Day Three of Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Event on
Devils Lake Cancelled

June 09 , 2006

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. – High winds and rough water forced the cancellation of day three of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event on North Dakota's Devils Lake. The top 10 pros and co-anglers following day two will advance to Saturday's final day of competition. The winning pro could earn up to $100,000, and the winning co-angler could win as much as $18,000.

Pro Paul Meleen of Isle, Minn., leads the Pro Division with a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 46 pounds, 8 ounces. Meleen is fishing slip bobbers in dense standing timber in about 8 feet of water .

Pete Harsh, from Sauk Centre, Minn., the leader from day one, is in second place with nine walleyes weighing 45 pounds, 7 ounces.

Pro Scott Larson of West Fargo, N.D., discovered a solid pattern late in the day Wednesday, and he applied that pattern on day two when he weighed an impressive limit weighing 27 pounds, 8 ounces – the heaviest of the day. His two-day total of 10 walleyes weighs 42-12 and puts him in third place.

Pro Tom Keenan of Hatley, Wis., is in fourth place with a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 41 pounds.

Pro Jason Przekurat of Stevens Point, Wis., moved up five places Thursday to finish day two in fifth place with 10 walleyes weighing 40 pounds, 10 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 pros is Dennis Lantzy of Warren, Mich. (40-1); Troy Sand of Portland, N.D. (39-5); John Mathews of Janesville, Wis. (39-5); Rod Putnam of Billings, Mont. (39-3); and Jerry Hein of Stillwater, Minn. (38-3).

Jim Fetzik of Pengilly, Minn., leads the Co-angler Division with 10 walleyes weighing 45 pounds, 8 ounces.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Conrad Johnson of Fargo, N.D. (10 walleyes, 43-7); Dale Todd of Anderson, Ind. (10 walleyes, 41-2); Dewey Watson of Twin Falls, Idaho (10 walleyes, 40-12); and Adam Adler of Oconto Falls, Wis. (10 walleyes, 40-8).

Also making the cut in the Co-angler Division is Larry Oleson of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. (40-6); Kevin Valerius of Crosby, Minn. (38-15); Dave Crawford of Maybee, Mich. (38-3); James Murphy of Fayetteville, Ark. (38-2); and Joshua Northagen of Grand Forks, N.D. (37-13).

Devils Lake State Park on Grahams Island will host takeoff Saturday morning at 7. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located in Devils Lake, beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend the takeoff and weigh-in, which are free and open to the public.

Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight. Pros compete against other pros, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers. The full field competes during the three-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day accumulated weight.

Weights carry over to day four, with the winner determined by the heaviest four-day weight.

Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 150 points awarded to the winner, 149 to second, 148 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings. The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the 2006 FLW Walleye Tour Championship.

The FLW Walleye Tour Championship is the most lucrative event in professional walleye angling, with guaranteed cash awards for the entire field. A guaranteed cash award of $100,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $50,000 will go to the FLW Walleye Tour Championship winner for a total pro award of $150,000. The champion co-angler will win a guaranteed cash award of $11,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $11,000 for a total co-angler award of $22,000.

Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour opener on Devils Lake will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on July 30 as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Following the Devils Lake tournament, the FLW Walleye Tour will visit Green Bay in Green Bay, Wis., July 12-15 for the season's final regular-season event.

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.

Look for other articles in our Article Archives