Image for Day two dawns on Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship
A pair of RCL championship competitors get right to work on the Fox River near downtown Green Bay. Photo by Jeff Schroeder.
October 4, 2001 • Jeff Schroeder • Archives

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It’s Thursday, the second day of the world’s richest walleye tournament. The sun is shining. The fish are biting. And each cast is bringing one lucky angler ever closer to a possible $400,000 in cash.

Wish you were here, right?

While yesterday afternoon brought discouraging wind and rain to Green Bay, the 400 pros and co-anglers fishing in the second half of the RCL championship opening round were welcomed by a cool, calm and sunny morning as they took off from the Fox River at 7 a.m. today. That left many anglers hoping to make the top-12 cut after today’s competition the option of making the long run north onto the expanse of Green Bay to seek out the big walleyes. Most, if not all, of yesterday’s top five catch weights were gleaned from the big bay’s waters.

Still, others chose to head south up the Fox River to troll along its sheltered banks.

Because yesterday’s top 12 catch weights ranged widely, from over 30 pounds at the top to 15 pounds near the cutoff line, today’s cut weight is tough to call. The forecast says the temperate weather should hold at least until evening, and the dock talk among competitors this morning said the fishing should be “pretty good.”

Two things to remember about these vague projections: the weather is never predictable in Green Bay and neither are the anglers, especially in the heat of a $1.4 million championship tournament.

Weigh-in begins today at 3 p.m. at Metro Park Boat Launch on Bay Beach Road at the mouth of the Fox River.

Vital statistics

Sunrise: 6:54 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 48 degrees
Expected high temperature: 63 degrees
Wind: From the southwest at 5 mph
Relative humidity: 96 percent
Day’s outlook: A mix of sun and clouds

Day-two related links:

Photos
Pairings