Tournament News | Courts Leads on Leech Lake FLW Walleye Tour Event

6/9/2011 7:36:38 PM

Mark Courts of Minnesota leads the day one walleye fishing competition on Leech Lake

Day one Leader Mark Courts / Photo courtesy of FLW Outdoors

National Guard pro Mark Courts of Harris, Minn., and co-angler John Cox of Bono, Ark., brought in five walleyes weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces Thursday to lead day one of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour tournament on Leech Lake presented by Mercury. The pair holds a mere, 7-ounce lead over their closest rivals in an event featuring 95 pros and 95 co-anglers representing 17 states fishing for top awards of $63,000 in the Pro Division and $10,500 in the Co-angler Division.
 
“The fishing is phenomenal on Leech Lake,” said Courts, who finished in fifth place at the Walleye Championship held on Leech Lake last year. “We couldn’t have hit this lake at a more perfect time. This is a first class fishery, and I am just having a ball. The fishing is only going to get better and better the next couple of days.
 
“We got our two 'overs' pretty early and finished the limit with some nice 'unders,'” Courts went on to say. “In order to win this tournament you have to bring in those two overs each day. I was mostly doing some typical Leech Lake rigging and jigging and spent a little time pulling spinners.
 
“The lake is really a wind driven lake' and that’s how I am fishing here; I am playing the wind,” Courts added. “The biggest challenge on this lake is finding a spot that is not heavily pressured. I am just excited to go fishing tomorrow. The only thing I could wish for is some cloud cover, and the fishing will be awesome.”
 
According to Courts the cold front that came through yesterday has not impacted the big bite and believes it helped keep water temperatures constant. Courts was worried earlier in the week that the extreme heat wave that hit on Monday would warm the water up too fast and really scatter the fish. He indicated that tomorrow’s predicted rain would only improve walleye fishing for him.
 
Rounding out the remainder of the top 10 pros and co-anglers after day one at Leech Lake are:
 
      2nd:    Paul Meleen, Isle, Minn., and Dave Smith, St. Joseph, Minn., five walleyes, 15-7
      3rd:     Duane Kriese Sr., Shakopee, Minn., and Dan Soehren, New Ulm, Minn., two walleyes, 13-14
      4th:     Kevin Carstensen, Merrill, Wis., and Brian Speckmann, Downers Grove, Ill., five walleyes, 13-5
      5th:     Matthew Ernst, North Oaks, Minn., and Randal Sterr, Oconomowoc, Wis., three walleyes, 12-10
      6th:     Richard Zachowski, Milwaukee, Wis., and Wallace Carter Jr., Lawrenceburg, Ky., five walleyes, 11-15
      7th:     Tom Keenan, Hatley, Wis., and Alan Wegleitner, Somerset, Wis., five walleyes, 11-13
      8th:     National Guard pro Bill Shimota, Londsdale, Minn., and Randy Kuchenmeister, Forest Lake, Minn., five walleyes, 11-13
      9th:     Scott Larson, Mayville, N.D., and Doug Weidenhammer, Ham Lake, Minn., five walleyes, 11-9
      10th:   David Kleszyk, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., and Tim Depooter, Rock Island, Ill., five walleyes, 11-8
 
Overall there were 270 walleyes weighing 515 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 95 boats Thursday. The catch included 29 five-walleye limits.


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