Pro Brett Wilkens of Kiel, Wis., and co-angler Derek Navis of Waupun, Wis., caught three walleyes weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces to win the FLW Walleye Tour Eastern Division tournament on Lake Winnebago. Wilkens had a three-day catch of 13 walleyes weighing 26-6. He won by only 7 ounces over his closest competitor and took home $17,973 for his efforts.
Wilkens said the fishing remained tough on the last day of competition. A storm system that moved through Wednesday evening made the fishing difficult for almost everyone throughout the tournament.
“Where I was fishing the water was like chocolate milk,” Wilkens said. “Today, actually the water cleaned up a little bit. So I started at my first spot and thought, ?Hey. Maybe everything will be alright.’ But I was kind of fooled.
“Usually when the wind stays the same direction for three days things get pretty tough,” Wilkens added. “There was no little changes or anything to give you a better chance of catching them.”
Wilkens said he caught his fish by anchoring the boat and pitching jigs, leeches and nightcrawlers on rock piles in areas about the size of his boat.
“I started out at about 10 different spots and couldn’t catch a fish,” Wilkens said. “I went through 35 or 40 different spots today to try to catch a fish. I was anchoring on rocks and finally about 11 o’clock I caught the first one. I went to another spot and caught another one and then the last one I had came at 1 o’clock. They just wouldn’t cooperate today.”
Rounding out the top-5 pros are:
| 2nd: | Mark Keenan | Appleton, Wis. | 10 walleyes | 25-13 | $5,833 |
| 3rd: | Brian Deffner | Eland, Wis. | six walleyes | 23-2 | $3,245 |
| 4th: | Chris Gilman | Chisago City, Minn. | nine walleyes | 17-14 | $6,204 |
| 5th: | Paul Meleen | Isle, Minn. | 11 walleyes | 17-1 | $5,579 |
Bob Miller of Oshkosh led the tournament wire-to-wire to earn the victory in the Co-angler Division and $3,094. His three-day weight of 10 fish totaled 33 pounds, 11 ounces.
“This hasn’t sunk in yet,” Miller said. “Everybody told me I had it locked up and to just go out and fish and forget about it. I think we moved three times. Everything just worked out good.”
Rounding out the top-5 co-anglers are:
| 2nd: | Eugene Littl | Milton, Wis. | nine walleyes | 25-15 | $1,237 |
| 3rd: | Derek Navis | Waupun, Wis. | nine walleyes | 19-10 | $928 |
| 4th: | Randal Sterr | Oconomowoc, Wis. | 10 walleyes | 17-15 | $804 |
| 5th: | Steve Beasley | Macomb, Mich. | 10 walleyes | 17-1 |
Overall there were 20 walleyes weighing 44 pounds, 15 ounces caught Saturday. The catch included one five-walleye limit.
In FLW Walleye Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are also competing for valuable points in the hope of qualifying for a shot at the 2010 FLW Walleye Tour Championship held on Leech Lake in Walker, Minn., Sept. 23-25.
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: Chad Gay, Public Relations Manager
