Cozzie claims co-angler title, wins $10,000
Orland Park, Ill., native wins Detroit River qualifying event
TRENTON, Mich. – Co-angler Don Cozzie had a good feeling about day four of the season-opening Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event. He was partnered with pro leader Mark Meravy, but little did he know, he and Meravy were practically neighbors.
The two now live 8 miles apart, Cozzie in Orland Park, Ill., and Meravy in Shorewood, Ill. Even stranger is that the two grew up less than a mile apart on the south side of Chicago.
When Cozzie and Meravy got to their primary spot this morning, their good fortune only continued. Together, the two caught a limit of five walleyes that weighed 24 pounds, 8 ounces. For the tournament, Cozzie caught a total of 20 walleyes weighing 69 pounds, 2 ounces.
“Mark was tough,” said his day-four partner. “He was on the ball. I’ve fished a long time and I thought I knew a lot. I’ve got a lot to learn to compete with these guys.”
Cozzie went on to thank all his pros. He also wanted to thank pro Wayne Butz, who he never drew in the tournament, but spent considerable practice time with.
“All of my pros were phenomenal. They taught me a lot – and I’ve been fishing for 40 years. All I can say to anyone who thinks they might want to try fishing one of these events is you have got to fish with these guys. They are absolutely phenomenal.”
Cozzie was originally planning on heading to Dubuque, Iowa, after the day-three weigh-in to see his daughter play softball for the University of Dubuque. But those plans changed once he made the top-10 cutoff. After winning the tournament, he was busy checking his voicemail for an update on the game.
In only the second event of his career, Cozzie earned $10,000. With that paycheck, he plans to look into a buying a boat of his own. In the future, he’d like to test his mettle against the best walleye pros in the business.
“I have premonitions about fishing on the pro side. I’m definitely going to do it; I’ve just got a lot to learn.”
Michigan claims second through fourth
Coming in second for the co-anglers was Paul Doute Jr. of Southgate, Mich. Doute started the day in second place and retained that spot via a 23-pound, 13-ounce catch. He finished the tournament with 67 pounds, 12 ounces earning a purse of $7,000.
“Thanks for coming out,” said Doute. “FLW Outdoors has been great to me.”
Partnering with Scott Fairbairn on day four, local co-angler Michael Eichbrecht of Washington, Mich., caught five walleyes that weighed 25 pounds, 14 ounces. His tournament limit of fish moved him up two places to the third spot in his division. In total, the day-one and day-two leader caught 14 walleyes that weighed 66 pounds, 8 ounces good for $3,500.
Twenty-year-old Brent Brophy of Milford Township, Mich., was able to catch five walleyes on Saturday and rose to the fourth spot among the co-anglers with a total weight of 57 pounds, 15 ounces. Brophy earned $2,500 in his first FLW Outdoors event.
Larson fifth
Fifth place went to Shannon Larson of Rice Lake, Wis., who boated five walleyes that weighed 17 pounds, 9 ounces. His four-day total weight was 57 pounds, 6 ounces, which earned him a check for $2,200.
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists at the FLW Walleye Tour event on the Detroit River:
6th: Mike Zawistowski of Wonder Lake, Ill., 54-12, $2,000
7th: Heath Fremstad of Mondovi, Wis., 54-8, $1,700
8th: Keith Strauss of Syracuse, Ind., 54-4, $2,100
9th: Chris Kinzler of Trenton, Mich., 53-9, $1,900
10th: Keith Hahn of Johnsburg, Ill., 52-3, $1,000
FLW Walleye Tour competition resumes May 2-5 on the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn.