runner, Bismarck/Mandan CVB, 701.222.4308 and
North Dakota
Tourism, 701435.5663 |