Skarlis Extends Lead at FLW Walleye Tour Championship

9/24/2011 7:15:15 PM

Tommy Skarlis extends his walleye fishing lead on Missouri River

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Tommy Skarlis of Waukon, Iowa, and co-angler Todd Dankert of Anoka, Minn., caught five walleyes weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounce Saturday to maintain the lead on the third day of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Championship on the Missouri River. Skarlis’ three-day catch of 15 walleyes weighing 58-0 gives him a solid 4-pound, 14-ounce lead over his closest competitor in an event which started with the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers from the 2011 FLW Walleye Tour season. Pros are fishing for a top award of up to $70,000.

“This a tournament where anything can happen and I am so excited to go fishing tomorrow,” said Skarlis, who is looking for his second championship title, the first coming in 2008 on the Missouri River. “We had a lot of missed bites today. When you start missing bites the way we did today it either means you have to start going ultra slow and finesse fish or go ultra fast and use ultra big baits and be ultra aggressive. I like to fish fast and furious with big baits. I really want the fish tomorrow to eat my bait.

“I have caught all my fish this week with Gulp!,” Skarlis continued. “Tomorrow I am going to have to make some changes based on what happened today. I may switch from the superlines I have been using to Trilene XL or XT and get some live bait.

“Today I was blessed with a great co-angler,” Skarlis went on to say. “He is one of the best jiggers I have fished with and he caught five of our six weigh walleyes that went in the box.

“Today was a real grind. Most of what we caught was in the main river channel. We started on the honey hole that I caught most of my weight on yesterday, but the fish have vacated that area and we moved out of there pretty quickly. We were fortunate to be able to catch key fish here and key fish there throughout the day.”

Rounding out the top 10 pros and fishing for the championship title on Sunday are:

      2nd:    Walmart pro Dean Arnoldussen, Appleton, Wis., 15 walleyes, 53-2
      3rd:     National Guard pro Bill Shimota, Lonsdale, Minn., 15 walleyes, 52-8
      4th:     David Andersen, Amery, Wis., 15 walleyes, 51-8
      5th:     EverStart pro Dan Stier, Mina, S.D., 14 walleyes, 50-6
      6th:     OFF! pro Chris Gilman, Chisago City, Minn., 15 walleyes, 50-6
      7th:     Keith Kavajecz, Kaukauna, Wis., 14 walleyes, 47-1
      8th:     Kevin Carstensen, Merrill, Wis., 15 walleyes, 44-14
      9th:     Tom Kemos, Oconomowoc, Wis., 15 walleyes, 44-13
      10th:   National Guard pro Mark Courts, Harris, Minn., 15 walleyes, 43-14

Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Todd Dankert of Anoka, Minn., won the Co-angler championship title with a total of 15 walleyes weighing 58-12 and earning $7,000 for his efforts. He fished with OFF! pro Chris Gilman on day one, was then paired with David Andersen on day two and finally on day three he fished with Tommy Skarlis.

“I never fished the Missouri River before this tournament ,” said Dankert. “What an awesome fishery!. It is healthy, full of fish and just unbelievable. I tell you what, as soon as I get back to where I am staying I am going to wrap my hands in band aids. My hands are just tore-up we caught so many fish.

“You just can’t beat the week that I have had. I couldn’t have picked better partners if I tried. I was paired with three of the best and I have to thank each and every one of them. I had a blast. I am thrilled, really thrilled!

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:

      2nd:    John Mickish, White Bear Lake, Minn., 14 walleyes, 55-1, $2,500
      3rd:     Tim Depooter, Rock Island, Ill., 15 walleyes, 53-10, $1,750
      4th:     John Solek, Indianapolis, Ind., 15 walleyes, 51-11, $1,200
      5th:     Don Shepard, Lowell, Mich., 14 walleyes, 50-11, $1,000
      6th:     Tyrone Larson, Amherst, Wis., 15 walleyes, 50-11, $900
      7th:     Jimmy Cox, Bono, Ark., 15 walleyes, 49-7, $800
      8th:     Dave Smith, Saint Joseph, Minn., 15 walleyes, 44-9, $700
      9th:     Jim Milewsky, Bondurant, Iowa, 15 walleyes, 44-5, $600
      10th:   Lance Bainville, Mounds View, Minn., 15 walleyes, 43-1, $500 plus $250 Evinrude bonus

Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Overall there were 97 walleyes weighing 264 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 20 boats Friday. The catch included 18 five-walleye limits.