SPIRIT LAKE, N.D. – Pro Kevin Goligowski of Maplewood, Minn., caught five walleyes weighing 22 pounds, 1 ounce Friday, giving him a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 67 pounds, 12 ounces to lead the inaugural Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Open on Devils Lake. Pros are competing for a potential top award of $100,000, while co-anglers are competing for a potential top award of $20,000. Only the top 10 anglers in each division advanced to fish Saturday.
“With the wind and sun today, some guys fished deeper, but my fish actually went shallower,” Goligowski said. “I’m fishing some new weed growth on one large shelf. The fishing has been really weird. On day one, I had all cookie-cutter fish that were about 4 pounds. On day two, I consistently caught fish around 5 pounds. Today, I caught about 15 keepers around 3 pounds with a couple bigger fish, but I also caught a lot of short fish. It was slower today. But new waves are coming through every day, and I need the replacement troops to come in tomorrow if I’m going to win.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Mark Courts of Harris, Minn. (15 walleyes, 67 pounds, 9 ounces); Tim Flynn of Tea, S.D. (14 walleyes, 65 pounds, 10 ounces); Rick Olsen of Mina, S.D. (15 walleyes, 64 pounds, 4 ounces); and John Kolinski of Greenville, Wis. (15 walleyes, 64 pounds, 3 ounces).
Fred Gordon of Willmar, Minn., leads the Co-angler Division with a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 65 pounds, 13 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Mark Magness of Fargo (15 walleyes, 62 pounds, 14 ounces); Brian Drake of Merrimac, Wis., (15 walleyes, 62 pounds, 4 ounces); Daryl Zimney of Jamestown (15 walleyes, 60 pounds, 1 ounce); and David Tufte of Audubon, Minn. (15 walleyes, 54 pounds, 5 ounces).
Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight and are randomly paired each day. The full field competes during the three-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day accumulated weight. Weights carry over to day four, with the winner determined by the heaviest four-day weight.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.