Honer, Mans grab slim opening-day lead in Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League Finals

ESCANABA, Mich. – Boater Joe Honer of St. Cloud, Minn., and co-angler John Mans of Menominee, Mich., landed three walleyes weighing 18 pounds, 6 ounces Thursday in scraping together a slim 3-ounce lead on opening day of the $100,000 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League Finals on Bays de Noc. The championship event features the top 25 boaters and co-anglers from four RCL League divisions after a series of three qualifying events in each division.

Honer and Mans caught their walleyes by trolling with in-line spinners and night crawlers. If the pair can maintain their lead through Saturday, Honer will win an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat, complete with trailer and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor, Garmin electronics and EverStart batteries. Mans stands to win a Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat and trailer in the Co-angler Division. Boaters and co-angler are randomly paired, however, so both men will face day-two competition with a new partner.

“It’s always nice to be in the lead, but there are a lot of big fish in this water, so things can change in a hurry,” said Honer, who qualified for the finals by finishing fifth in the Minnesota Division. “I had a great partner who was real comfortable in the boat today, and that made things easier. It was tough going though. The fish are feeling the pressure, so I’ll just have to hold on and see what happens.”

Bays de Noc has been known to produce giant walleyes up to 11 pounds, but a 15- to 23-inch slot limit that restricts teams to two fish over 23 inches per day will likely keep tournament weights in check and tightly packed. Honer and Mans’ catch included a 22-incher, a 23-incher and one walleye estimated to weigh 10 pounds.

“We caught the big fish on our second pass,” said Mans, who fishes Bays de Noc approximately four times per week but qualified for the finals by finishing 15th in the South Dakota Division. “It was our first fish of the day, and it helped put us at ease. It has been tough, so we figured that fish alone would put us in the top 15, then we caught the other two and felt real good about our chances.”

Mans missed qualifying through the Wisconsin Division by one place, finishing the season in 26th.

Trailing Honer and Mans by just 3 ounces are boater James Tiemann of Marinette, Wis., and co-angler Daniel Spielbauer of South Milwaukee, Wis., with three walleyes weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces.

Rounding out the top five teams are Peter Werner of Kimball, Minn., and co-angler Larry Bawdon of Highmore, S.D. (three walleyes, 17 pounds, 5 ounces); Keith Daniels of Fond du Lac, Wis., and co-angler Roger Wright of Prior Lake, Minn. (two walleyes, 16 pounds, 14 ounces); and Dan Woodward of Garden City, Mich., and co-angler Carter Tillage of Rochester Hills, Mich. (five walleyes, 16 pounds, 11 ounces).

Overall, 60 boats caught 124 walleyes Thursday, including six five-walleye limits. The day’s total catch weighed 457 pounds, 1 ounce.

Anglers take off from Escanaba Municipal Marina at 7 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Friday’s weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m., and the final weigh-in Saturday will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 601 N. Lincoln in Escanaba beginning at 4 p.m.

Evinrude and Ranger Boats will also host a Children’s Fishing Clinic Saturday at Escanaba Municipal Marina beginning at 10 a.m. Children will have the opportunity to visit with several Evinrude and Ranger pros, who will demonstrate different fishing techniques and talk about what types of lures and bait they use when fishing the Bays. Parents are invited to bring along a camera to take photos of their children with the professional anglers, who will also be signing autographs. On-the-water demos of Ranger boats powered by Evinrude outboards will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent when test-riding a boat. Ranger and Evinrude representatives will be available to answer questions, and participants may also register for door prizes until 2 p.m. All prizes will be awarded at Saturday’s 4 p.m. weigh-in.

In RCL League competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired and fish for a combined boat weight, with boaters competing against other boaters and co-anglers competing against other co-anglers. The full field will compete Friday then be cut to the top 15 boaters and co-anglers for Saturday’s final round. Winners are determined by the heaviest three-day catch weight.

The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League provides grassroots walleye anglers a chance to compete in professionally administered, close-to-home tournaments with lucrative cash awards. FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League as well as the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, the world’s most lucrative walleye-fishing circuit. FLW Outdoors also administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the EverStart Series, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, the new Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, and the new Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. To enter a tournament, do so online at FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please visit FLWOutdoors.com’s sponsor page.

FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood. The RCL Walleye League is named after boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund.