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Harsh wins FLW Walleye Tour on Devils Lake

Category: Tournament

 Jun 9th, 2007 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Jun 9th, 2007 at 12:00 AM

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. – Pro Pete Harsh of Sauk Centre, Minn., caught a three-day total of 15 walleyes weighing 63 pounds, 1 ounce to win the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event on Devils Lake in Devils Lake, N.D., the third regular-season event of the 2007 FLW Walleye Tour. Harsh took home $85,000 in prize money for his impressive week of fishing in tough conditions that were present on this fishery.”When you’re pulling 19 to 20 inch walleye over the side of the boat like you would a perch, you know your doing pretty good,” said Harsh, who got some redemption at the conclusion of Saturday weigh-in because he came in second at this event last year. “I didn’t have a lot of preparation for this event. I didn’t think that I even had a chance at winning. I happened to luck into three spots that were holding fish everyday and I just had to catch them. Everything went great today. It all just seemed to click.”I have fished both FLW Outdoors events as well as PWT events and winning is not an easy task,” Harsh said. “I have three second place finishes with FLW Outdoors and this win means everything to me. Winning here and representing Ranger Boats is just incredible.”Harsh fished the Pelican Bay area of Devils Lake all week. He would run through his three key spots everyday with slip-bobber rigs tipped with leeches looking for big kicker fish. He credited most of his luck to his fishing partner, a black lab named Shadow. “I have fished everyday with Shadow so far this week. Today, I was planning on leaving her with some friends because of the conditions. I was walking back to my boat and I could hear her barking and wining. I said to myself, I can’t do that to her. I will just take her with me again. I went and got her, took her with me and now I’m holding this trophy and a good check. She is my lucky charm.”Rounding out the top five pros are John Renschen of Red Wing, Minn. (15 walleyes, 61 pounds, 7 ounces, $40,000); Bard Ertel of Hudson, Wis. (15 walleyes, 55 pounds, 4 ounce, $19,000); Rick McLaughlin of Glenrock, Wyo. (15 walleyes, 55 pounds, 2 ounces, $14,000); and Folgers pro Dennis Lantzy of Warren, Mich. (15 walleyes, 54 pounds, 3 ounces, $13,000).Larry Williams of Fargo, N.D., wins the co-angler title and $10,000 with 15 walleyes weighing 62 pounds, 14 ounces.”I just got really lucky today,” Williams said. “I won the entry into this event on a $5 raffle ticket for an organization back home. It’s just bizarre. I hadn’t event considered winning or even getting a check for that matter.”I had a great draw today. If you want a partner to have on the final day, it’s Pete Harsh. I don’t care if your sitting in 10th place, a day with him will get you up the leader boards,” Williams added. “I told my wife, if I do any good at this event, I was going to take her on a nice, relaxing vacation. She has been working really hard and this will be a nice present for her.”Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jeff Trana of Devils Lake, N.D. (15 walleyes, 60 pounds, 11 ounces, $5,000); Henry Juntunen of Minot, N.D. (13 walleyes, 56 pounds, 9 ounces, $7,000); Dale Janota of Gillette, Wyo. (15 walleyes, 55 pounds, 13 ounces, $2,500); and Donny Wald of Mandan, N.D. (15 walleyes, 54 pounds, 5 ounces, $3,200).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 competes during the three-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day accumulated weight.Weights carry over to day four, with the winner determined by the heaviest four-day weight.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 based on year-end points standings will advance to the 2007 FLW Walleye Tour Championship.The FLW Walleye Tour Championship is the most lucrative event in professional walleye angling, with guaranteed cash awards for the entire field. A guaranteed cash award of $100,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $50,000 will go to the FLW Walleye Tour Championship winner for a total pro award of $150,000. The champion co-angler will win a guaranteed cash award of $11,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $11,000 for a total co-angler award of $22,000.Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour event on Devils Lake will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on Aug. 19 as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. Eastern. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 350 million households in such countries as 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. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.