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Byle Leads Walmart FLW Walleye Tour Event on Lake Erie

Category: press release

 Apr 17th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Apr 17th, 2009 at 12:00 AM

PORT CLINTON, Ohio (April 17, 2009) -Pat Byle of Colgate, Wis., along with his partner, Aaron Lochotzki of Sandusky, Ohio, caught five walleyes weighing 36 pounds to take the lead in the Walmart FLW Walleye Tour event on Lake Erie in Port Clinton, Ohio. Byle now has a two-day catch of 10 walleyes weighing 64-3. He now holds a 3 pound, 9 ounce lead over the second place finisher going into the final day of competition.

	Pat Byle with some of his Day 3 catch from Lake Erie (Photo Courtesy of WalleyeFIRST)

“It was an unbelievable day on Lake Erie,” said Byle, who has amassed over $120,000 in career earnings with FLW Outdoors. “The fishing really turned on today.”

Byle had a total of eight bites today trolling crankbaits. He said that he is taking a different approach to catch his fish than most anglers. He said that paying attention to detail is key. “A combination of speed, location and presentation relative to current is what I look for,” Byle added. “The challenge is you have to be on the right spot at the right time. I could have easily come in with one or two fish. We just so happened to get on the right school at the right time.”

Byle said that he got to practice a few days despite the bad weather and is hoping that will pay off. “I figured this pattern out in practice,” he added. “I knew that if I could catch a few [fish] with the bad weather conditions I could probably do better if the weather stabilized.”

Rounding out the top five pros are Rick Franklin of Bemidji, Minn. (10 walleyes, 60 pounds, 10 ounces); Ted Takasaki of East Gull Lake, Minn. (10 walleyes, 58 pounds, 13 ounces); Scott Schiefelbein of Birchwood, Wis. (10 walleyes, 58 pounds, 13 ounces); and Perry Good of Brainerd, Minn. (10 walleyes, 57 pounds, 10 ounces).

“It’s really fun to be here and be in the top-10,” Byle said. “You have to appreciate it when you get them because it is a tough bunch of guys to fish against.”

Kenny Henexson of Thornton, Colo., leads the co-angler division with a two day weight weighing 65-13.

“Lake Erie is just an amazing fishery,” said Henexson, who took seventh as a co-angler in the 2008 Walmart Walleye Tour event on Lake Erie. “I had a great day on the water today and I am ready for tomorrow. The fish really turned on today so I can only imagine what it will be like tomorrow.”

Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Kris Klingmann of Novelty, Ohio (10 walleyes, 65-2), Bruce Frevert of Centerville, Iowa (10 walleyes, 62-3), Keith Nagel of Juneau, Wis. (nine walleyes, 56-12) and Dave Holte of Rapid City, S.D. (10 walleyes, 56-11).

Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight. Pros compete against other pros, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers. The full field competed during the shortened two-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights carry over to day three, with winners determined by the heaviest three-day weight.

Overall there were 450 walleyes weighing 2,510 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 118 boats Friday. The catch included 59 five-walleye limits.

Nor’ Easter Club, located at 2801 Nor’ Easter Cove Rd.  in Port Clinton, will host Saturday’s takeoff at 7 a.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 2826 E. Harbor Rd. in Port Clinton beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public.

Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 150 points awarded to the winner, 149 to second, 148 for third, and so on. These points determine Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year standings. The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers in the standings will advance to the FLW Walleye Tour Championship in Bismarck, N.D., Sept. 30-Oct. 3 for a shot at top awards of $150,000 and $20,000, respectively. The prestigious championship, hosted by the Bismarck-Mandan Convention and Visitors Bureau, will also feature boater and co-angler points champions from each of four Walmart FLW Walleye League divisions. The no-entry-fee FLW Walleye Tour Championship is the most lucrative event in professional walleye angling, with cash awards for the entire field.

Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour, hosted by the City of Port Clinton and the Ottawa County Visitors Bureau, will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network which brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most-trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors,” will air May 24 from 12:30 to 1:30 ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide, including internationally through agreements with WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport to such countries as Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.

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.