Pro Pat Byle of Colgate, Wis., and co-angler Peggy Severson of Fort Pierre, S.D., caught five walleyes weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces Thursday to vault Byle into the lead after day two of the FLW Walleye Tour Championship on Leech Lake. Byle now has a two-day catch of 10 walleyes weighing 30-9 and a 2-pound, 1-ounce lead over second place going into the third day of competition. Anglers from 12 states and Canada are fishing for top awards of up to $40,000 in the Pro Division and up to $12,000 in the Co-angler Division.
“There are a couple days left but I am absolutely thrilled to be able to make the cut and be able to go fishing for a couple of more days,” said Byle, who was runner-up in 2009 for the Angler of the Year title. “This is a great place to be. To jump into the lead, I guess I am a little surprised by that.”
“I am having a real tough time getting slot fish,” continued Byle. “I may have to spend some extra time on my big fish tomorrow and hopefully I can fish it.”
Byle said his big fish spot is not any larger than the average living room and that his electronics were a key to his success. “They are humps on a flat. They are surrounded by a flat area, but they are the two highest points and the big fish are just moving in there. The [Lowrance] HDS has gotten me in first here. I can tell 15-inch fish from 18-inch fish from 30-inch fish in 60-plus feet of water. So it makes a huge difference on whether or not I should even stop.”
Rounding out the top-10 pros are:
| 2nd: | Terrence Filkins | Lake City,Minn. | seven walleyes | 28-8 |
| 3rd: | Chris Gilman | Chisago City, Minn. | 10 walleyes | 25-12 |
| 4th: | National Guard pro Mark Courts | Harris, Minn. | 10 walleyes | 23-10 |
| 5th: | Dean Arnoldussen | Appleton, Wis. | 10 walleyes | 21-13 |
| 6th: | Paul Meleen | Isle, Minn. | seven walleyes | 20-13 |
| 7th: | Brian Brosdahl | Max, Minn. | 10 walleyes | 19-15 |
| 8th: | Scott Steil | Richmond, Minn. | 10 walleyes | 19-14 |
| 9th: | Kevin Merrill | Pierre, S.D. | seven walleyes | 18-7 |
| 10th: | Don Loch | Iron Mountain, Mich. | eight walleyes | 17-8 |
Cal Van Cleve of Wilmot, S.D., leads the Co-angler Division with 10 walleyes weighing 28-11 followed by Jason Anderson of West Fargo, N.D., in second place with 10 walleyes weighing 24-14.
“The weather is not quite what I hoped it would be, but we have done it so far,” said Van Cleve, who won the co-angler title on the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn., earlier this year. “The good thing is when you are leading you get to fish with the hot number as they team you up with the top pro, so tomorrow should be fun.”
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers are:
| 3rd: | Matt Hiller | Grand Rapids, Mich. | 10 walleyes | 24-7 |
| 4th: | Peggy Severson | Fort Pierre, S.D. | nine walleyes | 22-10 |
| 5th: | Todd Dankert | Anoka, Minn. | eight walleyes | 21-13 |
| 6th: | Darrell Martin | Forest Lake, Minn. | nine walleyes | 21-4 |
| 7th: | Larry Oleson | Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. | eight walleyes | 20-0 |
| 8th: | Ted Kaminski | Saint Anthony, Minn. | seven walleyes | 19-1 |
| 9th: | Bryan Bayerkohler | Eagan, Minn. | nine walleyes | 18-15 |
| 10th: | Kyle Schuchard | Essex, Ont. | 10 walleyes | 18-14 |
Overall there were 151 walleyes weighing 285 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 40 boats Friday. The catch included 22 five-walleye limits.
In FLW Walleye Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight.
Anglers will take off from Walker City Park located on Minnesota Ave. in Walker at 7:30 each morning. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Northern Lights Casino, host of the championship, located at 6800 Y Frontage Rd. N.W. in Walker beginning at 4 p.m. The co-angler champion will crowned Friday night and the pro champion will be decided on Saturday.
ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 189 tournaments in 2010. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000.By: Jeff McCoy, PR dir / FLW Outdoors
