NEU LEADS WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR EVENT ON GREEN BAY
GREEN BAY, Wis. (May 20, 2005) - Pro Pat Neu of Forestville
caught a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 96 pounds,
1 ounce to lead the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event on Green
Bay. A field of 133 pros and 133 co-anglers were cut to 10 anglers
in each division at the conclusion of Friday's weigh-in. The
top-10 pros and co-anglers will compete for top awards of $87,000
and $16,700 respectively in the third event of the most lucrative
walleye tour in the world. For the first time in a week, the
clouds gave way to sunny skies. While many pros worried that
sunny skies could hamper what has been a great bite this week,
the great fishing on Green Bay continued under the ever-changing
conditions. "It was rough Friday morning," Neu said. "But, it
calmed down by mid morning, and the sun came out for the first
time in a while." Neu boated nine walleyes but made all the
right decisions on which five to keep. "I threw back a 23-inch
and a 26-inch walleye earlier in the day," he said. "It didn't
matter because we caught 27-inch and 28-inch walleyes later,
so it turned out to be the right decision to throw those early
fish back." Rounding out the top-five pros are Pat Schuette
of Manitowoc (15 walleyes, 90 pounds, 4 ounces); Mark Keenan
of Appleton (14 walleyes, 83 pounds, 5 ounces); Troy Morris
of Bismarck, N.D. (14 walleyes, 78 pounds, 6 ounces); and Dan
Stier of Pierre, S.D. (15 walleyes, 74 pounds, 10 ounces). A
total of 383 walleyes weighing 1,579 pounds 12 ounces were caught
Friday. Mark Cottingham of Green Bay leads the Co-angler Division
with a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 91 pounds, 10
ounces. He fished with pro Greg Darsow of Billings, Mont., on
Friday. "We didn't get our first walleye until 10 a.m.," Cottingham
said. "Then we went another two or three hours without any fish."
By days end, however, Darsow and Cottingham grinded out a five-walleye
limit weighing 24 pounds, 7 ounces. Rounding out the top-five
co-anglers are Randy Peterson of Omro (15 walleyes, 82 pounds,
11 ounces); Kevin Adams of Shawano (15 walleyes, 79 pounds,
10 ounces); Scott Tipton of Box Elder, S.D. (15 walleyes, 77
pounds, 12 ounces); and Richard Konrad of Brillion (15 walleyes,
76 pounds, 11 ounces). Saturday's takeoff at Green Bay starts
at 7 a.m. at Metro Park Boat Launch. Saturday's weigh-in starts
at 3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 2440 West Mason Street
in Green Bay. The community is invited to attend the takeoff
and weigh-in, which are free and open to the public. At the
$650,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Mississippi
River in Moline, Ill., Sept. 28 - Oct. 1, pros will fish for
as much as $140,000 cash and co-anglers will chase as much as
$22,000. 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 FLW 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.c
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