PIERRE, S.D. – Frank Christianson of Blomkest, Minn., and co-angler Peggy Severson of Fort Pierre, S.D., landed a five-walleye limit weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces Wednesday to lead the four-day, $401,750 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour stop on Lake Oahe. The event is the fourth and final regular-season tournament on the $3.19 million tour and features 145 pros chasing a top award of $90,000 and 145 co-anglers fishing for a top award of $15,000.
Christianson and Severson caught their walleye using minnows and night crawlers while fishing the edges of large schools of smelt to open a 7-ounce lead over their closest competitors, pro Bill Leonard of Estherville, Iowa, and co-angler Reid Hanzalik of Crestwood, Ky., who caught a limit weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces.
“I’m very happy to be on top of the leader board,” said Christianson, who fished as a co-angler last year and finished ninth at the 2003 RCL Tour stop on Lake Erie. “We had our limit by 8:30 this morning, and we caught at least 10 walleyes over the 20-inch slot.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Bill Hall of Algonia, Iowa, and co-angler Jim Danbury of Grand Junction, Colo. (five walleyes, 16 pounds, 8 ounces); Greg Schenecker of Watertown, S.D., and co-angler Dale Hein of Spring Lake Park, Minn. (five walleyes, 16 pounds, 4 ounce); and Robert Crow of Paterson, Wash., and co-angler Gregory Karch of Oshkosh, Wis. (five walleyes, 15 pounds, 14 ounces).
Overall, 140 boats caught 627 walleyes Wednesday, including 110 five-walleye limits. The day’s catch on the massive, 231-mile long reservoir totaled 1,461 pounds, 10 ounces.
Anglers take off each morning at 7 from Spring Creek Resort, which is located 10 miles north of Oahe Dam on Highway 1840. Thursday’s weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at the resort. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins start at 3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 1600 N. Harrison Ave. in Pierre. The community is invited 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 final regular-season stop 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.