FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NELSON, KROONA WIN WAL-MART RCL WALLEYE TOUR EVENT ON LAKE OAHE
PIERRE, S.D. (June 19, 2004) – Pro Terry Nelson of Pierre, S.D., landed $90,000
in cash and prizes, including a Lund boat powered by Yamaha, Saturday after
catching five walleyes weighing 16 pounds, 4 ounces while fishing with co-angler
Marly Kroona Jr. of Blaine, Minn., on the final day of the $401,750 Wal-Mart RCL
Walleye Tour stop on Lake Oahe.
Nelson and Kroona caught their biggest fish of the day, a 23-incher, within
minutes of wetting their first line to continue Nelson’s rise up the leader
board with a two-day, final-round total of 10 walleyes weighing 31 pounds, 5
ounces. The catch gave Nelson a 3-puond, 4-ounce advantage over runner-up Robert
Crow of Paterson, Wash., who landed 10 walleyes weighing 28 pounds, 1 ounce and
earned $25,000.
“Things really started out good when we pulled in our first spot and caught
that big one before we even had all of our lines in the water,” said Nelson, who
also fished the two previous RCL Tour stops in Pierre, finishing 47th in 2003
and 67th in 2002. “When that one came in the boat, I knew I was sitting in good
position since I only had a pound and a half to make up from day three.”
Nelson entered Friday’s semifinal round of 20 anglers as the No. 12 seed
after catching five walleyes weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces Wednesday with
co-angler Robert Swank of Darby Mont., and five walleyes weighing 14 pounds, 15
ounces Thursday with co-angler Greg Abbott of Canton, S.D. Weights were cleared
Friday, and Nelson advanced to the final round of 10 anglers as the No. 4 seed
after catching five walleyes weighing 15 pounds, 1 ounce with co-angler Chester
Jones of Michigan City, Ind.
Nelson and his co-anglers used bottom bounces with chartreuse beads and red
hooks baited with either creek chubs or night crawlers to catch their fish
throughout the tournament. The majority of the fish were caught out of less than
20 feet of water off humps in the middle of the lake and main creek channels.
Smelt were another key ingredient of the productive pattern, as large clouds of
the bait fish were present in the areas targeted.
Rounding out the top five pros are Scott Steil of Richmond, Minn. (10
walleyes, 28 pounds, $20,000); Reid Widvey of Pierre, S.D. (10 walleyes, 27
pounds, 5 ounces, $15,000); and Scott Pitlick of Pierre, S.D. (10 walleyes, 25
pounds, 14 ounces, $12,500).
Kroona won the Co-angler Division and $15,000 with 10 walleyes weighing 30
pounds. He caught five walleyes weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces Friday while
fishing with pro Reid Widvey of Pierre, S.D., to enter the final round as the
No. 7 seed. When Saturday’s catch with Nelson was added to the total, Kroona
opened a 1-pound, 6-ounce margin of victory over Chester Jones of Michigan City,
Ind., who caught 10 walleyes weighing 28 pounds 10 ounces and earned $7,500.
“We were only going to fish our first spot for 10 minutes and then move on,
but after we caught that big one, we decided to stay a little longer,” said
Kroona, a veteran co-angler who also cracked the top 10 on the Illinois River in
2003. “It worked out great because we also pulled a 19-incher off the same spot
a little later.”
Kroona advanced to the semifinal round as the No. 7 seed with 10 walleyes
weighing 27 pounds, 7 ounces that he caught with pros Jason Tomich of Omaha,
Neb., and John Zirzow of Fort Collins, Colo., Wednesday and Thursday,
respectively.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Dale Hein of Spring Lake Park,
Minn. (10 walleyes, 28 pounds, 6 ounce, $6,000); Stephen Froelich of Eagan,
Minn. (10 walleyes, 27 pounds, 3 ounces $5,000) and Robert Swank of Darby, Mont.
(10 walleyes, 25 pounds, 3 ounces, $4,000).
Overall, the final 10 teams caught 47 walleyes, including nine limits. The
day’s catch totaled 107 pounds, 3 ounces.
Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight and are randomly paired
each day. This was the fourth and final regular-season tournament in their quest
to qualify for the $1.4 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship in Moline,
Ill., Sept. 29-Oct. 2 where the world’s top pros will fish for as much as
$400,000 cash and co-anglers will chase as much as $150,000 cash. Cash awards
are presented to the top 60 anglers in each division at every regular-season
tournament. The total purse for the 2004 season is $3.19 million.
The RCL Tour is administered by FLW Outdoors and named after boat
manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund. FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading
marketer of competitive fishing, is named after the legendary founder of Ranger
Boats, Forrest L. Wood. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails include
the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League for weekend anglers; the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the
world’s most lucrative bass-tournament series; the EverStart Series, designed as
a pathway to the FLW Tour; the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League for weekend anglers;
and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail.