Oshkosh, Wis. – Pro Brett Wilkens of Kiel, Wis., and co-angler Bob Miller of Oshkosh, Wis., brought in the only five-walleye limit of the day in a tournament that suffered from a poor bite after a storm system passed through the area Wednesday evening. Their limit weighed 11 pounds, 11 ounces Thursday and they lead day one of the FLW Walleye Tour Eastern Division tournament on Lake Winnebago. The pair now holds a 3-pound, 3-ounce lead over their closest rivals in the event featuring pros and co-anglers fishing for top awards of $35,000 in the Pro Division and $7,500 in the Co-angler Division.
“I think it’s going to be tough,” said Wilkens, who is fishing his first FLW Walleye Tour event of the season. “If the wind settles down, I think it will help. But we’re dealing with pretty dirty water, so it makes it pretty tough. I told my partner it was going to be a tough bite and to be very cautious with every bite we get.
“We hit probably 30 spots with jigs and slip-bobbering and caught fish on two of the spots,” Wilkens added.
Wilkens said he doesn’t think the bite will improve dramatically during the tournament, but he remains optimistic about his chances.
“A lot of spots I didn’t get to fish today,” Wilkens added. “With some of my better spots it was just too rough to fish those spots. We’ll be trying tomorrow to fish some of those little spots.”
Rounding out the remainder of the top-10 pros and co-anglers after day one at Lake Winnebago are:
2nd: Paul Meleen, Isle, Minn., Steve Beasley, Macomb, Mich., four walleyes, 8-8
3rd: Jason Przekurat, Stevens Point, Wis., Bob Allen, Brookfield, Wis., two walleyes, 6-4
4th: Dave Schutt, Fond Du Lac, Wis., Wallace Carter Jr., Lawrenceburg, Ky., one walleye, 3-12
5th: National Guard pro Mark Courts, Harris, Minn., Brian Boelter, Colgate, Wis., two walleyes, 3-10
5th: Steve Lotz, Lena, Ill., Jeff Sass, Waupun, Wis., one walleye, 3-10
7th: John Gillman, Freeland, Mich., John Spiegel, Appleton, Wis., one walleye, 3-0
8th: Dean Arnoldussen, Appleton, Wis., Justin Steinke, Birnamwood, Wis., two walleyes, 2-12
8th: Mark Michael, Princeton, Ill., Mike Taylor, Midland, Mich., one walleyes, 2-12
8th: Justin Schneider, Chilton, Wis., Darren Wiese, Green Lake, Wis., one walleye, 2-12
Overall there were 36 walleyes weighing 70 pounds, 9 ounces caught Thursday.
In FLW Walleye Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are also competing for valuable points in the hope of qualifying for a shot at the 2010 FLW Walleye Tour Championship held on Leech Lake in Walker, Minn., Sept. 23-25.
Anglers will take off from Pioneer Resort Marina located at 1000 Pioneer Drive in Oshkosh at 7 each morning. Daily weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 189 tournaments in 2010. FLW Outdoors has also taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing awarding the largest prizes in the history of fantasy sports. FLW Outdoors memberships are available featuring numerous benefits including Player’s Advantage. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FantasyFishing.com.