Kvalevog Wins Walmart FLW Walleye League Minnesota Division Event on Leech Lake
Category: press release
Jun 8th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jun 8th, 2009 at 12:00 AM
WALKER, Minn. (June 8, 2009) – Toby Kvalevog of Brainerd, Minn., caught five walleyes that weighed 16 pounds, 2 ounces and earned $4,480 Saturday as winner of the Walmart FLW Walleye League Minnesota Division event on Leech Lake. Kvalevog’s co-angler, Gilles Pinette of Winnipeg, Manitoba, earned $2,240 for the win.
Kvalevog said he caught his fish on leeches, nightcrawlers and redtails but focused on running rigs with crawlers on drop-offs.
Rounding out the top five are Harv Lueck of Laporte, Minn., who earned $2,240 and co-angler Jordan Marsh of Rice Lake, Wis., who earned $1,120 (five walleyes, 16 pounds, 0 ounces); Kelly Cook of Fairmont, Minn., who earned $1,920 and co-angler Rick Socholotuk of Fort Frances, Ontario, who earned $960 (three walleyes, 15 pounds, 13 ounces); Scott Schultz of Watkins, Minn., who earned $1,600 and co-angler Joe Peters of Kimball, Minn., who earned $800 (five walleyes, 15 pounds, 11 ounces) and tied for fifth were Ron Ernesti of Buffalo, Minn., who earned $1,120 and co-angler Randy Kuchenmeister of Stacy, Minn., who earned $560 and Josh Schoeck of McGrath, Minn., who earned $1,120 and co-angler Eldon Olson of Mason City, Iowa, who earned $560 (five walleyes, 15 pounds, 2 ounces).
Boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired for the event and fish for a combined boat weight. Boaters compete against other boaters, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers. Cash payouts extend through 20th place based on a full field of 100 boats.
Four FLW Walleye League divisions – Michigan, Minnesota, Heartland and Wisconsin – each feature three one-day events. Every angler who receives weight credit earns points, with 100 points awarded to the winner, 99 for second, 98 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings.
The top 30 boaters and top 30 co-anglers from each FLW Walleye League division at the end of the season advance to the 2009 Walmart FLW Walleye League Finals set for Sept. 17-19 on Lake Wissota in Chippewa Falls, Wis., where they will compete for a Ranger 621 powered by a 200 horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and a Ranger Reata 1760 Angler, respectively. Anglers competing in the no-entry-fee League Finals may also participate in an optional payout that could boost boater winnings by $8,400 and co-angler winnings by $4,200 based on 120 boaters and co-anglers participating. The fee for participation in the optional payout is $300 for boaters and $150 for co-anglers. Qualifiers may elect to participate any time after qualifying through the Sept. 16 FLW Walleye League Finals pretournament meeting. Please check the online rules to view the payout table.
The boater and co-angler point’s champions from each division also advance to the no-entry-fee 2009 Walmart FLW Walleye Tour Championship in Bismarck, N.D., Sept. 30-Oct. 3 for a chance to compete for as much as $150,000 in the Pro Division and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers finishing the season in the top 10 in each division also receive priority entry into the Walmart FLW Walleye Tour for 2010.
The third and final regular-season event for Minnesota Division anglers will be on Lake Bemidji in Bemidji, Minn., July 11.
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