RED WING, Minn. – Maybe Jason Przekurat’s tiny honeyhole wasn’t dry after all. Today, he returned to form, catching a mind-blowing 30-pound, 1-ounce limit. Not only did he regain his lead, he blew open a tight leaderboard. The 2003 Angler of the Year will start the final day of Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour competition with a 7-pound, 7-ounce lead.
To quote FLW Series/Stren Series Tournament Director Chris Jones, “Don’t count him out, don’t ever count this guy out.”
While that quite possibly might be the most overused phrase in professional fishing, it rang true on day three. When Przekurat managed only three walleyes yesterday, it was assumed his small honeyhole had run dry. Nothing could be further from the truth. The bite was slower yesterday, but the Stevens Point, Wis., angler estimates he would have had 17 or 18 pounds had he landed the fish that bit.
Today, execution was not a problem.
“The potential for 30 pounds a day is in that spot, but you’re obviously going to have to have a little luck,” said Przekurat. “Things turned out just like they did on day one.”
The BP pro put his first fish in the box at 9:30 a.m. Between 11 a.m. and noon, he and his co-angler partner Rob Davis absolutely hammered the fish. The area he’s fishing in Pool 4 is loaded with heavy timber. Przekurat’s primary method is jigging, although he’s doing something else that he won’t discuss at this point.
One specific jig caught the lion’s share of the fish today, so Przekurat’s really optimistic about tomorrow. As it stands right now, he has an opening-round total of 62 pounds, 12 ounces.
“If I get five bites tomorrow and land them I’m going to win. It’s strange; I had a feeling even before the tournament started that this might happen.”
The best part about Przekurat’s pattern is that the wind and rain experienced on day three has no effect on the bite.
“I’m tying up, so it can blow all it wants, it doesn’t bother me one bit.”
Przekurat won the 2000 Master’s Walleye Circuit World Walleye Championship on this very same body of water with Land O’Lakes pro Eric Olson. Although he’s undoubtedly one of the top walleye pros on tour, a win tomorrow would be the first of his Walleye Tour career.
FLW rookie in second
Walleye Tour rookie Larry Snow had yet another successful day and moved from fourth place to second place with a five-walleye limit weighing 19 pounds, 9 ounces. His most recent limit pushed his total weight to 55 pounds, 5 ounces. Anchoring that limit was a 30-inch walleye and a 28-inch walleye.
“You come into these things trying to win,” said the Kenora, Ontario pro. “Now, the opportunity is right in front of me. These rivers just suit me perfectly.”
At this point, Snow’s only regret is keeping a few smaller fish on day one.
“If I don’t win it, it’s because I made the wrong decisions on the first day. The first day was the best bite. I shouldn’t have worried about getting a limit first. I should have just gone for big fish all day.”
Snow is running two distinct patterns. One consists of trolling crankbaits with leadcore line, a common Mississippi River tactic. The other consists of rigging half a night crawler. He splits the crawler in two so it secretes more scent.
“I want to get 25 to 30 pounds tomorrow, which I can do.”
Gilman climbs to third
Chisago City, Minn., pro Chris Gilman once again demonstrated remarkable consistency on a delicate body of water. On day three, Gilman boated five walleyes that weighed 20 pounds, 11 ounces, bringing his three-day total to 55 pounds, 4 ounces.
“Three days in a row in this river is really tricky,” said the Ranger pro. “It’s almost surprising actually.”
This is Gilman’s second consecutive top-10 finish, as he placed fourth on the Detroit River in April.
“I love this place. You’ve got to scramble your butt off though sometimes.”
Gilman’s big fish was over 30 inches long. For some perspective, that fish probably weighed over 12 pounds a month ago when it was full of eggs.
“That 30-incher bit in the first half hour of the day. My strategy was to get five in the box so I could play with the two others spots. At 11 a.m. we had a limit and at 1:30 in the afternoon we had filled out our seven.”
Gilman said he has four locations, only one of which he considers a big-fish area. In his big-fish spot, he’s pulling Northland floaters. In the others, he’s trolling No. 5 Shad Raps.
Johnson falls to fourth
Falling to fourth place was local river rat Nick Johnson of Elmwood, Wis. After bringing in 22 pounds, 15 ounces on day two, Johnson was only able to boat four walleyes that weighed 12 pounds, 2 ounces on day three. His opening-round total was 51-5.
Johnson had a very similar setback on day three of last year’s Red Wing event. That year, he rallied back on day four with a huge limit. It wouldn’t surprise anyone to see him adjust to his home water tomorrow and claim his third Walleye Tour win.
“It was tough for us today,” said the Castrol pro. “We popped that big one right away and thought it was going to be a real good day.”
At 11 a.m. Johnson decided to quit hunting big fish and scramble for a limit. Problem was, the little fish weren’t interested in biting either.
“The strong wind really hurt our spot today. We had 4-foot waves beating on the shoreline.”
The wind really affected casting, and Johnson is trying to sneak either a leech or a willow cat into a small spot.
“The fish are there. You just have to make them bite.”
Provost fifth
In fifth place was Nate Provost of Green Bay, Wis., who caught five walleyes that weighed 12 pounds, 1 ounce. Yesterday, it was Provost who got the big bites. Today, it was Przekurat who had the better of it. The two continue to respectfully share one small area in Pool 4.
Unlike Przekurat who is jigging, Provost is working a variety of live bait in his area. Rather than moving the bait, he’s basically letting it sit on the bottom, waiting for walleyes to filter through.
He dropped two places with his day-three performance and finished the opening round with 49 pounds, 9 ounces.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros who will be fishing on day four on the Mississippi River:
6th: Rock McGillivary of Watertown, S.D., 49-8
7th: Richard Franklin of Bemidji, Minn., 47-14
8th: Scott Fairbairn of Hager City, Wis., 47-10
9th: Jeffrey Seyka of Milford, Mich., 47-7
10th: Don Marx of Rockford, Minn., 45-13
Milliser maintains co-angler lead
Phil Milliser maintained his lead in the Co-angler Division, with a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 60 pounds, 2 ounces. Milliser fished with 13th-place pro Mark Gosse of Wabasha, Minn., on day three, and together they brought in a limit of five walleyes weighing 21 pounds, 6 ounces.
The two caught a pair of hefty walleyes early by dragging willow cats through a small hole. After a lull in the action, the two rounded out their limit with three fish at the end of the day.
“I’ve cashed some better checks than this, but I’m enjoying this one the most,” said Milliser, who finished second on Devils Lake as a pro in 2004.
Each day Milliser has been paired with a local river rat. And each day that local angler has had his best day of the tournament.
“I’m having fun,” added the Plymouth, Ind., native. “There’s a lot of stress being behind the wheel.”
Tomorrow, Milliser, who has nearly a 10-pound lead, will get to fish with Przekurat.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers who will be fishing on day four on the Mississippi River:
2nd: Patrick Bertelsen of Jackson, Minn., S.D., 50-15
3rd: Richard Ness of Ruthton, Minn., 45-10
4th: Justin Steinke of Birnamwood, Wis., 44-8
5th: Kenneth Brenner of Moline, Ill., 44-6
The final day of FLW Walleye Tour competition on the Mississippi River begins as the top-10 pros and top-10 co-anglers take off from Bay Point Marina at 7 a.m. Central time Saturday. The final weigh-in will take place at 4 p.m. Central time from the Wal-Mart store located on Tyler Road in Red Wing.