Devils Lake, N.D. – Pro Mark Leadens of Elk River, Minn., and his opening day partner Mark Fling of Hudson, Colo., landed a five-walleye limit weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce Wednesday on Devils Lake to grab the overall lead in the third and final qualifying tournament of the 2001 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit – the world’s most lucrative walleye fishing series.
If Leadens can maintain his lead throughout the four-day tournament, featuring a total purse of $390,750, he will collect $50,000 cash plus a Mercury-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN electronics. Fling is fishing for a top co-angler award of $15,000 cash. However, both men will face a stiff challenge from the other 124 competitors in their respective divisions.
“I feel great right now, but I still have to make that cut and there are a lot of good fishermen here,” said Leadens, whose biggest tournament payday to date is $30,000. “There are four places where I caught fish in practice, so I played the percentages and went to my best spot first.”
That spot, which Leadens prefers to keep to himself for the time being, produced the five walleyes needed for the opening day lead in this no-cull event. Leadens and Fling caught six walleyes ranging from 15- to 25-inches. Only the 15-inch fish was not kept for weigh-in.
Pro Scott Hauge of Mahtomedi, Minn., and co-angler Greg Abbott of Canton, S.D., finished opening day in second place with five walleyes weighing 19 pounds, 7 ounces. Rounding out the top five were pro Jeff Taege of Rhinelander, Wis., and co-angler Chad Kunz of Bismark, N.D., with four walleyes weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces; pro Duane Ten Cate of Sioux Falls, S.D., and co-angler Mike Boppre of Roseau, Minn., with five walleyes weighing 17 pounds, 14 ounces; and pro Tim Minnema of Markesan, Wis., and co-angler Greg Darsow of Billings, Mont., with four walleyes weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces.
Weather conditions for opening day included 90-degree air temperatures, a stiff wind gusting to 15 mph and water temperatures near 70 degrees. A total of 449 walleyes were weighed and released. The catch included 52 five-walleye limits.
Competition resumes at 7 a.m. Thursday at Spirit Lake Marina located at 7889 Highway 20/57 in Spirit Lake, N.D., when competitors from 17 states and Canada takeoff for the final day of the opening round. Following Thursday’s 3 p.m. weigh-in at the marina, the field will be cut to the top 60 pros and top 60 co-anglers. These anglers will advance to the one-day semifinal round Friday where they will compete for a spot in the final round. Only the top 12 pros and top 12 co-anglers will advance to Saturday’s final round. Catch weights are carried over during the opening round, but anglers will start the semifinal and final rounds from zero. The final weigh-in will start at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 210 Highway 2 West in Devils Lake.
Run by Operation Walleye and named after Wal-Mart and boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund, the 2001 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit features three regular season tournaments each with a $390,750 purse and a championship with a $1.4 million purse.
Following the Devils Lake tournament, 200 pros and 200 co-anglers will qualify for the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship for top awards of up to $400,000 in the Pro Division and $150,000 in the Co-Angler Division. The championship will be held on the Fox River and Green Bay in Green Bay, Wis., Oct. 2-6. Green Bay hosted the inaugural Wal-Mart RCL Championship last year when Scott Glorvigen of Grand Rapids, Minn., won $300,000 and instantly joined the sport’s top all-time money winners.
Entry fees for each regular season tournament are $1,250 for pros and $500 for co-anglers.
Sponsors of the 2001 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit are Coleman, Conseco, Crestliner, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, GARMIN, Kellogg’s, Lund, Mercury Marine, Minn Kota, Poulan, Ranger Boats, Wal-Mart, Weed Eater and Yamaha Outboards.
For more information, visit www.operationwalleye.com or call 270-362-5259.