PWT Pros Start Unraveling Kansas Walleye Secrets; Fairbairn Leads
Category: Tournament
Sep 16th, 2005 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Sep 16th, 2005 at 12:00 AM
The Mercury Championship on Kansas’ Lake Milford brought the best In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail pro anglers together for their final competition of the year. Day one leader Scott Fairbairn, Hager City, Wis., caught a PWT 4-fish limit weighing 11.26 pounds.His catch brought the crowd to its feet. Walleye fans had a great time in the huge Walleye-dome, built especially for the Mercury Championship at Milford State Park. An adjacent facility is filled with boats, tackle and outdoor gear for a Saturday and Sunday Sport Show (Sept. 17-18), beginning at 10 a.m. The final two days of competition occurs in all corners of Milford Lake, the largest lake in Kansas at 17,000 acres. The light-show, music, big screen and weigh-in takes place at 4:30 p.m. The field could “flip-flop,” as pro anglers should receive two and one-half hours more fishing time on day two. They were delayed that amount of time due to fog Friday morning. Some of Milford Lake’s secrets were in deep water, while others were right against the bank. The details of what Fairbairn did to coax a limit will be revealed Sunday afternoon. David Anderson, Amery, Wis., finished day one in second place with 9.76 pounds. Rookie-of-the-Year Chase Parsons, Appleton, Wis., scored the Coleman $1,000 big fish, 6.70 pounds, and placed third with 9.17 pounds. Bay City, Mich. pro Bill St. Peter weighed 8.94 pounds for fourth,and Tommy Skarlis, Waukon, Iowa, was fifth with 6.93 pounds. Half thefield caught at least one fish. The lake has more shad than the biologists and local anglers can ever remember. The pros all applauded the many species of cats-blues, flathead and channels-as well as every bass ever invented, and loads of panfish. “It’s a great place to fish,” Fairbairn said.After three days of competition, the winner could pocket $125,000 if running a Mercury outboard, or $115,000 otherwise. Three Lund/Mercury walleye boats on E-Z Loader trailers will be given away, also for about a $400,000 payday Sunday.