| | The deck was shuffled this afternoon during the second day of the FLW tournament at Leech Lake. While a few anglers were able to hold steady, some slipped as others pulled big weights to come from behind.
 While Kevin Carstensen may have been motivated to do well to win a three dollar bet he had with his co-angler, tomorrow he will have 50,000 more reasons to do well. “Today went fabulous. We flip-flopped spots today because I just wanted to get five legals in the boat. I wasn’t too concerned about the overs because I figured I had enough weight to make the cut tomorrow,” he explained. When he got to his spot, it was on fire. “We had them on one right after another. I stuck a 26.25 inch fish, then we caught four unders and a 27. We were done by 10am.” His five fish today weighed 15lbs 11oz and moved him into first place with a two day total of 29lbs.
 Bill Shimota had a day that just fell into place. “We said we were going to go for big fish in Walker Bay and got a 26 incher 15 minutes into it. That was a big relief to even get one. I stuck it out for an hour and a half and was able to get the 29 incher.” He then packed up and headed to a spot that was really good for catching slot fish yesterday. “I spent four hours in there and caught one legal fish. It was very frustrating, but luckily I had a spot where I could catch small fish, so we went there and caught our last two fish in the last half hour,” said Shimota. Those two fish helped him weigh a total of 15lbs 14oz today, which puts him in second place overall. He is rigging red tails and creek chubs for the bigger fish. For smaller fish he is rigging and pulling crawlers on spinners.
With the cloud cover he needed for his spot, the day went just as planned for Mark Courts who is sitting in third place. He put four unders and one over in the box by 10am. He caught more fish today than yesterday and weighed five for 10lbs 15oz. “The spot is reloading every night.” I’ve got confidence in the spot and know I can weigh two big ones if I have cloud cover.
Tom Kemos had a limit of slots and one over each day of the tournament so far. He only spent 15 minutes fishing for overs on his first day and an hour and a half today. He is hoping to get a limit quickly tomorrow to have more time to hunt for big fish. He thinks that overs tend to bite better in the afternoon, due to the water warming and bait fish becoming more active. He has been rigging leeches and crawlers for the slots and creek chubs for the overs. Electronics have been key for Kemos, “We have had so much unstable weather this spring, the fish reposition and move every day. Today I went to one of my over spots and there were three boats sitting on it, so I moved to the next piece of structure without a boat. I made two passes with my Lowrance, found fish and punched in an icon. Five minutes later I had a 26.5 inch fish in the boat.” Kemos weighed 12lbs today and is currently sitting in fifth place.
Paul Meleen felt he had a choice to go for big fish, and if that didn’t happen, he might not fish day three. Or he could fish conservative to make the cut, which he chose to do. “I got my slot fish and dropped a few spots, but now that I made the cut I’m going for big fish tomorrow. It’s go big or go home. There will be more flip-flopping tomorrow and it will be an exciting weigh-in. I’m not going to hold back for anything.” He weighed four unders today for 6lbs 3oz and is in sixth place.
 Eric Olson took the last spot on the day three roster by bringing in five fish for 12lbs today, giving him a two day total of 20lbs 7oz. “It was like clockwork. We had our unders by 9am and started fishing for big fish,” Olson said. He pulled into a spot and started working a deep corner with chubs and came back up to the shallows and nailed a 29 inch fish. “I have to thank Pete Harsh. His wisdom and insight to fishing chubs has really elevated my game. From the tackle, technique and small detail, I just really have to thank him for the help he has given me. Whatever happens tomorrow doesn’t matter. I’m going to shoot for the fence and just have a good time no matter what.”
Join us tomorrow at Walleye Central for coverage of the final day of the tournament. Weigh-in begins at 4pm at Northern Lights Casino near Walker, MN.
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