Jerowski and Jerry Lead FLW Walleye League Finals Day One
Category: Tournament
Sep 8th, 2005 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Sep 8th, 2005 at 12:00 AM
WINONA, Minn. (Sept. 8, 2005) – Boater Mitchell Jerowski of Winona, and his co-angler partner Zachary Jerry of Deer River, caught five walleyes weighing 22 pounds, 5 ounces to take a commanding lead on day one of the $115,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Finals tournament on the Mississippi River near Winona. A field of 88 divisional-qualifying boaters is competing for a top award of a $45,000 fully rigged Ranger 621, while co-anglers are competing for a potential top award of a $40,000 fully rigged Ranger. Conditions took a turn for the worse on the opening day of the tournament. A thunderstorm blew into the area in the early morning hours and changed what had been a consistent bite in the river. “The last week and a half has been great fishing,” Jerowski said. “We had been getting eight or nine bites on every spot. Thursday we only had eight or nine bites all day and only caught seven walleyes. Not one place we stopped produced more than one walleye Thursday.” Jerowski and Jerry fished a mixture of wing dams and backwater spots with live bait to eek out a limit. Their limit, however, bettered their closest competitor’s limit by more than 9 pounds. Rounding out the top five boaters are Luke Kersten of Boyceville, Wis. (five walleyes, 13 pounds, 1 ounce); Nicolas Schertz of Kalamazoo, Mich. (five walleyes, 12 pounds, 4 ounces); Joseph Schuur of Plymouth (five walleyes, 12 pounds, 1 ounce); and Steve Lotz of Lena, Ill. (four walleyes, 11 pounds, 6 ounces). Rounding out the top five co-anglers are David Palecek of Green Bay, Wis. (five walleyes, 13 pounds, 1 ounce); Bryan Meyer of Somonauk, Ill. (five walleyes, 12 pounds, 4 ounces); George Bjorgaard of Inver Grove Heights (five walleyes, 12 pounds, 1 ounces); and Michael Westman of Ham Lake (four walleyes, 11 pounds, 6 ounces). A total of just 157 walleyes weighing 317 pounds, 12 ounces were caught Thursday. Only seven teams boated a limit. Boaters and co-anglers who finished in the top 35 in final points standings in each FLW Walleye League division advanced to this no-entry-fee tournament. The winning boater will receive an Evinrude-or Yamaha-powered Ranger 621 boat. FLW Walleye League boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired and fish for a combined boat weight, with boaters competing against other boaters and co-anglers competing against other co-anglers. The full field will compete Thursday and Friday then be cut to the top 15 boaters and co-anglers for Saturday’s final round. Winners are determined by the heaviest three-day weight. The Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League meets the needs of America’s fishing masses by providing professionally administered, close-to-home, affordable events with lucrative cash purses.Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.