Pro Chris Gilman of Chicago, City, Minn., caught two walleyes weighing 7 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win the 2010 FLW Walleye Tour Championship earning $42,676. Gilman had a four-day catch of 16 walleyes weighing 42-15.
“I really can’t believe it. It has been 20 years,” said Gilman, the 2009 Angler of the Year. “I didn’t think that I had it. My over [26 inches or larger] was not a giant and Terry’s fish was much fatter. Coming in short of the limit usually does not work.”
“I was rigging with redtail chubs, nothing really fancy, basically a 1 ?-ounce sinker a six-foot Suffix leader and a minnow,” said Gilman. “Watching my locator was real important as I did not fish very much unless I saw the right marks. I have a Lowrance HDS and it was real easy to see which points had boulders on them and I fished a lot of those points with boulders. I pretty much knew if I was going to get one or not by looking at my locator.”
“I caught my large fish on a spot that I had never fished before and I just trusted my locator to tell me where to fish was the biggest difference,” continued Gilman. “I went to my number two spot and I caught four fish and I cleaned it. I caught every one that was there, and I went to this new spot and whacked the 27-incher and that was the difference.”
Rounding out the top-10 pros were:
| 2nd: | Terence Filkins | Lake Ciy, Minn. | 12 walleyes | 41-14 | $5,000 |
| 3rd: | Pat Byle | Colgate, Wis. | 13 walleyes | 40-0 | $12,000 |
| 4th: | Paul Meleen | Isle, Minn. | 11 walleyes | 38-15 | $8,303 |
| 5th: | National Guard pro Mark Courts, Harris | Minn. | 16 walleyes | 31-15 | $5,500 |
| 6th: | Scott Steil | Richmond, Minn. | 16 walleyes | 30-7 | $3,750 |
| 7th: | Dean Arnoldussen | Appleton, Wis | 13 walleyes | 27-1 | $3,669 |
| 8th: | Brian Brosdahl | Max,Minn. | 14 walleyes | 25-3 | $3,035 |
| 9th: | Don Loch | Iron Mountain, Mich. | 10 walleyes | 20-0 | $1,000 |
| 10th: | Kevin Merrill | Pierre, S.D. | 7 walleyes | 18-7 | $750 |
Overall there were 13 walleyes weighing 40 pounds, 4 ounces caught by seven boats Saturday. The catch did not include any four-walleye limits.
Matt Hiller of Grand Rapids, Mich., took home the Co-angler title on Friday earning $6,523 and making him the first two-time co-angler champion in FLW Walleye Tour history. Hiller weighed in 14 walleyes weighing 33-11 over the three days of competition.. Hiller fished with pros Merrill on day one, Loch on day two and Gilman on day three.
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
| 2nd: | Darrell Martin | Forest Lake, Minn. | 12 walleyes | 31-13 | $2,048 |
| 3rd: | Jason Anderson | West Fargo, N.D. | 14 walleyes | 31-11 | $2,518 |
| 4th: | Cal Van Cleve | Wilmot, S.D. | 10 walleyes | 28-11 | $2,107 |
| 5th: | Peggy Severson | Fort Pierre, S.D. | 13 walleyes | 28-11 | $1,300 |
| 6th: | Todd Dankert | Anoka, Minn. | 11 walleyes | 27-1 | $650 |
| 7th: | Ted Kaminski | Saint Anthony | Minn. | 11 walleyes | 26-0, $896 |
| 8th: | Larry Oleson | Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. | 10 walleyes | 22-6 | $685 |
| 9th: | Kyle Schuchard | Essex, Ont. | 12 walleyes | 21-6 | $605 |
| 10th: | Bryan Bayerkohler | Eagan, Minn. | 9 walleyes | 18-15 | $250 |
The National Guard announced prior to the final weigh-in that they will serve as title sponsor for the Walleye Tour in 2011. The involvement of the National Guard with the Walleye Tour will allow for more appreciation tournaments in conjunction with tour events offering positive opportunities for soldiers, veterans and families. These events present an avenue to display the appreciation everyone should have for those that serve our country.
In FLW Walleye Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight.
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
