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Hughes Leads Day Two at Winona

Category: Tournament

 Sep 12th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Sep 12th, 2008 at 12:00 AM

	Jimmy Hughes on Day Two

WINONA, Minn. (Sept. 12, 2008) – Boater Jimmy Hughes of Oshkosh, Wis., caught 10 walleyes weighing 37 pounds, 1 ounce during the first two days of competition in the Walmart FLW Walleye League Finals on the Mississippi River in Winona, Minn., to secure a 11-pound, 11-ounce lead heading into the tournament's final day of competition. If he holds on for the win, Hughes will receive a $53,000 Ranger 621 powered by either an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard.

"We worked very hard for our fish today," said Hughes. "We had five keeper bites. Today was almost a mirror image of yesterday, but the walleyes were just a bit smaller today."

Hughes continued his pattern of using willow cats rigged on a rig that resembled a short Carolina rig. Hughes stated his best move for tomorrow is to go back to the area he has been successful.

"It is always nice to have a little cushion," Hughes said. "If my day does not pan out tomorrow, I might be in trouble. The guys in second and third are very good and I am a little concerned."

Rounding out the top five boaters are Daniel Christensen of Cochrane, Wis. (10 walleyes, 26 pounds, 6 ounces); Mitchell Jerowski of Winona, Minn. (10 walleyes, 22 pounds, 10 ounces); Brad Dirkman of Fergus Falls, Minn. (10 walleyes, 21 pounds, 4 ounces); and Chad Carroll of Lake Bluff, Ill. (9 walleyes, 20 pounds, 2 ounces).

In the Co-angler Division, Jerry Manning of Maquoketa, Ia. and Dan Miller of Poynette, Wis., are tied atop the leaderboard with a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 24 pounds, 4 ounces. Manning and Miller hold a 7-ounce lead with one day to go. The winner will receive a $38,000 G3 V185F powered by Yamaha.

"We caught our limit before 11 a.m.," Manning said. "We worked on catching bigger fish throughout the day and caught a four pounder at about 1 p.m. to be a great kicker fish. As for tomorrow, I will go with my boater and see where it goes from there."

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Paul Delaney of Baileys Harbor, Wis. (6 walleyes, 23 pounds, 13 ounces); Thomas Kaus of Lake Zurich, Ill. (8 walleyes, 21 pounds, 1 ounces); and Brian Trainor of Winona, Minn. (6 walleyes, 21 pounds, 0 ounces).

A total of 251 walleyes weighing 495 pounds, 11 ounces were caught Friday, including 25 five-fish limits.

Boaters and co-anglers who finished in the top 30 in final points standings after three qualifying events in each FLW Walleye League division advanced to this no-entry-fee tournament.

Anglers will take off from Dick's Marine at 7 Saturday morning. Saturday's final weigh-in will be at the Walmart store located at 955 E. Frontenac Drive in Winona beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend the free takeoff and weigh-in festivities.

Boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired each day of the event and fish for a combined boat weight that carries over from day to day. Boaters compete against other boaters, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers. The winners are determined by the heaviest three-day accumulated weight, with only the top 10 boaters and top 10 co-anglers fishing on day three.

Coverage of the FLW Walleye League Finals on the Mississippi River will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the "FLW Outdoors" television program. "FLW Outdoors" is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.

The Winona Convention and Visitors Bureau is hosting the FLW Walleye League Finals. For more information, call (507) 452-0735 or go to visitwinona.com.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits. FLW Outdoors also took fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million in cash and prizes.

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.