Wisconsin Pro Takes Mercury Championship Day 2 Lead
Category: Tournament
Sep 18th, 2005 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Sep 18th, 2005 at 12:00 AM
In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail pro angler David Andersen moved into the second day lead of the Mercury Championship. The Amery, Wis. pro was fishing for a first place prize of $115,000 against the top 52 PWT anglers on Milford Lake near Junction City, Kansas.The final Championship day on Sunday, Sept. 18, will prove interesting, with Bill St. Peter, Bay City, Mich., in second place with13.17 pounds. Day one leader Scott Fairbairn, Hager City, Wis., slipped to third with no fish on day two. Canadian John Butts weighed 8,46 pounds and jumped to fourth place. Tommy Skarlis, Waukon, Iowa stayed in fifth, and has a two-day total of 9.25 pounds.On Milford Lake, walleyes must be 18 inches, and with the PWT 4-fish limit, and billions of shad in the lake, the catches have not been representative of the walleye population. As Andersen and many other anglers said, “We’re all on the same lake.” Most anglers remained positive, and commented on stage and to the 2,000 walleye fans on hand to witness the first PWT event in Kansas, that they could win the Mercury Championship in one day if they caught big fish like they did in practice. The Coleman $1,000 big fish on day two belonged to Jim Carroll, Minot, ND. It weighed 6.49 pounds. The largest fish to the stage was 19.36 pounds, caught by Colorado pro (and 2-time Mercury Championship winner) Ron Seelhoff. However, it was a flathead catfish, and represented what many anglers have been catching all week. Milford contains flatheads, channels and blue catfish. Pros were also catching lots of white bass, wipers (cross between white bass and stripers), smallmouth bass and panfish. As a special incentive, the first 250 youngsters into the huge structure erected at Milford State Park, received Plano tackle boxes. On Sunday, the first 1,000 youngsters in the doors (open at 3 p.m.) will receive Shakespeare rods and reels, presented by Westar Energy. The big marine, tackle, and sport show in an adjacent structure was well received.The show will run all Sunday, with the weigh-in ceremonies (video, color guard, lights, music and more) starting at 4 p.m. The Mercury Championship is made possible by the Geary County CVB (785-238-2885; junctioncity.org) and these business partners: Mercury Marine, Lund, The Outdoor Channel, Berkley, Optima Batteries, Realtree, MotorGuide, Lowrance, MinnKota, Trilene, Frenzy, Blue Fox, Powerbait, Johnsonville Brats, Northland Fishing Tackle, Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle, GULP!, Coleman, Storm, Boat Buckle, Smooth Moves Seat Mounts, Kwik Pfyt, E-Z Loader, Raymarine, Rapala, Matzuo, Pflueger, Ram rod holders, Gerbing’s Heated Clothing, Aqua-Vu, Save Phace, Plano, Stowmaster.net, Navionics, Access Roll-up Cover, Yellow Bird, DOW Chemical, Dave’s Lures, The State Bank Group, Yo-Zuri and Reef Runner. The PWT is an integral element of the In-Fisherman Communications Network headquartered in Brainerd, Minnesota, and PRIMEDIA, America’s leading producer of targeted media.