Steil Wins FLW Walleye Tour on Cass
Category: Tournament
Jun 14th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jun 14th, 2008 at 12:00 AM
CASS LAKE, Minn. (June 14, 2008) –Ranger pro Scott Steil of Richmond, Minn., along with his partner, Nate Brunz of Madison Lake, Minn., caught five walleyes weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce to win the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour presented by Yamaha on Cass Lake in Cass Lake, Minn. Steil had a four-day total of 20 walleyes weighing 58-02 to net him the win and $100,000.
“This is like a dream come true,” said Steil, who now has one win and four top-10 finishes in six seasons of FLW Walleye Tour competition. “It’s amazing. There are a lot of anglers out there that are good competitors that want to win as bad as I do. Now I can say that I’ve won and competed against the best.
“It was a perfect day on the water. We were done fishing at 1:30 p.m. The fish came in the right order and that’s the key in these slot tournaments.
“You don’t want your first fish to be a 21 or 22-incher,” Steil said. “That really makes you sweat the rest of the day.”
Steil fished three key spots on Cass within four miles of Stony Point Resort. He made his first run through the areas and didn’t catch one fish. He decided to make a second run over his areas and landed a 25, 18 and a 19-incher. Then he ran to his shallow water spot.
“One key area I found was shallow and I decided to stop there because the wind was blowing nice in the cabbage,” Steil said. “I am glad we did because we each caught a 27-incher. I knew from that point on that we were going to have a big bag.”
Steil said he and Brunz caught seven fish during the course of the day, but weighed the first five fish they caught. Those five fish turned out to be all they needed.
Rounding out the top five pros are Carl Adams Jr. of Blackduck, Minn. (20 walleyes, 55 pounds, 9 ounces, $30,839); Toby Kvalevog of Brainerd, Minn. (20 walleyes, 52 pounds, 12 ounces, $8,827); Pete Harsh of Sauk Centre, Minn. (20 walleyes, 52 pounds, 8 ounces, $10,582); and James Gordon of Spicer, Minn. (20 walleyes, 51 pounds, 9 ounces, $8,380).
Kevin Bruer of Robbinsdale, Minn., wins the co-angler division and $10,000 with a four-day total catch of 20 walleyes weighing 53-15 beating the closest competitor by less than a pound.
“It’s a new experience to be up here (on stage),” said Bruer, who made his first top-10 on the FLW Walleye Tour since 2000. “I’ve never made the cut. I didn’t think I was going to win.
“I knew that Carl was on some good spots so I felt confident that we would have a big bag but to win by 8-ounces was a little too close.”
Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brunz (20 walleyes, 53-07, $6,644); David Anderson of Sauk Rapids, Minn. (20 walleyes, 48-04, $3,547), Greg Oppegard of W. St. Paul, Minn. (20 walleyes, 48-02, $2,225) and Mike Taylor of Midland, Mich. (20 walleyes, 31-5, $2,880).
Overall there were 50 walleyes weighing 123 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 10 boats Saturday. The catch included 10 five-walleye limits.
Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight. Pros compete against other pros, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers. The full field competes during the three-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day accumulated weight. Weights carry over to day four, with winners determined by the heaviest four-day weight.
In addition to cash awards, anglers are competing for valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the $650,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship – the sport’s richest event – in Bismarck, N.D., Sept. 24-27. The top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers in the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year points standings will advance to the Championship, where they will compete for top awards of $150,000 and $20,000, respectively.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour stop on Cass Lake will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on Sept. 14 as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.