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| Hughes Wins at Winona |
 |  | Hughes bags the big fish that put him over the top (WalleyeFIRST Photo) |
WINONA, Minn.� (Sept. 13, 2008) �� Boater Jimmy Hughes of Oshkosh, Wis., caught 14 walleyes weighing 47 pounds, 6 ounces during three days of competition in the Walmart FLW Walleye League Finals on the Mississippi River in Winona, Minn., to secure a $53,000 victory Saturday by 7 pounds, 1 ounces over his closest competitor. Hughes earned a Ranger 621 powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard.
�This was an awesome day,� Hughes said. �My first two today were in the 15 � 16 inch range, and I finally boated one I thought was six pounds and that was a huge relief. I was jumping around the boat like a little kid.�
On Thursday, Hughes caught five walleyes weighing 21 pounds, 4 ounces. He added another five walleyes weighing 15 pounds, 3 ounces to his total Friday, then he capped off his win Saturday with another four walleyes weighing 10 pounds, 5 ounces.
Hughes continued his same pattern using willow cats rigged on a rig that resembled a short Carolina rig using a bright orange bead before the hook. Hughes stayed in a favorite spot the entire tournament except for about three hours on the final day.
Rounding out the top five boaters were Galen Bremmer of Avoca, Wis. (12 walleyes, 40 pounds, 5 ounces, $3,500); Daniel Christensen of Cochrane, Wis. (15 walleyes, 39 pounds, 8 ounces, $3,100); Matthew Ernst of North Oaks, Minn. (11 walleyes, 33 pounds, 6 ounces, $1,750); and Brad Dirkman of Fergus Falls, Minn. (15 walleyes, 31 pounds, 14 ounces, $1,000).
Tom Laveque of Saginaw, Mich., won the Co-angler Division with a three-day total of 11 walleyes weighing 40 pounds, 4 ounces. His effort earned him a $38,000 G3 V185F powered by Yamaha.
On Thursday, Laveque caught one walleye weighing 1 pound, 2 ounces while fishing with Tom Millenkamp. He added another five walleyes weighing 18 pounds, 13 ounces to his total Friday while fishing with Daniel Christensen, then he capped off his win Saturday with another five walleyes weighing 20 pounds, 5 ounces while fishing with Galen Bremmer.
�Today we started of with a couple little fish,� said Laveque. �We moved to another spot and caught 10 keepers so we kept moving around and eventually headed back to our second spot from the morning. We were able to catch most of our fish in about one hour.�
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Dan Miller of Poynette, Wis. (15 walleyes, 37 pounds, 6 ounces, $2,500); Jerry Manning of Maquoketa, Ia. (14 walleyes, 34 pounds, 9 ounces, $1,200); Forrest Melton of Albany, Minn. (13 walleyes, 32 pounds, 7 ounces, $700); and Thomas Kaus of Lake Zurich, Ill. (13 walleyes, 31 pounds, 11 ounces, $500).
A total of 49 walleyes weighing 113 pounds, 11 ounces were caught Saturday by the 10 teams who made the final-round cut. Nine of the 10 teams caught the limit. The lone team that did not was winner Jimmy Hughes and his partner Jerry Manning.
Boaters and co-anglers who finished in the top 3o in final points standings after three qualifying events in each FLW Walleye League division advanced to this no-entry-fee tournament.
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 as part of the �FLW Outdoors� television program. �FLW Outdoors� is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.
The Winona Convention and Visitors Bureau is hosting the FLW Walleye League Finals. For more information, call (507) 452-0735 or go to visitwinona.com.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits. FLW Outdoors also took fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million in cash and prizes.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player�s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com. |
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| Hughes Leads Day Two at Winona |
|  | Jimmy Hughes on Day Two
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WINONA, Minn. (Sept. 12, 2008) - Boater Jimmy Hughes of Oshkosh, Wis., caught 10 walleyes weighing 37 pounds, 1 ounce during the first two days of competition in the Walmart FLW Walleye League Finals on the Mississippi River in Winona, Minn., to secure a 11-pound, 11-ounce lead heading into the tournament's final day of competition. If he holds on for the win, Hughes will receive a $53,000 Ranger 621 powered by either an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard.
"We worked very hard for our fish today," said Hughes. "We had five keeper bites. Today was almost a mirror image of yesterday, but the walleyes were just a bit smaller today."
Hughes continued his pattern of using willow cats rigged on a rig that resembled a short Carolina rig. Hughes stated his best move for tomorrow is to go back to the area he has been successful.
"It is always nice to have a little cushion," Hughes said. "If my day does not pan out tomorrow, I might be in trouble. The guys in second and third are very good and I am a little concerned."
Rounding out the top five boaters are Daniel Christensen of Cochrane, Wis. (10 walleyes, 26 pounds, 6 ounces); Mitchell Jerowski of Winona, Minn. (10 walleyes, 22 pounds, 10 ounces); Brad Dirkman of Fergus Falls, Minn. (10 walleyes, 21 pounds, 4 ounces); and Chad Carroll of Lake Bluff, Ill. (9 walleyes, 20 pounds, 2 ounces).
In the Co-angler Division, Jerry Manning of Maquoketa, Ia. and Dan Miller of Poynette, Wis., are tied atop the leaderboard with a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 24 pounds, 4 ounces. Manning and Miller hold a 7-ounce lead with one day to go. The winner will receive a $38,000 G3 V185F powered by Yamaha.
"We caught our limit before 11 a.m.," Manning said. "We worked on catching bigger fish throughout the day and caught a four pounder at about 1 p.m. to be a great kicker fish. As for tomorrow, I will go with my boater and see where it goes from there."
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Paul Delaney of Baileys Harbor, Wis. (6 walleyes, 23 pounds, 13 ounces); Thomas Kaus of Lake Zurich, Ill. (8 walleyes, 21 pounds, 1 ounces); and Brian Trainor of Winona, Minn. (6 walleyes, 21 pounds, 0 ounces).
A total of 251 walleyes weighing 495 pounds, 11 ounces were caught Friday, including 25 five-fish limits.
Boaters and co-anglers who finished in the top 30 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 Dick's Marine at 7 Saturday morning. Saturday's final weigh-in will be at the Walmart store located at 955 E. Frontenac Drive in Winona 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 as part of the "FLW Outdoors" television program. "FLW Outdoors" is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.
The Winona Convention and Visitors Bureau is hosting the FLW Walleye League Finals. For more information, call (507) 452-0735 or go to visitwinona.com.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits. FLW Outdoors also took fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million in cash and prizes.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player's Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
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| The Scoop on Willow Cats and the FLW League Finals |
|  | Willow cats, got 'em? (WalleyeFIRST Photo) |
Call it the battle for the boat, or the battle for the bait to win the boat. Whatever you call it, the FLW Walleye League finals in Winona, MN is a unique event, highlighting both the best and worst of holding big dollar events on the Mississippi River.
The Good
The Mississippi River is one of the most magnificent and productive walleye waters on the planet.
Big fish, small fish, and everything in between are available to anglers competing for the walleye league's top prize.
Miles upon miles of wind protected water places boats of all sizes on a playing field free from the big-boat bias common on large bodies of water such as the Great Lakes - important for a league level event trying to recruit new anglers into the competitive walleye fishing scene.
The Not So Good
VHS laws in Wisconsin and exotic species laws on the Mississippi River have all but closed off access to the river's top home-grown bait, the willow cat. The supply available at local bait shops dried up Wednesday morning, with no more predicted for the rest of the week.
Until laws are altered, the large local population of "cats" out of the Mississippi River can no longer be tapped. This makes the bait available only through two local shops in Winona - those with access to bait legally harvested from inland Minnesota streams (not the Mississippi River as erroneously reported elsewhere). This has created low or non-existent supplies - and astronomical prices - when a few do show up at shops in town. Anyone who stood in the long line at West End Bait Shop Wednesday morning only to watch the supply run out can attest to this fact.
The short supply has also afforded local qualifiers with the ability to stockpile cats over the past month a decided edge in access to the hottest bait on the river. Some will argue that there will always be a local advantage. Others will say there really is no such thing. Both are true to an extent, but we ARE talking about the Mississippi River; the local advantage was practically invented here.
|  | Shortages may have anglers turning to alternatives like the Gulp Goby |
The Real Scoop on Willow Cats
Is this event really about who gets the most cats? Certainly not. There are many proven methods to catch walleyes on the Mississippi. This event will undoubtedly be won by the angler who finds the best fish and puts them in the box, cats or no cats.
Some of the finest Mississippi River anglers you've never heard of, and some that you have, guys like Galen Bremmer, Maury Schmerbach, Mike Glynn, and many others from Minnesota down through Iowa rarely have cats in their arsenal. Instead they rely on crankbaits, Dubuque rigs, and plastics to fill their livewells. However, when cats are hot (as each of the anglers listed will attest to) like they are in the late summer, low water conditions we have right now, they sure are hard to beat.
Finals qualifier Luke Kersten from Boyceville, WI finished fourth at the Winona Finals in 2005, and says the availability of good bait this year is a stark contrast to 2005.
"You really had to plan ahead if you were an out-of-towner expecting to have a decent number of cats to fish with this week," stated Kersten.
"For starters, you need to have somewhere locally to keep them in Minnesota. On top of that with the low supply, a two to three dozen limit has been in effect on the purchase of them the few times they have been available this summer . This required frequent trips to get a usable supply," he added.
Willow cats are commonly fished on or above wing dams and rock piles, but work well on any spot that can be fished from an anchored position, even a hole or deep run in a slough. They excel from May through October but really shine when the fishing gets tough.
Our prediction for the finals? 30% of the top ten field will be local qualifiers (two out of the following: Jerowski, Chick, Nascak). 70% of the top ten field will be fishing willow cats. The winners will be fishing wing dams.
Other anglers to watch for: Steve Kopp, Don Pape, Steve Lotz, Chad Carroll, Galen Bremmer, Tom Millenkamp, Mark Michael.
Stay tuned for complete live coverage of the FLW Walleye League Finals from Winona, MN beginning Thursday morning. |
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