Ryan Dominates on Day Two at FLW Red Wing
Category: Tournament
May 4th, 2006 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified May 4th, 2006 at 12:00 AM
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Jeff Ryan (L) and Jerry Cassell with their big limit on Day Two at Red Wing
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RED WING, Minn. (May 4, 2006) – Pro Jeff Ryan of Lake View, Iowa, caught a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 53 pounds, 2 ounces to extend a massive lead on day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event presented by Yamaha on the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minn., the second event of the 2006 FLW Walleye Tour season. With a $2.69 million total purse, including the no-entry-fee $675,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on Lake Oahe near Pierre, S.D., Oct. 4-7, and television coverage on FSN (Fox Sports Net), the FLW Walleye Tour is bigger and better than ever. With a full field of 150 pros and 150 co-anglers, anglers are competing for their share of a $503,300 purse, including as much as $100,000 for the winning pro and $18,000 for the winning co-angler. With a lead of more than 14 pounds, Ryan is definitely sitting in the hot seat to come through with a big win, considering that a 12-pound limit has been seen as a quality catch during the first two days of the tournament. Ryan has been fishing an area with minimal current flow, something that seems to have been key to many of the largest catches during this event. He’s been fishing a slow live-bait presentation, and he credits both a good area and near flawless execution to his success. “We had six bites, and one was a short fish,” Ryan said. “So far, we’ve landed every fish we’ve hooked except for one on yesterday.” Ryan revealed that his prefishing time didn’t yield the size of walleyes he’s been catching during the tournament, but daily tweaks to his presentation and strategy have proven successful. “Little changes are making a difference,” Ryan said. “I caught two or three fish on a different bait today. We’re losing a lot of tackle. The area has lots of stumps and trees, but they’re keying on that stuff. “I just hope I can continue what I’m doing,” Ryan said. “It would definitely help to have another 25 pounds tomorrow.” Rounding out the top five pros are Kevin McQuoid of Isle, Minn. (10 walleyes, 39 pounds, 1 ounce); Nick Johnson of Elmwood, Wis. (eight walleyes, 36 pounds, 7 ounces); Scott Allar of Welch, Minn. (10 walleyes, 36 pounds); and Todd Riley of Amery, Wis. (10 walleyes, 35 pounds, 2 ounces). Day one leader Kristine Szczech of St. Paul, Minn., also retained her lead in the co-angler division with a two-day total of eight walleyes weighing 34 pounds, 10 ounces. Szczech fished with Ryan on day one, and was paired with Rod Putnam of Billings, Mont., on day two. Szczech and Putnam fished in Pool 4 on day two and caught three walleyes weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces. They fished with crankbaits and live bait to catch their fish, the largest of which was a 5-pounder landed by Szczech at around 10 a.m. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jerry Cassell of Lawton, Mich. (10 walleyes, 34 pounds, 2 ounces); Gary Engberg of Mazomanie, Wis. (10 walleyes, 34 pounds, 2 ounces); Kevin Bruer of Robbinsdale, Minn. (10 walleyes, 33 pounds, 5 ounces); and Dean Kaminski of Columbia Heights, Minn. (10 walleyes, 33 pounds, 2 ounces). The Red Wing Visitors and Convention Bureau is hosting the event. Covill Park in Red Wing will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7. Friday’s weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 295 Tyler Road in Red Wing beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public. 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 the winner determined by the heaviest four-day weight. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 150 points awarded to the winner, 149 to second, 148 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings. The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the 2006 FLW Walleye Tour Championship. The FLW Walleye Tour Championship is the most lucrative event in professional walleye angling, with guaranteed cash awards for the entire field. A guaranteed cash award of $100,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $50,000 will go to the FLW Walleye Tour Championship winner for a total pro award of $150,000. The champion co-angler will win a guaranteed cash award of $11,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $11,000 for a total co-angler award of $22,000. Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour event on the Mississippi River will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on June 11 as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network. Following the Mississippi River tournament, the FLW Walleye Tour will visit Devils Lake in Devils Lake, N.D., for the third regular-season event June 7-10, and the regular season will come to a close with an event presented by Evinrude July 12-15 on Green Bay in Green Bay, Wis. Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006. FLW Outdoors also recently announced the addition of a striped bass circuit, which will debut in May. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.