Pro Kevin Carstensen of Merrill, Wis., and co-angler Kurt Zins of Nicollet, Minn., caught 5 walleyes weighing 15 pounds, 11 ounces Friday to propel Carstensen into the lead at the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour on Leech Lake presented by Mercury. Cartensen now has a two-day catch of 10 walleyes weighing 29-0 and a 1-pound, 5-ounce lead heading into the final day of competition. Anglers from 17 states are fishing for top awards of up to $63,000 in the Pro Division and up to $10,500 in the Co-angler Division.
“We were done fishing by 10 a.m.,” said Cartensen, who is looking for his first FLW Walleye Tour win. “Up until now Leech Lake has not been one of my favorite fisheries. This is old school fishing which really isn’t my style. But I found out in practice that I was giving too much thought to my fishing and I needed to keep it simple.
“So far it has been all jigging leeches, minnows and crawlers, that’s it,” Carstensen went on to say. “I have two primary spots that I have been fishing. Both are pretty dependent on the weather. Today I hit the shallower of the two. With the cloud cover that we had today I knew the bite would be on fire and I was right. Yesterday I went to the deeper area I had found because of the wind.
“The area I am fishing is unbelievable. I actually found this spot last year at the championship,” Carstensen added. “I don’t even think the locals know about it. Both my co-anglers have been shocked by how fast and furious it fishes. When I first got there both of them thought I was crazy. Neither one of them thought we would catch a fish there but you can catch small fish there all day long, it is so much fun. It will be my first stop tomorrow.”
Unlike most of the anglers that struggled with yesterday’s wind and cold, Carstensen said it did not impact his fishing. He indicated that today’s cloud cover actually helped him and increased the bite all around. Although there were more overs brought to the scale today than yesterday, many of the pros still struggled trying to get the elusive overs in the boat. A common complaint heard as the anglers crossed the stage was trying to catch the big ones first not giving them enough time to catch the slot fish.
Rounding out the top 10 pros are:
2nd: National Guard pro Bill Shimota, Lonsdale, Minn., 10 walleyes, 27-11
3rd: National Guard pro Mark Courts, Harris, Minn., 10 walleyes, 26-13
4th: Rick Olson, Mina, S.D., 10 walleyes, 24-2
5th: Tom Kemos, Oconomowoc, Wis., 10 walleyes, 23-4
6th: Paul Meleen, Isle, Minn., nine walleyes, 21-10
7th: Mark Christianson, Walker, Minn., 10 walleyes, 21-0
8th: David Bjorkman, Fargo, N.D., seven walleyes, 20-11
9th: Scott Larson, Mayville, N.D., nine walleyes, 20-11
10th: Eric Olson, Red Wing, Minn., 10 walleyes, 20-7
Alan Wegleitner of Somerset, Wis., leads the Co-angler Division with 10 walleyes weighing 26-6 followed by Kurt Zins of Nicollet, Minn., in second place with 10 walleyes weighing 25-12.
Fishing in his first FLW Walleye Tour tournament, Wegleitner said that both his partners were fishing with rigs. He was paired yesterday with Tom Keenan, Hatley Wis., and Christianson today.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Tim Depooter, Rock Island, Ill., 10 walleyes, 24-07
4th: Boyd Strissel, Billings, Mont., 10 walleyes, 24-6
5th: Randal Sterr, Oconomowoc, Wis., eight walleyes, 23-9
6th: Edward Piekutowski, Moorhead, Minn., 10 walleyes, 23-8
7th: Tyrone Larson, Amherst, Wis., nine walleyes, 23-6
8th: James Stigen, Elk River, Minn., six walleyes, 22-13
9th: Dan Soehren, New Ulm, Minn., seven walleyes, 21-1
10th: Dan Meisner, Merrill, Wis., eight walleyes, 20-13
Overall there were 318 walleyes weighing 608 pounds, 13 ounces caught by 95 boats Friday. The catch included 33 five-walleye limits.
