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Klemm Takes Lead on Lake Sharpe

Category: Tournament

 May 8th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified May 8th, 2008 at 12:00 AM

	Klemm (r) weighs in on Day 2

PIERRE, S.D. (May 8, 2008) – Anglers endured rain for most of the day and a wind chill in the mid 30s during the second day of competition of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour presented by Berkley event on Lake Sharpe in Pierre, S.D. In the end, pro Kelly Klemm of Wheaton, Minn., caught five walleyes weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces Thursday to take the lead with a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 21-9. Klemm now holds a 3-pound, 2-ounce lead heading into the third day of competition in the nationally televised tournament that features 268 competitors fishing for top awards of $100,000 in the Pro Division and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division.

"Our eighth fish was the big one," said Klemm, who has three top-10 finishes in seven seasons of FLW Walleye Tour competition. "It was good to see it. It was the one everybody has been looking for. It was lucky we found it."
Klemm said he made a 50-mile run south to West Bend where he caught seven fish before the weather convinced him to head back north. Klemm said he used a ¼-ounce jig tipped with a minnow to catch his fish.

	Klemm's big Day 2 limit

Rounding out the top five pros are Scott Banks of Cannon Falls, Minn. (10 walleyes, 18-7); day-one leader Ron Seelhoff of Burlington, Colo. (10 walleyes, 17-8); Bill Ortiz of Richland Center, Wis. (10 walleyes, 17-3) and Ted Takasaki of East Gull Lake, Minn. (10 walleyes, 17-2).

Darrell Rosemore of Jamestown, N.D., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 22 pounds even. He caught five walleyes weighing 7-7 Wednesday while fishing with Mark Schuitema of Jenison, Mich., then added another five walleyes weighing 14-9 Thursday while fishing with Klemm.

"We got back north about 1:30 and I just grabbed a jig and started throwing it," said Rosemore, who is fishing in his fourth season of FLW Walleye Tour competition. "I caught the big fish – a 29 ½-incher – about 1:30 when I threw the jig at the shore."

Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Mark Bucholz of Sioux Falls, S.D. (10 walleyes, 19-3), Victor Wood of Rapid City, S.D. (10 walleyes, 17-12), Francis Beck of Saint Paul, Neb. (10 walleyes, 17-3) and Robyn Johnson of Fort Pierre, S.D., (10 walleyes, 17-1).

Overall there were 595 walleyes weighing 892 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 134 boats Thursday. The catch included 108 five-walleye limits.

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 winners determined by the heaviest four-day weight.

Steamboat Park in Pierre will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7. Friday's weigh-in will be held at Steamboat Park in Pierre beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's takeoff will be at Downs Marina at 7 a.m. Saturday's final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1730 N. Garfield Rd. in Pierre beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public.

In addition to cash awards, anglers are competing for valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the $650,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship – the sport's richest event – in Bismarck, N.D., Sept. 24-27. The top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers in the Land O'Lakes Angler of the Year points standings will advance to the Championship, where they will compete for top awards of $150,000 and $20,000, respectively.

Tournament pros aren't the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player's Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player's Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player's Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.

Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour stop on Lake Sharpe will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on Aug. 24 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.

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 targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.

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.

Awards are based on a full field of 150 boats in every tournament.