PORT CLINTON, Ohio – Pro Mark Christianson of Walker, Minn., and co-angler Kurt Turner of Kasson, Minn., caught five walleyes weighing 36 pounds, 1 ounce Wednesday to start the four-day Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour event on Lake Erie in Port Clinton. The $401,750 tournament presented by Yamaha features 174 pros casting for a top award of $90,000, including a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha, and 174 co-anglers fishing for a top award of $15,000.
“We only caught five fish and lost one that would have probably gone 10 pounds,” said Christianson, who has fished 13 RCL events since 2000 and earned two top-10 finishes. “It was really slow, but we were lucky enough to get the right bites.”
Christianson and Turner caught their fish trolling in 40 feet of water amidst a pack of approximately 100 tournament boats working a 2-to 3-square-mile area off Kelleys Island. The pair holds a slim 13-ounce advantage over Dan Lindner of Jenison, Mich., and co-angler Mike Zawistowski of Wonder Lake, Ill., who caught five walleyes weighing 35 pounds, 4 ounces.
Looking further down the list, less than 9 pounds separate the top 20 boats, which is not much considering Lake Erie’s penchant for producing 10-pound walleye.
“There are a lot of anglers within 10 pounds of us, and out here anything can happen,” Christianson said. “It’s possible for a guy to go out and catch five fish weighing 50 pounds. Someone can really make a giant move up the leaderboard if they get on the right fish at the right time.”
Despite winds gusting to 25 mph Wednesday afternoon, 160 boats weighed in fish, including 61 five-walleye limits. Overall, 562 walleyes weighing 2,903 pounds, 9 ounces where caught by anglers representing 22 states and Canada.
“The bite has been tough and the fish seem a little lethargic, but the wind didn’t affect us too much,” said Turner, who finished 11th in the 2003 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League finals.
Rounding out the top five teams are Thomas Nordyke of Newport, Mich., and co-angler Charles Dahl of Burlington, Wis. (five walleyes, 34 pounds, 8 ounces); Mark Meravy of Shorewood, Ill., and co-angler Terry Fowler of Minot, N.D. (five walleyes, 34 pounds, 3 ounces); and Bill Leonard of Estherville, Iowa, and co-angler Will Taege of Rhinelander, Wis. (five walleyes, 32 pounds).
Anglers take off each morning at 7 a.m. Eastern time from Catawba Island State Park in Port Clinton. Thursday’s weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at the park. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins start at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 4070 E. Harbor Road in Port Clinton. The community is encouraged to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.
Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight and are randomly paired each day. The top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers advance to the one-day semifinal round Friday based on their two-day opening-round catch. Weights are cleared Friday, and only the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers advance to Saturday’s final round where the winners are determined by the heaviest two-day weight. Cash awards are presented to the top 60 anglers in each division.
Named after boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund, the RCL Tour is the world’s most lucrative professional walleye-fishing series. This is the second of four regular-season stops en route to the $1.4 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship on the Mississippi River in Moline, Ill., Sept. 29 – Oct. 2 where pros will fish for as much as $400,000 cash and co-anglers will chase as much as $150,000.
The RCL Tour is administered by FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails include the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League for weekend anglers; the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the world’s most lucrative bass-tournament series; the EverStart Series, designed as a pathway to the FLW Tour; the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League for weekend anglers; and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail. FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997.
For more information about the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, browse this Web site or call (270) 252-1000.