FLW Walleye Tour-Escanaba, MI July 23rd-26th
Day 1 AM
Story by Julia Davis

124 FLW Pros and Co Anglers left this morning from the Escanaba Municipal Marina in Ludington Park, in search of the elusive Walleye. From the talk around the docks this morning, and around the restaurants, hotels, and bait shops earlier this week, it sounds as though it's going to be a very tough bite for most of the competitors.
 
I spoke with a few of the anglers this morning to find out what they thought it was going to take to make the cut for Saturday's top ten, and this is what they had to say:
 
 

John Schneider: Well, coming in I thought it was going to be 32 pounds, last year it was 39...it might actually be less than that, I think. I'm going to guess about 28 pounds to make the cut...unless this bite completely does this big flip-flop and they start going. For three days in a row, we've had stable wind conditions out of the North, but now tomorrow it's switching and will come out of the Southwest, so that is going to change things all over again.
I'm going to stick with my  28 pounds. I think somewhere between 52-58 could even win it. 
 

Tom Keenen: The bites been pretty tough all week, but I would guess 40 pounds to make the cut. I think 12-13 pounds a day would be a good weight, and if you get lucky one day and get 16-17 pounds you'd probably be there.

Ted Takasaki: Well, I think it's going to take 11 pounds a day, so 33 pounds to make the cut.  I'm looking for 9-10 pounds a day, minimum, so hopefully that will keep me right there in the AOY race.

Eric Olson: To make the cut, for three days, I think it's going to take 28 pounds maximum. Cutting Green Bay out of the program, like we were able to fish last year, and the tough bite...it's going to be tough. I also think there's going to be 25-30 zeros. 5 fish limits are going to be tough or non-existent. We're just going to go out there than give her heck and see what we come up with...we'll be putting the crawlers to the test.

 
The object of the game is to come in with two fish over 23 inches and three "slots".  Slot fish must be under the 23 inch measure. If they touch the line, they are considered 23 inches and will be counted as one of the "over" fish.
Culling is allowed in Michigan waters.
There is a 15" minimum size limit.
 
Today's weather is a nice change from the past couple of days here. It's been jeans and long sleeve weather the past couple of days, but the Sun is shining again today. With a 5-10mph wind out of the North, it's still a little chilly, but the Sun will warm things up a little better today.
 
Please join us here this afternoon as Walleye Central brings you live coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour event on Bay de Noc.
 
The weigh in will begin at 3PM.