SPIRIT LAKE, N.D. – Crestliner pro Rick Walter of Casper, Wyo., and co-angler Joseph Conley of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., held onto their leads Friday in the $3.07 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour regular season finale on Devils Lake after landing five walleyes weighing 23 pounds, 3 ounces in the semifinal round.
Throughout the tournament Walter has landed solid limits casting a No. 5 Shad Rap crankbait along a well defined weed bed stretching a quarter mile atop a ridge that drops from approximately 4 feet where the weeds are growing down to 8 feet at the base. A southeast wind gusting to 45 mph Friday doubled the usual 30-minute run time to the productive area, but it did not hinder the fishing. “We had all of our fish in the boat by 20 after 9 a.m.,” Walter said.
Weights are cleared for the one-day final round, however, so Walter will have to duplicate his performance Saturday to win $90,000 in cash and prizes, including a Crestliner boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha.
“We’ve pulled over 23 pounds of fish per day out of there, and it hasn’t let up,” said Walter, who entered the semifinal round as the No. 1 seed after landing five walleyes weighing 24 pounds, 13 ounces Wednesday with his opening-day teammate, Pat Kordus of Lake Mills, Wis., and five walleyes weighing 26 pounds, 12 ounces Thursday with his day-two teammate, Dave Dugall of Highland, Mich. “I’m confident that there are enough fish there for one more day. Hopefully it’s a $90,000 spot.”
Conley, who is fishing his first RCL Tour event, is fishing for a top co-angler award of $15,000 cash.
“We fished a technique (Friday) that I use quite a bit back home,” said Conley, who entered the semifinal round as the No. 1 seed after landing five walleyes weighing 26 pounds, 4 ounces Wednesday with his opening-day teammate, Joe Whitten of Toledo, Ohio, and five walleyes weighing 21 pounds Thursday with his day-two teammate Don Wood of Brooklyn Park, Minn. “The retrieve was key to getting bites. You had to keep the bait in the 7-foot range right along the weed edge. You also had to pause and twitch the bait every once in a while to entice a strike.”
Pro Mark Courts of Harris, Minn., and co-angler Tim Date of Burnsville, Minn., advanced to the final round as the No. 2 seeds with five walleyes weighing 21 pounds, 12 ounces.
Rounding out the top five qualifiers are pro Eric Olson of Red Wing, Minn., and co-angler Keith Strauss of Syracuse, Ind. (five walleyes, 21 pounds, 5 ounces); pro Jerry Hein of Stillwater, Minn., and co-angler Kurt Turner of Kasson, Minn. (five walleyes, 20 pounds, 5 ounces); and pro Mark Christianson of Walker, Minn., and co-angler Ed Krawiecki of Red Wing, Minn. (five walleyes, 19 pounds, 13 ounces).
Takeoff starts at 7 a.m. Saturday at Spirit Lake Casino and Resort, and the final weigh-in starts at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 21 Highway No. 2 W. in Devils Lake. Three hundred and ninety-two anglers representing 19 states and Canada are participating in the tournament, which will award $432,085 in cash and prizes to the top 68 anglers in each division. Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day.
Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour anglers compete in four regular-season tournaments in their quest to qualify for the $1.4 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship Oct. 1-4 at Treasure Island Casino and Resort on the Mississippi River in Red Wing. With a total purse of $3.07 million for the season, the RCL Tour is the world’s most lucrative walleye-tournament series.
The tour is administered by FLW Outdoors and named after boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund. FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing, is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.