MOLINE, Ill. – Boater Bill Shimota of Lonsdale, Minn., caught seven saugers and one walleye weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces during the first two days of competition in the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Finals on the Mississippi River in Moline to secure a 1-pound, 7-ounce lead heading into the tournament’s final day of competition. If he holds on for the win, Shimota will receive a $47,500 Ranger 621 powered by either an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard.
Shimota caught three saugers weighing 5 pounds, 4 ounces Friday by hand-lining minnow lures over sandy humps in an outside river bend near a side channel. With the Mississippi River still unsettled from recent heavy rains, and with abundant natural forage keeping local fish well fed, Shimota said he struggled with the same slow bite that plagued most of the field.
“I wish I could tell you a color pattern, but there isn’t one,” he chuckled. “I’ve been switching baits all day long (both days) and I can’t nail it down. Maybe that’s one of the things that’s helping me – changing so often and keeping different baits in front of those fish when they’re used to seeing everyone else with the same ones coming by every day.”
Saturday’s forecast calls for near freezing temperatures in the early morning, with only moderate warming throughout the day. Shimota said he’s more concerned with personal warmth than any significant impact on his fish. “Typically, in a river system, cold fronts don’t have much effect on the fish. If my bite slows down, everyone else’s will too. Hopefully, I can get three or four bites and I’ll have a chance.”
On Thursday, Shimota caught four saugers and one walleye weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces using the same technique he employed on day two. Saugers have only a 15-inch minimum, whereas as walleye have a 15-20 inch slot limit, so Shimota welcomed the sauger action. (Tournament format allows any combination of the sauger and walleye, up to five fish.)
Rounding out the top five boaters are Dan Krukow of Rochester, Minn. (8 walleyes, 13 pounds, 1 ounce); Don Marx of Rockford, Minn. (7 walleyes, 11 pounds, 11 ounces); Jonathan Shoemaker of Elyria, Ohio (6 walleyes, 11 pounds, 7 ounces); and Eric Olson of Red Wing, Minn. (5 walleyes, 9 pounds, 13 ounces).
In the Co-angler Division, Mike Eiden of New Haven, Ind., sits atop the leaderboard with a two-day total of four saugers and four walleyes weighing 14 pounds, 5 ounces. Shimota’s first-place co-angler on day one, Eiden now holds a 2-pound, 7-ounce lead with one day to go. If he wins, he will receive a $27,000 G3 V185F powered by Yamaha.
Eiden fished with Marx Friday. They trolled crank baits through a backwater slough in 14 feet of water. Despite his day-one lead, Eiden said he was unsure of how he’d finish on day two.
“I was really worried because the fish were biting a lot slower than they were on day one,” Eiden said. “We weren’t bringing a lot of fish to the boat and the ones we were bringing in were (shorter than the 15-inch minimum). To get three (keepers) we were really happy.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Steve Keller of Beloit, Wis. (7 walleyes, 11 pounds, 14 ounces); Eldon Olson of Mason City, Iowa (5 walleyes, 9 pounds, 6 ounces); Aaron Mestad of Deerwood, Minn. (6 walleyes, 8 pounds, 15 ounces); Todd Wiedmann of Audubon, Minn. (5 walleyes, 8 pounds, 11 ounces).
A total of 79 walleyes weighing 134 pounds, 15 ounces were caught Friday.
Boaters and co-anglers who finished in the top 35 in final points standings after three qualifying events in each FLW Walleye League division advanced to this no-entry-fee tournament.
Anglers will take off from Sunset Park located at Route 92 and 31st St. in Rock Island, Ill., at 7 Saturday morning. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3930 44th Ave. in Moline beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend the free takeoff and weigh-in festivities.
Boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired each day of the event and fish for a combined boat weight that carries over from day to day. Boaters compete against other boaters, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers. The winners are determined by the heaviest three-day accumulated weight, with only the top 10 boaters and top 10 co-anglers fishing on day three.
Coverage of the FLW Walleye League Finals on the Mississippi River will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on Nov. 11 as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
The Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau is hosting the FLW Walleye League Finals. For more information, call (563) 322-3911.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.