Schuette Leads Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Event on Green Bay
Category: Tournament
May 20th, 2005 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified May 20th, 2005 at 12:00 AM
SCHUETTE LEADS WAL-MART FLW WALLEYE TOUR EVENT ON GREEN BAYGREEN BAY, Wis. (May 19, 2005) – Pro Pat Schuette of Manitowoc caught a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 66 pounds, 3 ounces to lead the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event on Green Bay. A field of 133 pros is competing for a potential top award of $86,000, while co-anglers are competing for a potential top award of $16,600. The weather took a turn for the worse on Thursday. Competitors faced five hours of steady downpour in the morning as well as high southeast winds, yet the fishing was still phenomenal for the second straight day. “The weather was terrible today, but the fishing was still good,” said Schuette. Schuette fished one small area and threw spinners and crawlers in shallow water. He plans to work the same area again on Friday, as he has it mostly to himself with the exception of two nearby competitors. Rounding out the top-five pros are Pat Nue of Forestville (10 walleyes, 65 pounds, 7 ounces); Scott Allen of Green Bay (10 walleyes, 64 pounds, 10 ounces); Glenn Chenier of Gladstone, Mich. (10 walleyes, 61 pounds, 3 ounces); and Gordy Powers of Rockford, Minn. (10 walleyes, 61 pounds, 2 ounces). A total of 506 walleyes weighing 2,290 pounds, 12 ounces were caught Thursday. Mark Cottingham of Green Bay leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 walleyes weighing 67 pounds, 3 ounces. “I did most of the actual fishing, while my pro partner controlled the boat and netted the fish,” Cottingham said. “It was really rough out there, and you had to keep your balance or fall in.” Cottingham fished with pro Paul Wright of Westpoint, Ind., on Thursday. Rounding out the top-five co-anglers are Scott Tipton of Box Elder, S.D. (10 walleyes, 59 pounds, 5 ounces); Richard Conrad of Brillion (10 walleyes, 58 pounds, 13 ounces); Chuck Jones of Michigan City, Ind. (10 walleyes, 54 pounds); and Mike Lewis of Seymour (10 walleyes, 53 pounds, 13 ounces). Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight and are randomly paired each day. The FLW Walleye Tour is the world’s most lucrative professional walleye-fishing series. At the $650,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Mississippi River in Moline, Ill., Sept. 28 – Oct. 1, pros will fish for as much as $140,000 cash and co-anglers will chase as much as $22,000. Daily takeoffs at Green Bay start at 7 a.m. at Metro Park Boat Launch. Friday’s weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at the marina, and Saturday’s weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 2440 West Mason Street in Green Bay. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public. 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. Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour 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 Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour. For more information on 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 title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.